Londonderry supervisors approve multiple waivers for 828‑unit Falcon Crest development amid neighbors’ flood and soil concerns

The Londonderry Township Board of Supervisors voted Aug. 5 to approve a series of subdivision and stormwater waivers for the Falcon Crest/Lytle Farms land development, clearing several procedural and design hurdles while drawing vocal objections from neighboring property owners.

Developer representatives from Rettew Associates and PLF LLC presented plans for a mixed‑use project on about 216 acres with 828 total units — 205 single‑family, 91 townhouses and 532 multifamily units — along with commercial space and a stream restoration program. Joel Young of Rettew described an integrated stormwater and stream restoration approach that, he said, would allow environmental improvements and maximize available credits from federal and state programs.

The board approved multiple waivers tied to the preliminary plan and phased final approvals, including reverse‑frontage lots, modified monumentation, sidewalk deferrals on Coopers Hawk Road in constrained stream areas, narrower riparian buffers on a limited segment in exchange for additional plantings, relaxed inlet spacing for townhouse drives, and a conditional waiver of walkway illumination on mulch/gravel trails provided a plan note limits those trails to daylight hours. Most votes were recorded with Chairman Bart Shellenhamer, Supervisor Mike Geyer and Supervisor Mel Hershey voting Aye; Supervisor Ron Kopp recused himself from Falcon Crest matters because of a stated conflict.

The most contested vote concerned a waiver to allow stormwater discharge within a FEMA floodplain so the developer can implement stream restoration and conveyance improvements. Township staff and the project engineer said the design intends to return flows to natural channels and that the Army Corps of Engineers and state agencies will require a CLOMR (conditional letter of map revision) and annualized verification during and after construction. The board approved that waiver 2–1, with Shellenhamer and Geyer voting Aye and Hershey voting Nay. Kopp did not participate.

Resident Bob Pistor, whose property adjoins the site, told the board he was worried the proposal would shift risk "downstream," citing concerns about where more than 125,000 cubic yards of excavated soils might be placed and whether culvert and flood‑elevation calculations would protect upstream structures and bridges. "I am not against the Falcon Crest plan," Pistor said, "but these are things being pushed downstream that will cost me without getting any benefits from the plan." Developers said they were open to negotiation and that stream and floodplain work would be subject to review by the Army Corps, DEP and other agencies.

Solicitor Jim Diamond and staff clarified procedural points: the applicant formally withdrew a combined Preliminary/Final filing and amended its request to seek preliminary plan approval for the full site with concurrent final approvals for initial phases, each subject to phase‑specific bonding and infrastructure requirements. The board required plan notes and clarified expectations for monumentation placement and HOA maintenance of buffers and stormwater facilities.

Next steps: the project team will continue detailed engineering, resubmit phase‑specific final plans to the Planning Commission and pursue necessary federal/state approvals for the proposed stream work. The board’s approvals on waivers do not constitute final building permits; the CLOMR, Army Corps and DEP approvals and phase bonding remain prerequisites to construction.