Residents Fired Up Over Proposed Penndel Mixed-Use Development

A borough council meeting turned loud when residents raised their voices over a proposed mixed-use development.

At the Penndel Borough Council meeting Monday, attorney Bryce McGuigan presented plans to redevelop the former Langhorne Carpet Company on West Lincoln Highway to a mixed use development that would include two, four-story buildings with 150 luxury apartments on the top three floors.

The council didn’t take action of the proposal, because the developer wanted to present their idea before moving forward with the plan.

The presentation included an animation of how the development could look.

McGuigan said the development are trying to make the property “green and driveable. As you can see, this is nothing like your standard apartment complex.”

The attorney reiterated multiple times that they had no plans to build low income units, which has been circulated on social media in recent months.

The units would be priced between $2,000 to $3,500.

Real estate firm Kiddma LLC, who is under contract to purchase the property, also plans to have three retail parcels at street level.

McGuigan said the developer is aiming for both national chains “like Honeygrow” and local shops.

Although the four-acre property is officially zoned for commercial use, it has been used by the carpet company for industrial use over the last 90 years. McGuigan said that, if they can’t get the mixed use, the property might be turned into warehouses, to which he said “I know nobody wants that here.”

“When we look at this from a development standpoint, you look at that property which sits on Nusiness Route 1 at an intersection with Hulmeville. Why would we ever want to have an industrial structure there?” he said.

The attorney boasted that the location of the development would be good for tenants, with its proximity to the Langhorne Train Station and nearby businesses such as Paul’s Penndel Pizza.

“It’s a property that could potentially serve as a gateway to the downtown Penndel area. If this does get developed, what does that say to other developers? It says ‘hey, this works in Penndel, this could work,’” McGuigan said.

Councilman Mark Moffa agreed with his vision, saying it would help the borough achieve a plan written by the Bucks County Redevelopment Authority several years back to revitalize its downtown.

Moffa also claimed that a report about sewer capacity was misinterpreted. 

“There was a letter from the state DEP to the Bucks County Sewer Authority confirming receipt of the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority’s revised connections management plan, and stating that sewer connections that are not part of the plan should not be approved. However projects are added and deleted from that plan and the authority has a great deal of discretion at its disposal,” he said.

Moffa went on to say that the borough has been improving and expanding capacity of its sewer system in recent years, enough that the development may proceed. 

Throughout his presentation, McGuigan said the developer wanted to hear from the residents and boards on their thoughts about the plan. He also recognized that the property would need to be rezoned to allow the residential portion to proceed.

“We have no illusions. This process would take, I imagine at least a year and a half to two years before we get a shovel anywhere near the ground,” he told the council and public.

McGuigan said that he knows the area well, as he grew up in Neshaminy Point in Middletown Township, right across the street from Penndel Borough, and remembers passing the carpet factory when he was young.

When Penndel Borough Council Vice President Barbara Heffelfinger asked if they could commemorate the carpet factory in some way, McGuigan said that they could preserve the wall facing Lincoln Highway with the company’s sign painted on it. 

A big concern from the council was parking.

In the presentation, McGuigan said that “we’re going to have plenty of room for both the housing and commercial units.”

But Hefflinger worried about the increase in traffic the development would bring, and issues with emergency vehicle access.

The plan calls for two pairs of entrances on Lincoln Highway and Hulmeville Road.

“We’ve seen too many accidents on Business Route 1. Going in and out of there is really going to be an issue,” she said. 

Mayor Tom Soddano reiterated the public’s concerns about the sewage problems. The mayor said that since 2012 “the Neshaminy interceptor has been acknowledged to have a projected hydraulic overload. Data continues to show that the Neshaminy interceptor is operating at or close to its conveyance capacity.”

McGuigan said he is aware of the issue, but he said the Bucks County Water and Sewer is inspecting all the lines because there’s a big inflow and iodine problem.

“They’re gonna make some changes that will greatly help the sanitary and sewer load that Penndel is currently producing,” McGuigan said.

Councilwoman Robin Valentis told him that she appreciates the developers efforts, but they still have a long way to go.

“I am a huge proponent of mixed use. I do not want to see industrial,” she said. 

Valentis then told the public that they wanted to hear opinion on it via emails.

But then, the room erupted into chaos.

Multiple people started yelling at her, with some saying they would modify what the public submits as comments to benefit the developer, and others accusing Valentis of not working “for the people.”

Shortly after the presentation ended, McGuigan was seen leaving the building, and that’s when the room got rowdy. Residents were mad that they did not get their questions answered, and wanted McGuigan to answer them.

One person got into an argument with Council President John Stratz, who was seen banging his gavel and ordering the room to be quiet.

A minute later McGuigan came back into the building and announced that he would be outside for anyone to answer questions.

While most of the meeting goers went outside, one resident accused McGuigan of not answering questions during the meeting so they could go on record.  

While outside, multiple people were seen questioning McGuigan.

LevittownNow.com caught up with Netanel Darmon, developer for Kiddma LLC, and asked him if they had any plans if the mixed used plan falls through. He told us that they would consider keeping the existing building intact for industrial use, and that the building is ready to move in for a tennant.

“We could have a brewery, or just like storage or whatever,” he said.

Darmon also said that when he first bought the property, a friend approached him offering $2 million to turn it into a large parking lot for trucks.

Darmon said he discouraged his friend from putting truck parking on the site.

In the meeting, councilwoman Hefflinger asked the developer to consider reducing the number of apartment units.

When asked if they could, Darmon said he wasn’t sure, but they came to 150 units “to make the project financially viable.”

In May 2023, Darmon purchased property in Philadelphia’s Manayunk neighborhood to develop into 61 apartments. The drawings for that site show a nearly identical design to what’s being proposed in Penndel Borough. 

Another person talking to Darmon was heard saying, “as a mom that lives here, I would like to see something come here, we just think the fear is about how big, how tall. Like we can’t even build my garage over 16 feet.”

When it was time for public comments, only two residents spoke about the development.

The first man said he spoke to McGuigan while outside, who he claims told him “they could not guarantee that it would definitely be luxury apartments.” He also accused the former director of the Bucks County Redevelopment Authority of having an involvement in the project.

“I’m going to start selling pitchforks and torches because I’m going to make a fortune for the next meeting,” he said. 

The other said, “I’m all for people coming into the borough and making it better for everybody to live in, fix it up and create more revenue. But this is not their first rodeo, and they did not come with anything preliminary that would impact the borough.” 

“Putting in 150 units, how much work consumption is that? How much sewer exposure is that gonna be? What’s gonna be the flow of the traffic?” the resident said.