East Rockhill Planning Commission recommends waivers and conditional approval for Pennridge Family Dental expansion

The East Rockhill Township Planning Commission voted November 13 to recommend several waivers and to forward a conditional preliminary/final land development approval to the Board of Supervisors for Pennridge Family Dental’s proposed expansion.

Applicant representatives told the commission the plan calls for a 1,167-square-foot second-floor addition to the existing two-story mixed-use building at North Fifth Street and Schwenkmill Road to modernize the facility, add handicap access and two additional hygiene/treatment chairs. The site totals about 1.9 acres and is served by an existing onsite septic system and public water.

Wynn Associates, in a November 7, 2025 review, flagged multiple plan revisions and clarifications the township requires before record-plan approval. Key engineering and zoning concerns included incorrectly shown front-yard setbacks (must be measured to the ultimate right-of-way), parking calculations and the need to restrict the lower-level storage area to dental use to avoid additional parking requirements, delineation of a Type 1 buffer yard between nonresidential and residential uses, and certification of property boundaries and features by a professional land surveyor and engineer consistent with the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SLDO Sections 22-403 & 404).

The review also addressed waiver requests the applicant submitted on October 15, 2025 seeking relief from required street improvements (cartway widening, curb, sidewalk and drainage), stormwater management facilities, and recreation land dedication. The applicant told the commission the limited scale of the expansion motivated the waiver requests; the commission’s recommendation on waivers will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors for final determination.

Other items Wynn Associates noted included: the need to memorialize lower-level use restrictions consistent with Bucks County Health Department conditions (BCHD correspondence dated July 25, 2025) limiting septic-system reuse to situations with no lower-level tenants and sewage flows under 500 gallons per day; provision of recent water meter readings to document usage; screening of dumpsters (arborvitae proposed); confirmation of no new site lighting or use of full-cutoff fixtures if replaced; verification of erosion and sedimentation control plan approval from the Bucks County Conservation District/PADEP; and the requirement that areas within the ultimate rights-of-way be offered for dedication with legal descriptions prepared by a professional surveyor.

On motions recorded in the minutes, the commission unanimously voted in favor of recommending waiver of street improvements, approval of the claimed stormwater exemption and acceptance of a recreation land fee in-lieu-of (motion by Dave Nyman; seconded by Colin Monahan). The commission also unanimously recommended preliminary/final land development approval to the Board of Supervisors contingent on the applicant’s compliance with Wynn Associates’ November 7, 2025 correspondence and submission of a record plan for township review (motion by Colin Monahan; seconded by Richard Kelly). The minutes state all present voted in favor on both motions.

The Planning Commission did not receive any public comment on the application during the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 7:36 PM.