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Board approves Star Tours' conditional use to relocate headquarters to Lincoln Highway
Summary
After an executive summary and sworn testimony from the applicant’s witnesses, the Falls Township Board unanimously approved a conditional use allowing Star Tours to move its corporate headquarters to 394 Lincoln Highway with limited maintenance, parking and a small washbay addition; the applicants said most buses will be on the road rather than stored on site.
The Falls Township Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a conditional use application to allow Star Tours to relocate its corporate headquarters and limited maintenance operations to 394 Lincoln Highway in Fairless Hills.
The applicant’s attorney, Mr. Murphy, opened the hearing and offered an executive summary. Engineer Justin Gianni (Dynamic Engineering), sworn before the board, described the roughly 5.1‑acre site and explained the proposal would reuse the existing building with less than a 500‑square‑foot interior addition for a washbay, restriping for bus parking, and enhanced buffering along the rear property line to screen adjacent residences. "We're really trying to repurpose and maintain the existing facility," Gianni testified, noting no substantial new impervious coverage and an emphasis on ingress/egress off a signalized intersection rather than Route 1.
Pete and Sandy Barowski, who said the Barowski family has operated the business for three generations, explained that Star Tours' operations are largely tour‑oriented and that most buses are out on extended trips. They said the headquarters would house planning, administration and maintenance functions but would not operate as a large bus depot. "Our tours go all over the country ... on the tour side of our business, which represents over 50% of it, those buses are out on the road on multi‑day trips," Pete Barowski said.
Board members asked about employee counts, parking demands, the potential for on‑site vehicle storage and safety during school‑period traffic at nearby Pensbury High School. Applicants said they estimate about 100 total employees (roughly 30 office staff and 25 full‑time drivers, plus tour directors and maintenance staff) and that their parking calculations show no need for overflow parking. They also said buses would primarily use a signalized intersection for controlled access rather than directly entering or exiting onto Route 1.
With no public speakers asking for party status and no outstanding technical objections from township professionals, a motion to approve the conditional use passed unanimously; the hearing record will be preserved via the meeting video transcript as agreed with the applicant’s counsel and the court reporter arrangements discussed at the hearing.
