Chestnuthill Supervisors Review Plans for Medical, Professional Buildings

BY STACI L. GOWER TNEDITOR@TNONLINE.COM

Chestnuthill Township supervisors saw plans for a proposed subdivision along Route 115 in Effort during their meeting Tuesday.

“Our original plan was one building. Now it’s consolidated into one lot with a single driveway for the three buildings,” said Chris Reiss, an engineer with Boucher and James of Doylestown.

Reiss and colleagues are working for a Bronx-based real estate development company called Mastermind.

The site, located between the Dollar General and the plaza with Mike’s Pizzeria Italian Restaurant, will be used for medical and professional offices.

The plan has one two-story building and the other two are one-story, he said.

There are no defined tenants yet.

“We have seen these kinds of plans a dozen times. They are just getting a blueprint locked in,” said Chairman Carl B. Gould.

The plan currently has 262 parking spaces and a significant amount of landscaping, Reiss said.

“Our planning commission has seven people who have looked at this proposal. We don’t just rush through this process,” Gould explained to the audience.

He later noted that Tuesday’s other meeting items were discussed in 24 minutes, while this site development plan discussion lasted over an hour.

Township solicitor Tim McManus and township engineer Christopher McDermott are working with Reiss and the supervisors to address some issues with the proposed project.

One matter is the sewage plan.

The Department of Environmental Protection is recommending a study. There is also the possibility of a denitrification process, which could be costly.

Another matter is a 27-foot extension to an existing stormwater drainage pipe.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation wants the township to take responsibility for water coming onto PennDOT’s right of way, Supervisor Chris Eckert said.

“We’re not trying to jam you up. We cannot take someone else’s responsibility,” Gould said.

“Now it’s a 27-foot pipe, but later PennDOT will put out a statement that we own more footage of it. They’re under budget constraints, too.”

McManus said he would write a letter stating that Chestnuthill does not want to be the right of way applicant for this pipe under the road. Instead, Mastermind should be the applicant.

The supervisors tabled the plans, pending revisions and more discussion later.