Planning commission recommends approval of minor subdivision at 405 and 415 Castle Road

The Newberry Township Planning Commission on April 14 recommended approval of a final minor subdivision plan that restructures property lines between 405 and 415 Castle Road so one parcel will meet the 10-acre threshold for Clean and Green agricultural assessment.

Chris Hoover of Hoover Engineering told the commission the application is a straightforward property-line adjustment that creates a lot labeled 1A and consolidates it with an adjacent lot so the resulting parcel will qualify for the agricultural assessment program. "The plan before you is a kind of a somewhat simple subdivision plan," Hoover said, describing replacement soils testing on the smaller lot and noting no new building is proposed.

Commissioners and staff clarified administrative errors in the draft plan (the left-hand address listed as Lewisberry should read Manchester) and asked the applicant to correct the plan text. A township reviewer raised the presence of downslope wetlands on the site and asked that the submission note be amended to make clear that the site investigation covered both lots, not only the smaller parcel.

Speakers recited acreage figures for the record: existing lot one was stated as 6.2248 acres and will be reduced to about 2 acres; proposed lot 1A will be 4.2248 acres; existing lot two is 6.4219 acres and will increase to 10.3468 acres after the adjustment. Commissioners confirmed those figures meet the 10-acre threshold needed to apply for Clean and Green agricultural assessment.

A member of the public asked how the Clean and Green designation affects taxes. A speaker explained the program shifts most of the non-structure acreage to agricultural assessment, and estimated that landowners typically see a substantially lower assessment on the qualifying acreage (a speaker characterized the reduction as roughly two-thirds of the tax liability on that portion). The same speaker said costs to pursue a subdivision and associated approvals vary and estimated a three- to four-year payback on professional and filing costs; the applicant corrected an earlier figure, saying total professional fees in many cases can be about $15,000 rather than $1,500.

Commissioners reviewed the township's procedural timing: the 90-day clock for action begins with the first meeting of consideration (which the commission confirmed begins at this meeting) and the township may grant an extension; commissioners asked that a calendar date be added to the agenda to make the deadline explicit for board members and the public.

The commission voted separately to grant a waiver of section 344-20-E for the woodlands evaluation and to grant the waiver for the site context map, both on the grounds that the proposal is a property-line adjustment with no new building or site-disturbing development. After the waiver votes, the commission moved and seconded a recommendation to approve the final minor subdivision plan as presented and in the March 27 memorandum. The recommendation passed; the transcript does not include a roll-call tally.

The commission's recommendation and the corrected application materials will proceed to the Board of Supervisors for further action; commissioners noted the 90-day deemed-approval window begins with this meeting unless the township grants an extension.

Meeting business concluded and the commission adjourned.