At East Allen Township Board of Supervisors’ meeting Dec. 13, developers provided a glimpse of a proposed residential development, Sunny Slope Crossings. The meeting was designed to gauge reaction to anticipated waivers contemplated for residential development on open land at Dogwood Road and Hanover Street.

The property is zoned single-family residence and requires homes on one-acre-minimum lots. As indicated in the proposed layout, some of the lots exceed the one-acre minimum. There are 80 homes projected. The homes will be served by a public water system and on-lot septic systems.

In addition to roads required to serve the individual homes, the proposal includes widening Hanover Street and Dogwood Road to accommodate increased traffic.

With a development of this size, there was some discussion of phasing in the project. No decision was reached, but it is assumed that there would be a longer-than-normal implementation plan for the full buildout.

Roads within the subdivision would be public. Supervisor Mark Schwartz endorsed the idea.

“When the roads are private or held by a homeowners’ group, they are not properly maintained and then the township gets a petition to take over the deteriorating roads,” he said. “It is better that the roads are built to our standards and we maintain them.”

The development’s close proximity to Bicentennial Park produced various options. There is an option to connect a trail from the development to the park. Another option is to have the stormwater detention basin as a park feature. Neither option appealed to the supervisors. They are not interested in adding to park maintenance requirements.

There is a recreational fee levied by the township against each new residential property. The township often allows developers to contribute and develop land that can be used for recreational activities.

The plan has not been reviewed by the township planning commission. The process to get approvals for the new proposal is just beginning. Developers wanted to get an inkling of the township’s requirements for the development because it has a high visibility location next to the park.