BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA —A new senior living residence has been approved in the township, but plans for a sober home in a residential area are being reconsidered by the developer.
At a recent meeting, the Bensalem Township Council unanimously approved a preliminary land development application for Federal Housing Inc. to build a senior living residence at 4701 Somerton Rd.
The project is expected to break ground in late summer and take 14 months to complete.
Ed Murphy, who represented Federal Housing Inc., had appeared before the council last month, but action was deferred due to questions about parking adequacy.
After the parking issue was resolved, council members stated that they wanted to ensure that the project remains senior housing if the property ever changed hands.
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"The whole idea of this project is senior living. It can't be sold for apartments. If it changes hands from Federation Housing, the usage can't change," Council Vice President Joseph Pilieri said.
Solicitor Joseph Pizzo said the developer and Murphy have assured the township that the property would only be used for senior housing.
Murphy stuck around for a discussion about 1186 Byberry Road, a longtime property that had been before various township boards for various stages of development.
Pizzo told the council that the property had received land development approval several years ago for the construction of single family homes, but that the application didn't move forward, and the property changed hands.
He said the current owner sought twin-family houses. The builder has had success in the township with those homes but that project wasn’t granted, Pizzo said. So the developer decided to submit plans to construct 100-bed recovery house.
Murphy said the pandemic slowed that process and that the last conversation about the sober home was in September. 2019.
Pizzo said the applicant held back on the sober house application and wants to revisit the twin housing and move on from the sober home development.
"The issue has vexed all of us for five years or more," Murphy said. "This has been a struggle for everybody to try to do something that makes sense for the site, neighborhood, and the community."
Murphy said the twin housing was turned down five years ago, but that plans for 24 townhomes were approved.
"The twins make more sense," Murphy said. "The twins are a marketable product. They are done well and the township has benefitted from them."
Council Vice Chairman Joseph Pilieri said the twins are "better than sober housing in a residential neighborhood."
Murphy said he hoped that Pizzo would "push it" with the planning board and "encourage them to view the wisdom."
"It's ridiculous and irresponsible to have a sober house here," Councilman Joseph Knowles said.
Residents around Byberry Road appeared before the council to state that they don't want townhomes because they would be facing their backyards.
"We feel like we're being bullied into it," one resident stated at the meeting.
"They have a legal right to put up the sober living quarters," Council President Edward Kisselback told the residents. "This is a compromise. Our feet are to the fire."