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Previous Parkhouse compromises fall through
A conditional use hearing wasn’t an inevitability.
During a heated public meeting in January, the Upper Providence Township Board of Supervisors unanimously turned down a motion to amend the zoning code.
The amendment, which was a compromise of sorts, would have drastically reduced the number of housing units from 1,203 to 679 in exchange to change the overlay zoning.
Denby, 61, said that this many units is still “out of character” for Upper Providence.
“There’s plenty of other places around the area that already have things like that,” Denby said.
The rejection set up a conditional use hearing — one that the township’s solicitor, who explored the compromise with his team, warned residents at the meeting about its unpredictable nature.
At the meeting, Bresnan said “something has to go there,” it’s just a matter of conducting “damage control.”
“We believe it’s a good resolution to still have 50% of the open space and have the number of units cut in half and have no medical facility,” Bresnan told residents.
The township supervisors, who have largely remained silent on the issue, decided not to go that route. Residents packed the meeting room in opposition to the plan. Felton, 70, believes the proposed compromise did not go far enough to address the density concern.
“It’s all too dense. It’s only 180 acres. Pretty much all of the developed land around the perimeter of this facility has been developed as ‘R1’ — which is one home per acre,” Felton said. “So with that type of density, this would be or would allow for approximately 170 homes plus or minus.”
Township officials, including Bresnan, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“Ideally, we’d love to see the whole thing saved as open space. The whole idea of that happening or happening with public dollars is probably pretty slim,” Felton said.
Natural Lands conducted an analysis of the parcel and released a report in April 2023, highlighting 65 acres of Parkhouse land as “highest priority conservation areas” and another 50 acres as “medium priority areas.”
“Natural Lands concludes that due to the property’s large size, water resources, potential habitat value for species of special concern and position within the Schuylkill River Corridor, the Property warrants conservation, as feasible by the Township,” the summary read.
The property’s appraisal estimated Parkhouse’s price tag to be $49 million. Township officials believe the price tag is too hefty.
Regardless of how the Parkhouse property ended up in its current status, Denby is aware that something will end up on the parcel. She said she doesn’t want developers to dictate the direction of how the community grows.
“It is going to be built, but we want to make sure it’s sustainable and responsible versus dense housing,” Denby said.
The March 12 conditional use hearing will take place at 6 p.m. at the Upper Providence Township Administration Building.
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