45-Home Housing Development Moving Forward In Newtown Township

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — The heavy machinery is moving in and soon site preparation work will begin at the future home of Lyondale Meadows.

The new 45-home Toll Brothers housing development, which received final approval from Newtown Township in 2022, is poised to break ground at Route 413 and Twining Bridge Road across from Newtown Grant.

In January, Toll Brothers purchased the property for just under $7 million from Philadelphia Catholic Cemeteries, which is part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The land is located between All Saints Cemetery and Twining Bridge Road and borders the back of the township complex on Durham Road.

After the board of supervisors initially denied plans by Toll Brothers to develop 158 acres with larger lot, single-family homes, Toll reached a settlement agreement with the township to cluster the new homes on smaller lots near the intersection of Route 413 and Twining Bridge Road.

As part of the agreement, Toll will dedicate 100 acres of property to the township.

“It’s a very large contiguous open space parcel ... It’s an ideal area of land for the township to use as it sees fit,” said Gregg Adelman, who represented Toll during discussions with the township in 2022.

Heavy machinery has moved onto the site to begin preparing the site for the township's newest housing development at Route 413 and Twining Bridge Road. (Jeff Werner/Patch)

The settlement agreement also designated the signalized intersection of North Drive at the entrance to Newtown Grant as the access point for the new development.

Access to the proposed development had been an issue from day one with the original plan, which had originally proposed two access points onto Twining Bridge Road, which was vigorously opposed by residents living along the residential street.

The developer had considered two other options - a two-mile-long roadway taking access at Wrights Road and a shared access driveway at the Newtown Township Municipal complex - both of which were rejected by the township.

The settlement plan also proposes almost a mile of public trails, which will connect to existing trails in the area. The trails and the roadways would be owned and maintained by the homeowners association at no cost to the township, said Adelman.

In addition, the settlement plan includes enhanced buffering along the perimeter of the project site to “not fully screen, but to mitigate” any visual impacts from Twining Bridge and Durham roads.

“We have moved beyond what your ordinance would ordinarily require and have enhanced that. And that would be an obligation imposed upon Toll under the settlement,” said Adelman.

In a question and answer give and take with the developer in 2022, Supervisor Phil Calabro pointed to the financial impact the development would have on the township.

“This would put a nice chunk of change in our pocket as far as the real estate transfer tax and the earned income tax,” said Calabro. “As these people get increases in pay, it will increase the earned income tax. Looking at the big picture we’re not just looking at 45 homes and the supposed density and the supposed traffic, we’re looking at a fiscal gain to the township. And either we get a financial gain or this board raises taxes.”

Supervisor Kyle Davis joined Calabro and the rest of the board in voting for the settlement, saying it checked off the concerns he had with previous plans, which mostly focused on access to the site.

“Everybody here would agree we don’t want any more building anywhere, but we don’t have the option when it comes to the rights of property owners,” said Davis. “We don’t have a legal leg to stand on. This is a good compromise and it ticks off all the boxes I had a problem with.”