LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS MEETING
Attended by Eric Epstein.
The LP Township Supervisors voted 5-0 to support the new zoning ordinance.
Many SWAN members were in attendance and Marc Levine and Eric Epstein offered
testimony.
Eric Epstein offered testimony in support of the cluster consistent with SWANÕs
earlier statements at the Planning Commission.
Marc Levine made comments and suggestions regarding Dauphin County's evaluation
of the new zoning ordinance.
SWAN will meet in August to discuss the new zoning ordinance.
FYI:
July 12, 2006: Re: Hammaker site: DEP is still waiting for a voluntary re-submittal of Act 2 compliance by the site's owners. The owners are conducting additional soil samples.
LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
Attended and reported by Watson Fisher.
A. Preliminary/Final Subdivision Plan #06-02
5710
UNION DEPOST ROAD
Subdivision of a 4 plus acre parcel into 8 building lots of 20,000 sq. ft.
each, located on the north side of Union Deposit Road, across from the Hidden
Lakes Development and adjacent to the east end of the Central Dauphin East
School Complex. The steep slopes on the parcel were not shown on the plan &
there was concern for the sight distances where the access road empties onto
Union Deposit Road. PENNDOT engineers are reviewing the plan prior to issuing a
highway occupancy permit. It was agreed that sidewalks on Union Deposit Road
would not be required. The Commission voted to grant a conditional approval of
the subdivision of the parcel with the understanding that a waiver request
would be made to eliminate sidewalks and that the steep slopes would be shown
when a land development plan is submitted.
B. Preliminary/Final
Land Development Plan #06-10
COLONIAL VILLAGE
Resubmission of the land development plan for the 28 plus acre tract, Zoned R-R
on the west side of Colonial Road, south of I-81 and behind the Epiphany
Lutheran Church. The submission for this large retirement housing project is a
work in progress, with a fair number of comments and concerns yet to be
addressed.
Traffic: The traffic
study has just been completed and has prompted some plan changes since the
previous meeting. Its author was not able to attend this meeting, so it could
not be discussed. The study does include the projected impact of Stray Wind
Farm and Earl Drive Developments. A highway occupancy permit application has
not yet been submitted to PENNDOT. There are concerns about the sight distances
on Colonial Road. The church has signed off on using their parking lot for
emergency access.
Medical Building: The building
on Lot #1 is shown as 6600 square feet, but since it could become larger and
still meet code requirements, the trips figure for it should be based on its
maximum possible size.
Density: The plan currently has
density of 5.8 units per acre. The maximum allowable is 8 units per acre.
Waiver Requests: The applicant
requested that the Commission consider and vote on seven waiver requests. With
so many items outstanding, it was decided to withhold discussion on these
requests.
Age- Restricted Housing: Since
the traffic, the density and other conditions are based on the age of the
residents, and an approval would require 80% to be age 55+, it was asked how
this would be enforced. It was stated that the association would need to
maintain an up to date census. The Commission voted to table the plan to allow
the applicant to continue to upgrade the submission.
C. Preliminary/Final Land Development Plan #06-20
KEYSTONE CENTER
Submission of a land development plan for a new two story building on a 3.75
acre parcel zoned C-1 at the northwest corner of the intersection of Allentown
Boulevard and North Mountain Road, adjacent to the Holiday Inn. The first floor
will be office or retail space. The applicant has a highway occupancy permit.
The only concern was the amount of parking on the limited site and he said he
would size the number of bar and restaurant seats in accordance with the number
of available parking spaces in compliance with the zoning code for C-1, the
reverse of providing the number of parking spaces required for the number of
seats in the building. The Commission voted to recommend that the Supervisors
approve this application with the necessary waivers.
There were two other projects on the agenda, but bother were tabled, one at the
applicant's request and the other for lack of revised plans.
July 18, 2006
LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING
Attended by Eric Epstein.
Triple Crown Corporation was granted approval to rezone Stray Winds Farm
Development from R-1 to R-C (Residential Cluster).
Attended by Eric Epstein, John McNally III, Ted Robertson, Eileen Hurley,
David Wallace, William Oakland, Andy Snyder & Shelly Kunkel.
A. Variance was granted for a fence on Ridgeview Road.
B. Variance was granted for a sign to be put on Route 22.
C. Variance was unanimously granted for Triple Crown Corporation
(TCC) to build an additional 75 units, or 449 total units in Stray Winds Farm
Development.
TCC's yield plan had given them, by right, 374 units to build. Interpretation
of the newly adopted zoning ordinance could give them a variance of up to 10%
or 411 units. Due to hardship, ZHB actually granted a variance of 20%.
FYI:
July
27, 2006
Lower Paxton Zoning Hearing Board Members
Lower Paxton Township
425 Prince Street
Harrisburg, PA 17109
RE: APPLICATION FOR VARIANCE OF PART 4 OPEN SPACE DEVELOPMENT PROVISIONS
ARTICLE 1117, SECTION 1177.06 Z(b) DENSITY DETERMINATION IN THE R-C
RESIDENTIAL CLUSTER OPEN SPACE DISTRICT-YIELD PLAN OF
TRIPLE
CROWN CORPORATION
Dear Zoning Hearing Board Members:
I am testifying this evening as a resident
of Colonial Crest and as Chairman of the Stray Wind Area Neighbors (SWAN), a
coalition of citizens and organizations from Colonial Crest, Colonial Village,
Crums Mill Neighborhood, Quail Hollow, Club Estates, Club Estates Condos, Colonial
Hills, and Fairway Estates, as well as conservation, engineering,
environmental, and preservation representatives who have donated their time and
services and provided invaluable advice on traffic, safety, land use, and
quality of life issues.
Objectives
of SWAN
1.) Promote sound conservation for the Paxton Creek Watershed, surrounding
wetlands and wildlife habitats.
2.) Promote natural assets to enhance the quality of life and provide
environmental safeguards.
3.) Promote safe communities through improved design for efficient management
of traffic.
The reason that we
are here this evening is because Lower Paxton Township is a desirable community
in which to live, work, and parent. We would like to thank and acknowledge the
Lower Paxton Township supervisors, their staff and appointee volunteers for
their cooperation and assistance as SWAN members attended and participated in
numerous Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission, Parks and Recreation,
Public Safety Committee, and Zoning Hearing Board meetings .
We applaud Triple Crown Corporation's (TCC) efforts to
meet with SWAN and create a dialogue for cooperation, collaboration, and
constructive engagement. We have met, and will continue to meet, with officers
from Triple Crown Corporation as well as all interested parties affected by the
proposed development.
At a workshop session on February 14, 2006 with the
Supervisors, Triple Crown Corporation presented a plan for the Stray Winds Farm
for up to 494 dwelling units. The plan had limited buffers, no improvements to
McIntosh and Crums Mill Roads, no age restricted housing and low-end
townhouses. The Supervisors cited concern about the traffic, but noted that
issue fell under the purview of Penn DOT. At that meeting, I stated that SWAN
could not commit to Triple Crown¹s plan while the housing figures moved
from 402 to 453 to 495 and possibly up to 745 units the proposed TND model.
SWAN did support Triple
Crown on April 27, 2006 when the Stray Winds plan was presented to this Board.
Members of our group previously provided testimony for and against an identical
application. Since then TCC has continued to address the concerns of various
neighboring property owners. There is a consensus that we like the plan.
In terms of this variance request, clearly it is your charge
to find and determine the hardship, and to grant the minimum amount of relief
necessary to redress such hardship. SWAN cannot offer a legal opinion on this
matter. Only Triple Crown can explicitly address legal, technical, and
financial matters related to this request.
I believe this project represents
an innovative social partnership that will help Lower Paxton grow smart. The Triple Crown-SWAN agreement may be the first proposed
Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) in central Pennsylvania. In the past,
protracted litigation based on NIMBY was the norm in suburban enclaves. This may
be the first CBA between private industry and community groups in the nation.
This CBA is also unique in that previous agreements have been executed
primarily in low-income or inner-city venues. Lower Paxton Township played a
critical role in encouraging and facilitating dialogue between industry and
township residents.
Triple Crown addressed many of the concerns
raised by those who live in close proximity to the farm, and has agreed to
attach the following reasonable conditions to the variance request
should the Board approve the application.
Specifically, Triple Crown Corporation agreed to provide age
restricted housing on lots 3 and 6, increased the size of natural buffers
around the lots, build, construct and maintain and bike and pedestrian pathway,
and supplanted low-end townhouses off of Paxton Church and Crums Mill Road with
more desirable units. Triple Crown has also taken out additional developable
land, pushed the amount of preserved open space in Lower Paxton Township up to
48%, and extended buffers on the Paxton Creek up to 150¹ on each side of
the waterway.
The Company's original plan contained a minimal land buffer
on Paxton Church Road from Crums Mill Road back beyond Haven Croft. We asked
Triple Crown to insert a 50¹ to 70¹ buffer, plant evergreen tress,
and move the development north. The Company has agreed to SWAN¹s requests
and lost three units in the process.
As a condition for the variance, Triple Crown has agreed not
to seek condemnations for Hillsdale, Valley View, and Woodcrest roads, or
build ³as a right² on Hillsdale and Valley View Roads. Triple Crown
allowed SWAN to reconfigure the unit layout in lot 6 that abuts Valley View
Road.
Triple Crown has also committed to pedestrian and bike
pathways on the perimeter of portions of lots that are contiguous to Paxton
Church, Crums Mill and McIntosh Roads. TCC has entered into several
arrangements with SWAN members to address property specific issues on land that
borders the Stray Wind Farm.
The number of units has been the most
difficult part of the negotiations and a sore spot for SWAN members. Triple
Crown has accommodated SWAN on a number of concepts and committed to age restricted
units in Lots 3 and 6 as part of their variance request. In other words, 53% of
the units will be sold to active township residents 55 and older. This proposal
also grows the tax base without stressing the capacity of the Central Dauphin
School District.
SWAN provided detailed concerns to the Supervisors and
Planning Commission relating to traffic congestion and safety challenges. We
remain concerned about the ability of our roads to accommodate increased
traffic during regular and peak periods now, tomorrow and into the future with
increased development.
SWAN is fully aware that additional impacts will occur
as result of development along Colonial Road. Triple Crown has agreed to spend
$1.8 million to address chronic traffic problems in the Township. TCC has also
agreed to recontour an already dangerous intersection at McIntosh and Crums
Mill Roads as well as McIntosh and Colonial Road, and the Company will be
required to make other improvements to roadways within their boundaries as well
as maintain internal traffic conduits. We hope that you¹ll hold other
developers accountable to the same standard as Triple Crown.
There is a consensus among SWAN members that we liked Triple
Crown¹s revised plan, and appreciated the effort made by TCC to
incorporate our comments, concerns and suggestions. The Company has been
responsive and made accommodations to the neighbors of the Stray Winds Farm.
Not everybody got what they wanted. Some of our membership
does not subscribe to the view held by the majority. I have advised them of
their right to present alternative perspectives, and assured them they are not
bound by SWAN¹s pronouncements.
SWAN is vested in the process and we will
continue to work with representatives from the Township as well as officers of
Triple Crown Corporation in the development of the Stray Winds Farm.
Sincerely,
Eric Epstein, Chairman
Stay Winds Area Neighbors
4100 Hillsdale Road
Harrisburg, PA 17112
(717)-541-1101
ericepstein@comcast.net