45 Home Toll Brothers Development Approved In Newtown Township

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — The Newtown Township Board of Supervisors on Nov. 9 approved preliminary as final land development plans by Toll Brothers to build 45 single family homes at Route 413 and Twining Bridge Road.

The homes will be built on a 22 acre site that had been part of the 158 acre All Saints Cemetery property. The plan also includes the preservation of about 98 acres of open space adjoining the Newtown Township municipal complex on Durham Road, which will be dedicated to the township.

The development will take access to Route 413 at an existing signalized intersection at the entrance to the Newtown Grant at North Drive.

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

The developer next proposed a two mile long roadway taking access at Wrights Road. But to make that project work financially Toll needed to build at least 300 homes on the property. That plan also met with opposition from the supervisors.

The third option was to share access with the township complex at Municipal Drive at Route 413 across from Delancey Court. Toll agreed to put a signal in if the warrants were met, but when PennDOT did its analysis there wasn’t enough use to justify putting a signal at that location.

That brought Toll back to North Drive, which is already signalized and is PennDOT’s preferred access point to the new development on Durham Road.

As part of the plan and a settlement agreement reached between the township and the developer earlier this year, substantial buffering and berming will be installed around the perimeter of the property.

The development plan also includes internal walkways with connections to a township trail that will run around the perimeter of the property.

Under the final plan, Toll has agreed to allow members of the Newtown Joint Historic Commission to access and document an existing farmhouse on the property to see if its worth preserving. The house is slated for demolition under the plan.

Also as part of the plan, Toll will be paying to upgrade a sewer pumping station. The developer is currently working out the details of an agreement with the Newtown, Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority to expand the station.