A developer is seeking to expand one existing home, demolish several out buildings, and build two dwelling units along North State Street.
On Wednesday, Newtown Borough Council voted to conditionally approve the preliminary plan for subdivision and land development from One State Street Associates L.P. for property located at 110 North State Street, which sits between Greene Street and the Newtown Theatre.
The .5-acre lot presently features a home, a garage, and several outbuildings.
The developer has proposed removing the garage and outbuildings. Additionally, the developer would expand the existing home and subdivide the southern portion of the lot to build two new homes that face North State Street.
A new 12-foot-wide driveway would be added off North State Street and lead to new garages in the back.
Council members raised several concerns about the project, including stormwater management, parking arrangements, and the proposed addition to an existing historic structure on the property.
The plans had previously come before the Newtown Borough Planning Commission and modifications were taken into account after a number of recommendations.
After debate, the council agreed to make the setbacks and the addition and existing building subject to review by the Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB) prior to final plan approval.
“We agreed to the conditions proposed by the Planning Commission and we talked about the possibility of a 10 or 15 foot trail easement along the creek to be worked out at the final plan approval stage,” said George Asimos, the attorney for the developer.
Initially proposed to run along the creek bank, discussions between council and the developer shifted to potentially locating the trail within a broader drainage easement area.
“The drainage easement be amended to include that it would enable a trail to be put along within that easement and also potentially future stream bank restoration,” Councilmember Julia Woldorf said.
Borough Engineer Michelle Fountain proposed renaming the easement as a trail easement within the drainage easement area to accommodate multiple uses.
Asimos agreed to work out the details of the trail easement between preliminary and final plan approval.
The council will vote to fully approve the preliminary plan next month subject to several conditions, including providing a trail easement within the drainage easement area, submitting an adequate vehicle turning movement plan for the parking area, installing a stop bar and stop sign for vehicles exiting the site, and addressing setbacks for the plan.
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