Plans Unveiled For Five School Sites In Bristol Twp.

Three separate developers laid out their plans for the five closed elementary school sites in Bristol Township.

The proposals, which have yet to go through the open-to-the-public land development process, were presented at a special Bristol Township Council meeting Tuesday evening.

Developer John McGrath, whose project is backed by former District Judge Robert Wagner, whose wife sits on council and is the non-elected secretary for the school board, presented his plan to develop three 55-plus communities with townhouses featuring garages, condo-like flats, and senior apartments at the 17.5-acre John Fitch Elementary School on Greenbrook Drive, 10-acre Abraham Lincoln Elementary School on Plumtree Drive, and 17-acre George Washington Elementary School on Crabtree Drive in Levittown.

Chris Levins, the president of CLC Contractors who is working on the McGrath project, told the public the community is modeled off the HeatherGate at Oxford Valley facility on Woodbourne Road in Middletown Township.

“There’s a product for everybody from 55 to 100,” Levins said of the McGrath plan.

He said each of the properties would have more than 400 parking spaces, pools, clubhouses, game rooms, fitness centers, and will be maintained by homeowner associations.

In their presentation to the township, McGrath’s group said each 55-plus community would have buffers from surrounding homes, green space, water features and improvements to stormwater management. At the current vacant schools, stormwater management infrastructure is limited or non-existent.

At the Fitch site, there are 72 apartments, 52 flats, and 64 quads proposed, with prices for the quads being in the mid-$300,000 range. The other two sites will feature a similar number of units, but the Lincoln site will only have two apartment buildings and not three like the other two properties.

The community is designed to fill gaps in senior housing in the area.

“Right now, if someone wants to live in a senior living community like this, they have to leave Bristol Township,” Levins said.

McGrath Homes has been involved in numerous age-restricted developments in Bucks and Montgomery counties, including St. Joseph Court in Falls Township and two developments in Middletown Township.

The developer had a traffic study done and determined that the 55-plus community would have less traffic burden than a school or single-family housing development.

The development team said the plan reuses the empty school sites, would bring new tax revenue without adding students, and each community would have a homeowner association that would take care of the properties and roads in the development.

McGrath said communities will add “long-term value” for the township.

The McGrath team said they met with neighbors for months before drawing up the plans. They presented similar plans last September.

Heather Parker, a Bristol Township resident, raised concern about lots of housing units being added to the Levitt-build neighborhoods.

One Bristol Township resident cheered on the development, noting it allows older residents to stay local.

Kristen Egan said she supported the 55-plus community and not single-family homes. She added development would help older locals say in the area and called communities like the ones proposed “an investment.”

Lana Davis, who lives near one of the properties, said the “idea of it is excellent,” but there were too many unit proposed for her liking.

The Bristol Township School Board and a county court approved McGrath’s plan to purchase the school sites for $1.2 million in 2019. The developer will be charged with demolishing the aging buildings that have been closed for several years.

The sale to the developer has been delayed until plans move forward.

Neighbors have complained about the condition of the three vacant schools.

Bristol Township School Board President James Morgan said the district is trying to keep up with maintaining the empty schools.

‘We’re just trying to get through until we sell the properties to these guys,” he said.

The McGrath team said residents with questions can email them to levittown55@clccontractors.com.

The next developer, DR Horton, presented their plan for the 20.9-acre site Lafayette Elementary School site off Fayette Drive.

The developer is looking to built twin homes, a total of 88 units, at the site that backs up to Silver Lake Park. The development would be 55-plus.

Nate Fox, an attorney for DR Horton, said the original goal was single-family homes, but the property dimensions and feedback led to changes.

The former school site and surrounding neighborhood often deal with flooding. Fox said the developer would add stormwater management features and regrade parts of the property.

Each unit would be about 1,600 square feet and be maintained by a homeowners association. There would be walking trails added around the area.

“What we’re looking to provide is a place where residents in Bristol Township can age in place,” Fox said.

Willie Tye, who lives on Winder Drive, which backs up to the Lafayette site, said his home has flooded with heavy storms and he was concerned development could increase flooding.

At the former Maple Shade school site on a V-shaped 5.7-acre lot along Newport Road in Croydon, Maple Shade Development LLC, which is connected to Falls Township-based Premium Excavating and Demolition, is seeking to turn the land into 24 single-family homes.

Attorney Allen Toadvine, who was representing the developer, said there is presently no stormwater infrastructure in place, but the developer would seek to improve that. He told the public the development and stormwater upgrades would improve the water situation in the area.

The developer would like to begin work next year and has already filed a petition to rezone the property from Residential 1 to Residential 2.

Brian Brzezinski, the developer, said the goal is to sell the homes for high-$300,000 to somewhere in the $400,000 range. The development would be marketed at families.

Public comments for the proposal were largely related to water issues in the area.

Officials connected to the developer said the goal would be to retain water on the property and direct in back into the ground and not into neighboring areas.

“There’s some work to be done there,” council member Pat Antonello said.

The school district paid to take down the Lafayette and Maple Shade school sites in 2019, but McGrath will have to take down the three schools on the properties where they want to build.

The Bristol Township School District shuttered six older elementary schools as they consolidated to three new, larger buildings in the last decade. The sixth school, the former former Clara Barton building, was not put up for sale and is now used as the district administration, transportation, and maintenance hub.

There were some audio issues during the broadcast of the meeting for some viewers at home. A YouTube recording from the township has clean audio.

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