Foxlane Homes wants to build 50 houses on nearly 17 acres of Karamoor Farm off East Skippack Pike in Whitemarsh Township.
The builder submitted a sketch plan to the township for 40 single-family homes and 10 twin homes on the property between Butler Pike and Dorsan Way, according to a township application packet posted Wednesday, Sept. 9. The plan, filed as Major Subdivision SLD # 03-26, covers 16.84 acres owned by Argos Associates & Polergodom Group, Ltd. and a small adjacent parcel owned by Gerald and Lane D'Amico.
The proposed density is about 2.9 dwelling units per acre. The site sits in the AD-Attached Dwelling and AA-Residential zoning districts.
Three waivers sought
Foxlane is asking the township for three waivers from the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO):
- A shorter cul-de-sac of 192 feet, where the ordinance requires 250 feet.
- A smaller cul-de-sac turnaround, with an outside right-of-way radius of 39.5 feet instead of the required 50 feet and a paved radius of 37.75 feet instead of 40 feet.
- Permission for unlotted development, meaning homes would not sit on individually drawn lots.
The sketch plan also notes proposed variations from the township's Attached Dwellings Standards. The plan shows 50-foot landscape buffers along the site perimeter, open space areas, stormwater management facilities and an emergency access point. A grain tower appears on the site drawing.
Parking and utilities
The plan calls for 156 total parking spaces, or about three per home, in addition to two-car garages at each unit. Public water and sewer would serve the development.
What comes next
The application has not yet appeared on a Whitemarsh Township Planning Commission agenda, as MoreThanTheCurve reported Wednesday, Sept. 16. The Montgomery County Planning Commission has also been asked to review the plan. Foxlane submitted a time waiver allowing the township more than the standard 90 days under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (MPC) to act on the application.
The applicant is listed as Foxlane Homes at PHL 6, LLC, with John Rathfon as the contact. Attorney Kellie A. McGowan of Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel signed the application, and John Kennedy of Kennedy & Associates is the engineer of record.
Foxlane previously built Ironstone at Blue Bell, a 58-home carriage-home community at the corner of Butler and Skippack pikes, adjacent to the Karamoor Farm site.
The property carries an Act 319 "Clean and Green" designation, a state program that gives farmland owners lower tax assessments in exchange for keeping the land in agricultural use. If the land is developed, rollback taxes could apply. The financial impact of a potential rollback has not been disclosed.
Residents can monitor the Whitemarsh Township Planning Commission agenda at whitemarshtwp.org for the project's first public hearing date.
