Between public hearings and meeting agendas, East Allen Township has devoted long hours of debate to Farmhouse Mews, a townhouse project funded by PA Venture Capital.

The vacant parcel for the project is bounded by Airport, Jacksonville and Hanoverville roads. The same basic issues keep resurfacing while supervisors put off making any decision. The process is still open after a lengthy discussion at the June 10 meeting, which ran into the early-morning hours.

The developer's request is a conditional use proposal. Under this part of the planning process, supervisors have the option of setting conditions for the developer to meet.

There was some delay in getting the board to set direction. The developer must take the proposal through planning and land development. Some of the issues addressed by supervisors are part of the planning process and not the conditional use process.

After some prodding and definition by township Engineer James Milot, the board agreed that the proposed use, a mixed use of residential townhouses and commercial strip mall for neighborhood services, was a viable use for the property.

After taking the first step, the board needed to agree on conditions. The townhouses will be built by Ryan Homes. PA Venture Capital provides the financing.

Attorney James Preston represents the developers. Preston presented his arguments in a written response to the board on conditions that were proposed.

"In our proposal, we agreed to abide by the zoning laws and ordinances of the township," he explained. "But some of the restrictions proposed go beyond the rules."

Preston's argument is that if the developer needs to deviate from the zoning ordinances, there is an option in the planning process to appeal to the zoning hearing board to resolve issues. If the board of supervisors sets conditions, then the developer must take the matter up with the courts.

Preston appealed to the board to let the planning process proceed and to discuss variations during the course of planning the development.

The same developer proposed a plan for the property in 2009 and the comparison to the original proposal is inevitable. The new proposal reduces the amount of decorative stone used in the townhouses. The board finally agreed that the combination of vinyl siding and stone met the requirements for quality construction described in the zoning ordinance.

The developer objected to adding an emergency generator for a sewer pump serving the commercial sector of the project, but the board added it as a requirement. The board asked the developer to add capacity to the sewer lines, but Preston objected, citing that the cost would be burdensome and the developer would be providing capacity for some future project that remains unidentified.

"There would be no way for us to identify if we meet the needs and a potential liability if we do not meet the needs," Preston said.

The developer did agree to provide a sewer easement for additional expansion. The design of the system to serve the project will be dictated by the serving sewer authority. The developer will comply with that design criteria.

Two bigger challenges were discussed and are holdovers from previous meetings. The developer proposes that the private roads in the development are 28 feet wide.

Preston agreed to a condition that requires that the roads be built to township standards. The zoning ordinance allows cartways used as private roads to be as small as 24 feet wide. The 28-foot width meets the necessary turning radius for safety vehicles.

The board would like to see the roads wider, but the developer is resisting because increasing the width of the roads decreases the allowable density, reducing the number of units allowed. The housing density calculation deducts land used for roadways, detention ponds and commercial structures from available land.

The developer included enough parking spaces to exceed the zoning requirements, but there are considerations. The developer's calculations included a parking space in the garage and one in the driveway for each unit.

The zoning ordinance does not allow stacked parking arrangements. Even if these driveway spots are eliminated, there are enough proposed parking spaces to meet the requirements.

The location poses a problem as the parking spots are 200 feet away from the units. The zoning rules require parking to be a "reasonable" distance from the house.

The board-suggested definition of 75 feet would be difficult to meet. There is a pragmatic resolution to the problem that could surface during the land development plan, which could require an appeal to the zoning hearing board.

The last major concern is the design of the private drive through the development. The proposed site plan shows a slightly curving private drive from Jacksonville Road to Hanoverville Road. The board is convinced that it will be used as a shortcut to avoid the intersection of the two roads.

The developer wants to install traffic calming devices (speed bumps) to deter traffic. The board wants to see the plot of the road changed or require the entrance to be gated. The developer is mulling over options.

The next session on Farmhouse Mews is scheduled for June 25. There are no guarantees that the project will move to the next step.