NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP >> In a move to make the Village
at Newtown shopping centers more marketable to higher end retailers, the owners
have presented conceptual plans to the township for a major makeover and
expansion project.
According to a conceptual plan for the “Village,
Collection and Marketplace” submitted to the township by Brixmor Property
Group, which owns the east and west villages anchored by McCaffrey’s Food
Market and Pier One Imports, the existing centers would be given a major facelift.
In addition, the plan calls for a major redevelopment
project along West Road between the Corner Bakery Café and Eagle Road. Two
freestanding buildings located adjacent to McCaffrey’s - one housing Bank of
America and the other a dental office - would be demolished and replaced with
three new buildings containing 47,000 square feet of retail space. The new
buildings would be constructed in an L-shaped configuration along the perimeter
of the property facing West Road and McCaffrey’s.
Improvements would include sidewalks along Durham Road,
improved intersections and pedestrian crossings and outdoor dining and seating
areas.
At the opposite end of the west village, the plan
envisions the construction of a 5,000 square foot free standing bank and café
in the parking lot near South Eagle Road and Silo Drive across from the Salad
Works.
Improvements are also planned for the east village where
Brixmor proposes to build a new 6,000 square foot retail building as “in fill”
between the Wells Fargo Bank parking lot and the Urgent Care/Barre 3 building.
Immediate plans include a refacing of the east village
center near the former pediatric offices and moving Party Fair to another
section of the center to accommodate a new, full-service restaurant, Harvest Grille.
Future plans at the east village include restoration of
the historic Toll House behind Wells Fargo Bank with a cafe and patio use.
The sketch plan would require at least six variances to
begin the project, including front yard setback on Durham and West roads.
The planning commission heard a presentation by Brixmor
in April regarding the zoning relief that would be required. The supervisors
are also scheduled to review the concept at its work session Monday night
beginning at 8 p.m.
Parking is expected to be a major concern. The plan
proposes an overall reduction of spaces at the two centers from 1,236 to 1,042
while increasing the retail footprint by 45,000 square feet.
Planners expressed concern about the reduction in
parking, especially in the east village near the popular restaurants. Currently
they said there is no parking on Friday and Saturday nights in the Pier One
section and very little near Oishi in the McCaffrey’s section, they said. The
new plan proposes additional restaurant uses that would exacerbate the
problems, said planners.
Planning Commissioner Allen Fidler said he did a quick
calculation which revealed that if Brixmor dropped its plans for the free
standing building near the Salad Works and the “in fill” building next to Wells
Fargo Bank, it could reduce its parking relief by 50 spaces. “Instead of
needing 192 less spaces they would only need about 140,” he said.
“If there’s a compromise to be made, logically, to me,
that’s where it would be,” said Fidler. “You let the west end be developed so
you get that blend at the McCaffrey’s side of the shopping center.”
Fidler said he also recommended that Brixmor consider
combining what’s now four separate lots into one lot as a way of cutting down
on its required zoning relief for setbacks.
“Having the lots separate makes it more difficult to
develop because each of those lots has a major setback requirement,” he said. “If
you combine the lots, you lose the necessity of having the number of setbacks
except along the perimeter. Then they wouldn’t need all those variances and
zoning relief. Right now, because they are separate, it quadruples the amount
of zoning relief they need for setbacks.”
As for the overall concept, Fidler said, “I think the
commission is favorable in seeing the redo and an improvement to the shopping
center. It will give the center a better image. The only question I have is if
you give this a lot of relief, will the Newtown Shopping Center and the Farmers
Market section be the next ones to come in wanting to do similar concepts? I
guess we’ll see.”
Addressing the number of empty spaces in the center,
Fidler said that Brixmor indicated that it didn’t want to enter into any long
term leases until it had an indication from the township that it could make the
improvements. “Once it receives that, then they can begin to market to their
target audience,” said Fidler.
If the project receives the conceptual go ahead from the
township, the next step for Brixmor will be the zoning hearing board. When
zoning relief is secured, the project would come back to the planning
commission and the board of supervisors for land development review.
“I think we’re going to have a very interesting summer in
terms of the planning commission,” predicted Fidler, noting that there will be
plenty of opportunities for residents to raise their questions and concerns
throughout the process.
“This isn’t going to happen overnight,” said Fidler.
“There’s a lot of work to do. They have to do traffic studies and traffic
counts even after they go to the zoning board. We’ll see what shakes out.”
Source: Bucks
Local News
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