Willow Brook Farm Trust was granted preliminary conditional approval at the Oct. 11 meeting of Northampton Borough Planning Commission for 11 single homes off Howertown Road. The plans now go before borough council for review and a vote.

Initially, the development was to have 67 homes in the borough, but the project has been scaled back. The majority of the housing development will be in North Catasauqua, with some space in Allen Township.

The present 18-hole golf course would be reduced to nine holes.

Northampton Borough Manager LeRoy Brobst said the plans could be on the borough council agenda for the Nov. 2 meeting.

There were a myriad of conditions the planning commission set for its recommendation for approval; some have already been met. Conditions involve securing and meeting all agency approvals and other environmental matters.

The final plans for approval of the proposed housing development will come when Willow Brook Farm Trust selects a developer, who will then detail the plans and go through the planning and permit process.

Regarding the traffic study and the remote possibility of a traffic light at the Fourth Street and Howertown Road intersection, about which Willow Brook Farm Trust had reservations of bearing the costs, borough Solicitor Steven Goudsouzian said the cost for a traffic signal should not be incurred by the borough.

“Were it not for the development, we wouldn’t be talking about it,” he said.

The recent traffic study at the Fourth Street and Howertown Road intersection disclosed 900-plus vehicles in the morning, which is projected to increase to 1,040 vehicles; the vehicle count in the evening of presently 1,098 vehicles would likely increase to 1,268 vehicles.

There was also concern of what the FedEx Ground project would add to the traffic count.