P&Z Reviews Design Details For 178-Unit Condo Complex

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are reviewing the many design details of a proposed age-restricted housing complex in Hawleyville that would add 178 condominiums to the local housing stock in the form of 132 units of “congregate housing” and 46 “independent living” units.

On April 20, P&Z members conducted a third public hearing on The Woods at Newtown, a condo complex for people over age 55 proposed by Bashert Developers, LLC, for a 50-acre site at 12-16 Pocono Road. Driveway access would be provided at 166 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6). The public hearing is scheduled to resume on May 4.

P&Z Chairman William O’Neil noted that the congregate housing condos proposed by Bashert are larger, more elaborate dwellings than those that were envisioned by P&Z members in the past, when the town’s congregate housing regulations were formulated.

Congregate housing as had been conceived by the P&Z lies conceptually closer to the basic age-restricted rental apartment buildings at Nunnawauk Meadows on Nunnawauk Road than The Woods at Newtown proposal, Mr O’Neil said. The rent-subsidized Nunnawauk Meadows complex for low-income elderly is operated by a nonprofit organization known as Newtown Housing for the Elderly.

P&Z members have been discussing interpretations of the town’s regulations on congregate housing with Bashert representatives, Mr O’Neil noted.

The developer has agreed to variously modify the design plans for the project as requested by P&Z members, Mr O’Neil said.

Attorney James White, representing the developer, said Bashert has gained various required endorsements for its development proposal, involving fire vehicle access, road design, traffic flow, and water supply. Bashert will be seeking approval for a sanitary sewer connection from the Water and Sewer Authority, he said.

Architect Conrad Roncati, representing the developer, described the congregate housing section of the proposed complex.

Bashert proposes that the congregate housing be located in ten large apartment buildings surrounding a massive courtyard, beneath which there would be covered parking for 272 vehicles. The parking would be located at ground level with a roof atop that parking garage functioning as the “courtyard” amid the ten buildings.

The garage would be positively ventilated with fans and contain a set of air intakes and exhaust ports. The garage would contain a fire suppression system, including detectors for smoke and carbon monoxide.

The housing complex would be visually buffered from the adjacent Pocono Road, he said. The apartment building nearest to Pocono Road would have a flat roof to minimize its visual mass as viewed from Pocono Road, he said.

Bashert member Burton Dorfman told P&Z members that the firm is willing to scale down the laundry facilities that it proposes for the congregate housing units, if P&Z members believe the proposed laundry facilities exceed what the zoning regulations allow.

During a public comment section of the April 20 hearing, Dr Anthony Salvato of 19 Franklin Court asked whether Mt Pleasant Road would be able to accommodate the additional traffic generated by proposed complex, inquired about nighttime illumination levels, and asked about the height of the proposed buildings.

Dr Salvato lives at Liberty at Newtown, an adjacent 96-unit age-restricted condo complex that was constructed by Ginsburg Development Corporation.

Charles Merrifield of 26 Pocono Road posed various questions about the proposed complex’s visibility from Pocono Road.

The developers’ representatives responded that the project is designed to fit into the neighborhood and to meet applicable zoning regulations.

The Woods at Newtown project is proposed for the site of a depleted sand-and-gravel mine, where The Homesteads at Newtown had planned to construct a 178-unit age-restricted housing complex, comprised of congregate housing and independent living units. After The Homesteads entered bankruptcy, those plans did not materialize. Bashert acquired the 50-acre development site for $8.9 million in the spring of 2005 through bankruptcy proceedings.