South Londonderry supervisors approve zoning change to multifamily residential

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

After a public hearing Tuesday, the South Londonderry Township Board of Supervisors approved Ordinance 222-2022 modifying requirements for the multi-family residential zone and rezoned the Northside Crossing parcel.

The amendment was approved two to one with Jack Custer in opposition.

Several members of the public also spoke out against the proposal, citing possible increased school taxes, reduction in available highway commercial property, and caution against changing original zoning maps as reasons for doing so.

The amendment increases the maximum units per acre within a multifamily residential zone from four units to 12 units when the property is an acre or more. It also reduces the required amount of parking spaces from three per unit to two.

It was referred to the Lebanon County Planning Commission, which recommended approval, saying that the new unit-per-acre amount meets the county average.

The 12 unit-per-acre limitation is similar to nearby residential properties. Supervisors have previously noted that very few other properties zoned multifamily residential are an acre or more, so they feel it is unlikely to affect other properties.

The 2.9-acre parcel was rezoned from highway commercial to multifamily residential. Two other parcels on the property, located at street corners, will remain highway commercial.

Representatives from Northside Crossing also noted that with additional residents of the area, those highway commercial parcels may more easily find tenants.

As of now, no plans have been submitted. However, a diagram was shown at Tuesday’s meeting with the tentative plans for the property.

The supervisors also heard a request from Hershey Hills Preserve and Estates to waive township involvement in the project and defer to Derry Township. Of the 21-acre project, only seven acres fall into South Londonderry Township, with 5.5 of those being dedicated open space.

The remaining 1.5 acres are the backyards of houses built in Derry Township. There is one septic system line going through South Londonderry Township.

The board unanimously agreed to waive participation in the project, conditional on them being made a third party in the conservation easement, coordination being made with regards to the septic system, and future residents being bound by SLT requirements when modifying their backyards.

Supervisors also unanimously approved an updated stormwater ordinance. The plan mostly updates the ordinance to current standards, with the only major change being that it makes the process for exemption requests more streamlined.

In other news, the board:

• Unanimously accepted a letter of resignation from Municipal Authority secretary Donald Plourde and announced that they are now seeking letters of intent to fill the remainder of his term.
• Unanimously approved street dedications of Windemere Phase II and Glendon Drive, both contingent on authorizing the solicitor to prepare documents for title commitments and maintenance bonds. In both cases, the financial security was also reduced.
• Unanimously agreed to a line painting quote of $8,289.83.
• Unanimously agreed to advertise the sale of a highway truck on Municibid, with a minimum bid of $20,000.
• Unanimously agreed to MMOs for non-uniform employees, police, and non-uniform defined employees.
• Unanimously agreed to the PennDOT District 8 Bridge Inspection Program.
• Unanimously agreed to renew their agreement with the Iron Valley United Soccer Club for three years.
• Unanimously agreed to renew an audit contract with Garcia, Garman & Shea for $10,200.
• Agreed to a renewal of IT services with Executive Imaging for three years, with a discounted rate, conditional on the addition of a termination clause and removal of automatic renewal. This was agreed to two to one, with William Bova in opposition due to a representative of the company recently espousing incorrect information about insurance to the board.
• Unanimously agreed to the 2023 meeting schedule.
• Unanimously approved a trick or treat date of Oct. 27 and a rain date of Oct. 31.
• Unanimously agreed to extent the timeframe of construction of In The Net to Jan 1.
• Unanimously agreed to a reduction of financial security of Soldier’s Field to $3,104.
• Heard reports including police, library, and fire companies.
• Unanimously approved the minutes for the Aug. 9 meeting and approved the minutes for the Aug. 24 workshop with Faith Bucks abstaining because she was not present.
• Unanimously approved bill and payroll lists.

South Londonderry Township supervisors meet at 27 W. Market St. on the second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. The next meeting will be held Oct. 11 and the next workshop will be held Oct. 18. These meetings are open to the public and do not require registration.

Questions about this story? Suggestions for a future LebTown article? Reach our newsroom using the contact form below and we’ll do our best to get back to you.