Relief may be on the way for a flood-prone area of Upper Makefield.
The Upper Makefield Board of Supervisors has instructed the township Environmental Advisory Council to look into possible solutions for remedying excessive runoff that residents say leads to private-property-damaging flooding on an area of Brownsburg Road.
At a recent public board meeting, Supervisor Chairman Tom Cino said the EAC should conduct a “fast track” review of the situation, though a specific time frame and possible fixes aren’t yet known.
The topic of troubling run-off came up during a hearing on a minor subdivision proposal for 439 Brownsburg Road West, which is downhill a bit from the intersection with Pineville Road and in the area of Colts Neck Drive.
The applicant, Triumph Development Group, wants to widen an existing driveway and subdivide a second lot upon which a single-family home would be built. The currently unsubdivided 10-acre property has a single-family home that would remain.
Neighboring residents are concerned about the project because they fear that adding more development/impervious surface could exacerbate what they said are already poor runoff conditions.
The neighbors didn’t object to the subdivision per se; they just believe flooding issues should be mitigated first, so as not to make a bad situation worse.
“We’re not opposed to having a new neighbor and a new beautiful home there, but any additional water will create a bigger problem for all the neighbors downstream,” said resident James W. Gallagher III.
Supervisors were responsive to the concern and ordered the EAC review.
Supervisors noted, though, that Triumph’s development application must be judged on its own merits, not on things beyond the scope of the applicant’s legal/zoning/planning responsibilities for its particular project. Supervisor Ed Ford praised Triumph for proposing a development plan that goes “above and beyond what the ordinance requires them to do” to help control runoff.
Supervisors didn’t take a final vote on the subdivision proposal and a related conditional use application for the driveway widening. It’s possible the subdivision vote could occur at the board’s Feb. 21 meeting. A ruling on the conditional use request was scheduled to happen within 45 days of the Feb. 7 meeting.
Upper Makefield Manager Dave Nyman noted that the time frame for potential township-driven remedies for flooding abatement could be dependent on the scope and cost of the upgrades required. It could be possible that improvements would be made in increments, rather than all at once, but that ultimately remains to be seen.
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