The Douglass Township supervisors have reversed their stance on a proposed school bus depot in the municipality.

        On March 21 the board voted unanimously to rescind their decision to reject a land development plan proposed by the shareholder of a Bally school bus company.

        The vote, made at the end of the public meeting following an executive session, means the project will continue moving forward, according to Judith P. Rodden, the attorney representing applicant Brian Quigley.

        "My client is happy that the supervisors decided to reconsider their decision and are ready to move forward," Rodden said. "We are seeking direction to on how to move forward with the project."

        Rodden said she received an email message from township Solicitor Paul Bauer stating that he recommended to supervisors that they repeal their Feb. 15 vote, which denied a proposal by the Quigley Bus Service, Inc. to consolidate 134 buses and 64 vans on 27.79 acres at 290 Middlecreek Road.

        Supervisors Chairman Anthony Kuklinski declined to comment on the specifics of the situation. He directed all questions to the solicitor.

        "It's complicated," he wrote in a text message.

        According to Rodden, municipal officials are working with her client to reach an amicable solution that would lead to the withdrawal of his legal appeal filed in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.

        On March 7, Quigley appeared at a public meeting to ask the supervisors asking for reconsideration. However, the board ignored his request.

        Rodden filed an appeal in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas on March 17. She said previously that she would argue that that Quigley's due process rights have been violated.

        Following the completion of their public meeting agenda on March 21, the supervisors went into an executive session. Kuklinski announced they were going to discuss an issue of potential litigation.

        Municipal officials emerged from the private meeting and voted on the issue, according to the supervisor.

        According to Rodden, the message she received from Bauer did not provide a reason for the board reversal.

Unresolved concerns over potential traffic issues played a significant role in the board's decision to reject the plan in February. During a zoning hearing on the proposal in 2012, 12 of 13 people expressed their opposition to the project based on traffic concerns, according to Bauer.

        The zoning hearing board's decision included a requirement that the developer complete "a traffic study/road capacity analysis study," according to the township's planning agency meeting minutes from Feb. 9, 2012.

        That ruling also required Quigley – whose business supplies buses for the Boyertown Area and Oley Valley school districts – to submit a comprehensive traffic study of 14 intersections surrounding the property located at the intersections of Middle Creek, Swamp Creek and Schlegel roads, to township officials and its contracted engineering firm by Monday, Sept. 28.

        The applicant never presented a study to support claims by his traffic engineer that the proposal would have no impact on the nearby intersections, according to township engineer Josh Hagadorn.

        Earlier this month, Rodden argued that her client was not provided the opportunity to address concerns identified in a letter issued early in February, by the township's appointed engineer, with municipal officials.