Area of potential development (Google)
The Solebury Township Board of Supervisors will hold another community meeting to discuss a proposed development plan for the Route 202 corridor on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
The meeting will be held in the auditorium of the New Hope-Solebury High School at 182 W. Bridge St. in New Hope. A previous gathering on Aug. 20 at the Solebury Township office on Sugan Road saw outsized attendance that exceeded meeting room capacity.
“Because we had an overflow crowd, not everyone got a chance to be heard or to hear the views of their neighbors,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Mark Baum Baicker.
Artist’s rendering of “Solebury Square” concept presented in June.
Solebury residents offered a number of specific suggestions and concerns at the Aug. 20 meeting, including the scale, scope, and style of any building; the need to protect aquifers and streams, and ensure diligent stormwater management; the possibility of preserving land in the “Traditional Neighborhood Commercial” zoning district; traffic calming and management on Route 202 and other area roads, and the importance of maintaining the “Solebury way of life,” said the supervisors.
They emphasized that there is currently no specific plan under consideration by the board.
A June concept presentation of “Solebury Square,” a residential and commercial complex intended to address “the inevitability of additional building along 202 while not increasing the burden on the roadway itself,” encountered stiff resistance from the public. The project as proposed would have virtually double commercial space in the immediate area — from the New Hope Lodge on Route 179 to Hermitage Drive on Route 202 — and added hundreds of residential apartments.
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