Tim Hendricks, of Hendricks Group Developers, attended the July 27 Upper Frederick Planning Commission meeting seeking feedback on the Blantyre housing development concept plan with a particular focus on density, the location of a new sewer plant, parking requirements, a new road that would run parallel to Big Road, street/sidewalk widths, required buffers and setbacks between buildings, and stormwater management facilities.

            The Blantyre development would be located at 736 Heimbach Road and on multiple parcels of land south of Big Road on both sides of Colonial Road.

            Hendricks' stated intention was to provide a brief update regarding the development and communicate his understanding of the guidance he is receiving from the township. "The township is looking for 'a more compact development', meaning more open.

            "I hear 'work with our ordinance, we have an ordinance for a reason.' I'm here tonight, just as an update. What we are looking to do at this point is go by-right."

            He stated that it was not his intention to present his current plan because the township professionals had not had time to review it.  "I think we can design this completely by-right. We will work on all of this between now and the next time we're back to come up with a plan.

            "It's 260 units with a total of 319. I know we are having some debates over that.

            "If you look at your ordinance definition, we have apartments, we have multifamily buildings.  "We are not bluffing. We are just moving forward and listening to what you told us to do."

           Using the Ciocca Creek drawings as the basis of the discussion, Hendricks then described a development consisting of 260 multifamily units and 59 single-family homes.

            The subsequent discussion was often contentious, with Hendricks expressing frustration with the lack of progress on the project and township officials alleging a lack of transparency from Hendricks.

            Hendricks stated, "I proposed townhomes, and I proposed singles and I just kept getting a stone wall, so I just have to work within the ordinance.  "I will engineer and build it. I am not trying to threaten. I don't know what else to tell you. I can't keep just keep going home every month with no answers.

            "I've got to do something. I bought it. I'm going to do something with it. If you don't like anything I propose, I have to go with what the ordinance allows."

            A resident asked Hendricks why, after the township stated that 274 units were too many, he then proposed 319. 

            Planning Commission Chairman Richard Buckman responded, "I'll tell you what happened. We told him there are a lot of questions about giving up some stuff on parking and driveway widths. So then finally we said build it according to our ordinance. We don't want to give any favors here. So, the threat at the time was 'Well then I'll come back with a by-right with apartments' and that's what we got.

            "It's not a Mr. Nice Guy here."

            Manager Tracy Tackett said, "You can build by-right but instead of the multi, you can do townhomes. You would just get something around the 269 – 270, based on your calculations."

            Hendricks responded, "With all your setbacks that would buy me about 140. That's half as many units."  "Well, there's the answer," Tackett retorted.

            Township Solicitor Ken Picardi questioned Hendricks' recollection. "You were demanding, insisting on a number of 274, and what we said was we cannot commit to a number until you can show us you can fit 274 on there. What I was pretty sure was going to happen is when you add for the buffers and so forth, you're not going to fit 274 homes on there. But I don't think that was the dropping of the gauntlet. I thought you were going to take the plan that you have thus far and show us that 274 could fit on it, in which case we would have something to talk about."

            Hendricks responded, "Two-hundred-seventy-four singles and townhomes with your ordinance does not work.  "I gotta build something. I have been here for two years trying to get to a number that I'm allowed to build and the last meeting we had was 'do it by-right'."

            Another point of contention concerned the location of the new sewage treatment plant and the possible need for a new pumping station. Hendricks stated that no additional pumping station would be required, as there are no proposed units with a lower elevation than the sewer plant.

            Residents asked why Hendricks would not either expand the existing sewage plant or build the new one adjacent to it. He replied that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) would not allow it.

            When pressed on this issue by Buckman, Hendricks replied that his engineers are working with the township engineers to resolve the issue.

            Buckman suggested that Hendricks was motivated by zoning and would lose units if the new plant was built adjacent to the existing one.

            Residents asked if building more units would necessitate the construction of a larger sewer plant.

            Hendricks responded by saying that sewer plants are designed to handle a specific capacity (e.g. 50K gallons/day). The number and type of units built are equally important factors in calculating the required capacity of any new plant. An increase in the number of units constructed does not automatically mean that a larger plant is needed. For example, a two-bedroom apartment would generate less flow than a four-bedroom single-family home.

            Concluding the discussion, Buckman told Hendricks to submit his plan.