Demolition On Three Closed Levittown Schools To Begin, Two Will Be 55+ Communities

Three closed Bristol Township elementary schools in Levittown are facing the wrecking ball, with demolition slated to begin soon. However, under a recent agreement, only two of the sites will be redeveloped into 55-plus communities.

Neighbors reported recently seeing Area Enclosures Fence Company putting up a chain link fence around the properties and De Nucci Excavating Corp. parking construction vehicles 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 right before the end of 2022.

Township Manager Randee Elton said the developer is set to begin demolition once they receive final utility shutoff notices for the sites.

Developer John McGrath, through company JRGF LLC., bought the schools from the Bristol Township School District in August for $1.2 million. He is hoping to construct 55-plus housing communities at Lincoln and Fitch.

The land development for Fitch has been approved by council, and the Lincoln plans still have to come before council as part of the land development process.

The demolition of the vacant schools that have been the targets of vandals was agreed to in a deal made between the developer and the township in fall, Elton said.

In August, McGrath said at a public meeting he would “promptly demolish” the vacant and deteriorating schools.

An agreement approved by Bristol Township Council in November means the Washington site will be left open space and dedicated to the township.

Bristol Township Councilperson Patrick Antonello said the township pushed hard for McGrath not to develop the Washington site because it is in a floodplain.

“We have created a great open space site at Washington,” he said, noting the developer could have attempted to construct communities at all the former school properties.

Township officials have said they plan to keep a small paved parking area that is in good condition for potential development of a park at the Washington site. However, park plans still need to finalized and are pending a township-wide review of parks.

The school district put a deed restriction on the three properties when they were sold that forces McGrath to put age-restricted housing if anything is constructed.

At the Fitch site, the developer is looking to build 60 one-story quad homes; 48 flats, which are similar to a townhome but only one story; and 72 apartments. The apartments will be rented and the quads and flats will be owned by the residents.

The community will include a club house, pool, bouche court, underground stormwater basin, and two ponds, according to the plans.

A representative for the developer said a larger-than-required buffer around the property and curbs and sidewalks will be installed at the Fitch site.

While the Lincoln site plans haven’t come up for a vote, the developer is seeking to construct 41 flats and 38 apartments. The community would feature similar amenities to Washington and a buffer between the new development and the existing homes.

The communities are designed to be “self-contained and self-sufficient” and maintained by a private association made up of residents, a representative for the developer said last year.

A traffic engineer for the developer testified last year that the age-restricted communities at the two sites will have the least impact on traffic in the surrounding neighborhoods. He noted that the sites had traffic when the schools were active.

The Bristol Township School Board and a county court approved McGrath’s plan to purchase the school sites in 2019, but closing of the deal was delayed until this past summer.

Residents who live near the schools have said they are headaches. Residents have complained about overgrown grass and weeds, damaged structures, vermin, trespassers, trash, and arsons at the properties.

Two other former school sites in the township have been sold to other developers.

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