Commercial Property Owner Levels Lush Woods Without Permission

What once was a quiet grove of trees that separated a quiet Bristol Township neighborhood from the rear of an office complex in Middletown is now a barren field.

Neighbors of Stanford Road in Bristol Township’s Fairless Hills section are upset that the owner of the empty office building and rear wooded area at 1723 Woodbourne Road in Levittown cut down a large swath of trees last week.

Four homes on Stanford Road back up to the 5.3-acre Woodbourne Road property. Neighbors told LevittownNow.com that a large forest like portion of trees were removed with no notice to Middletown or neighboring residents in Bristol Township. The result is a barren patch that opens up the homes to the noisy and active roadway.

Middletown Director of Zoning, Planning and Engineering Pat Duffy confirmed what neighbors recounted. He said the owners of the property, 1723 (One) Woodbourne Acquisitions LLC of Philadelphia, did not apply for the various permits needed to remove large swaths of trees and have not submitted any plans for the site to his office recently.

Neighbors reported the clearing of the trees last Thursday and Duffy’s department took immediate action and shutdown contractors removing roughly 60,000 square feet of trees and brush.

“We immediately told them to cease and desist, and they did, but it was too late because the trees were down,” Duffy said.

“Last Wednesday night when I came home from work, it was like this,” said Carol Fitch, who originally called officials to alert them of the missing trees. Fitch heard the noise of trees coming down last week on Monday but didn’t see the extent of the tree removal work until nearly all the trees were removed later in the week.

“They just cut the trees down, they never let us know or anything,” said Pablo Lopez, a resident of one of the homes that backs up to 1723 Woodbourne Road.

Duffy said his department will work with the owners of the property to get trees and shrubs planted to create a 75-foot barrier between the backyards of the Stanford Road homes and the cleared land. The goal, according to Duffy, is to have the plantings finished in the coming months.

While the new plantings will likely let some Stanford Road residents breathe a sigh of relief, they won’t quickly bring back the peaceful environment created by the tall trees that had long stood separating the properties that straddle the border between Bristol Township and Middletown.

“This was beautiful, pristine woods. Now, it’s just terrible,” said Geoffrey Fitch. “Traffic is now audible and visible to the four affected homes. They just came in here and didn’t care about the consequences.”

In addition to the quality of life implications, Lopez mentioned the impact the removal might have on wildlife. Before the woods were cut down, the “only thing you could hear at night was the animals,” he said.

Duffy raised concerns because the property owner didn’t have a grading, erosion and stormwater management plan in place when they cut down the wooded area.

Middletown is opting not to fine 1723 (One) Woodbourne Acquisitions LLC but instead will make them go through the lengthy and costly planning and permitting process that they should have gone through before removing the trees. Duffy defended the township’s actions and said fines would have tied the case up in court and left an uncertain outcome.

“This is not going to be cheap for them and there is hardship,” Duffy said.

In addition, the Bucks County Conservation District, which operates under the supervision of the State Conservation Commission of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, has mailed a citation to 1723 (One) Woodbourne Acquisitions LLC for violating their regulations. The organization has authority to cite the property owners due to the size of the area the contractors disturbed by cutting down the trees and clearing brush.

Duffy said a representative of the property spoke with him and apologized saying they weren’t aware of the regulations.

Both Lopez and the Fitches are new arrivals to Stanford Road. Lopez and his family moved in in December 2015 and the Fitches arrived in May 2015. Both parties said that they would never have moved to their current homes if is was not for the grove of trees.

“What made you do this without checking first? Why would you want to destroy these pristine woods?” Geoffrey questioned.

LevittownNow.com was unable to reach the Woodbourne Road property owner for comment Wednesday.