More than 60 people were present during the virtual May 21 South Whitehall Township Planning Commission meeting for the preliminary review of the Ridge Farm major development proposal.

Developer Kay Builders originally received conditional use approval for the plan in November 2019.

According to township planner Gregg Adams, the Community Development Department recommended the planning commission take the plan under advisement to allow the applicant time to receive and address feedback.

Adams said the Ridge Farm proposal is for the development of 138.3 acres on the east and west sides of Cedar Crest Boulevard between Huckleberry Road and Walbert Avenue.

The plan outlines construction of more than 770 single homes, two-unit dwellings, condominiums and apartments, 27,200 square feet of commercial and restaurant space, a 30,000 square-foot medical office, community clubhouse, stormwater management facilities and 40 acres of open space.

Engineer Jason Engelhardt, of Langan Engineering, spoke on behalf of the developer before the planning commission.

“We understand this is a large plan,” Engelhardt said. “This is our first time in front of you with the overall plan and the preliminary plan submission.”

Engelhardt said the developer has had recent conversations with Parkland School District about school bus access, and were provided with markups, pickup locations and changes to sidewalks and lighting which will be implemented in the design.

He also said the project will have a homeowners association to take care of neighborhood development, open spaces and road maintenance.

He added, however, some roadways and open space has been offered to the township for dedication.

Engelhardt addressed several requests for waivers regarding driveways, maximum lengths of cul-de-sacs, highway access points, road separation distances, traffic studies, stormwater drainage and slope grading.

He said the portion of Huckleberry Road, east of Cedar Crest, will be widened by 8 feet to 10 feet, and curbing and street trees will be added and the intersection of the two streets will be reprofiled for better visibility. Extra signals will be added.

Engelhardt said the eastern and western sides of Huckleberry Road are classified differently - east as a connector street, west as an arterial - and thus are subject to different conditions.

One notable waiver addressed deferrals for widening and curbing along the western side of Huckleberry Road.

Engelhardt said there had also been a request for sidewalk deferrals along the road but said the school district requested sidewalks be added for child safety.

Planners said they wanted sidewalks as a safety consideration and asked why the applicant was requesting the waivers.

Engelhardt said the waiver from widening and curbing was due to the “rural nature” of Huckleberry Road in the area and increasing the road width would change the road’s character.

The commission noted that traffic on rural roads will increase over time and suggested it may be better to make improvements to Huckleberry if road improvements are already ongoing for benefit of existing and future residents.

In addition to waivers, the commission also discussed a mobility easement which connected the planned eastern residential development with the mixed-use village area of Ridge Farms.

Chairman William MacNair and other members said they would prefer to see the easement be a road instead, noting it could ease traffic on larger roads.

“My own opinion is this would be better as a road now …,” MacNair said. “I think it would allow traffic off Cedar Crest, Huckleberry and Walbert to travel through the neighborhood.”

During the audience comment portion, John Chaya commented on the traffic study report that vehicle stacking along Huckleberry Road approaching Cedar Crest would only be six vehicles deep, saying it was not an accurate representation of the situation.

“I can tell you that’s not true,” Chaya said.

“At school time, the cars are sometimes all the way down to my driveway.”

He said the road is also used by drivers to avoid Walbert Avenue and other heavily-traveled roads, adding that new residents would exacerbate the problem.

Huckleberry Road resident Cindy Smith agreed traffic was an issue, saying the road should be widened to a full street.

“It’s still the same road it was 50-plus years ago,” Smith said. “For that much traffic, Huckleberry Road cannot sustain it … It can’t even sustain the increase we have now.”

Smith also said the development’s exits would also be putting a lot of traffic onto back roads which may not be able to handle the traffic load.

“If they’re coming out onto roads that are underdeveloped … ,” Smith said. “That should be taken into consideration.”

In the meeting text chat, Ronald Delorenzo discussed the number of waivers.

“It is obvious this plan is substantially noncompliant with our ordinances and should therefore be rejected,” Delorenzo wrote.

After audience comments were heard, planners decided to take no further action.

“There’s obviously more to go on this so we’re not going to take any action on this right now; it’s to be continued,” MacNair said.

He made a formal motion to take the plan review under advisement, which was passed with a unanimous 6-0 vote.

The next planning commission meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. June 18.