Stockburger Building on Sycamore Demolished, Bank to Be Built

It’s the end of an era in Newtown. The Stockburger dealership on Sycamore Street was demolished Tuesday.

A Beneficial Bank is planned for the site.

The bank, at Richboro Road and Sycamore Street, is being constructed after a protracted battle between bank representatives and the township.

It all began in 2011, when Newtown Township denied Beneficial Bank’s conditional use request for a location at the former Stockburger dealership. The plans did not fit in with the vision for the future of Sycamore Street, officials said at the time.

Fast forward to May 2013, when the township and the bank came to a court-approved agreement regarding the proposal. In that agreement, the bank made changes to its plan, including rotating the building toward Sycamore Street. 

But concerns over traffic lingered in the minds of at least two supervisors and a vote to approve the plans based on the court agreement failed by a 2 to 3 vote in September. 

Beneficial Bank responded with a letter to the township threatening legal action if the denial was not reversed, which it was at the next meeting.