SANATOGA PA – A final land development plan for a proposal to build a combined assisted living health care facility and independent living apartment complex on about 8 acres at 125 Porter Rd. in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, with an entrance off Medical Drive, was unanimously approved Monday night (July 20,2009) by the township Planning Commission.
Board members allowed the plans to proceed on two conditions: that the building’s exterior be enhanced by the use of “multiple materials,” and that the developer continues to work with the township on limiting driveway entrances at the cul-de-sac on the northeast end of Medical Drive.
A satellite view shows site of the proposed facility relative to the hospital, Diamond Credit Union, and offices on Medical Drive.
The planners’ approval, which came during their monthly meeting at the township municipal building on Buchert Road, is a recommendation to the township Board of Commissioners. It has the last word on authorizing construction of the two-part, three- and five-story complex that first surfaced in, and has been delayed since, November 2000.
The developer, LPAL Limited Partnership, intends to build a 52,000-square-foot, J-shaped structure on the property currently occupied by a former equipment bunker originally built for AT&T. Its three-story section would contain 76 assisted living beds to house primarily elderly patients who need regular help with daily activities, and its five-story section would hold 92 apartment units for people who could care for themselves.
Planning commissioners have expressed concern since earlier this year, when they initially granted preliminary land development approval, about the appearance of the building’s facade. LPAL President Robert Basile of Douglassville PA displayed photos and drawings of a smaller but similar facility his company had completed in Mechanicsburg PA as evidence of how the Lower Pottsgrove project might be finished.
Basile noted the local complex would be designed and built within a strict budget. But because potential customers would be satisfied only by “living in a building with materials they’re used to,” Basile said, he expected to use a aesthetically pleasing mix of outside elements “that present something substantial and of value.”
Related:
Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Planning Commission meeting of July 20):
- Planners OK Porter Road Seniors’ Facility
- Private Parcel Consigned To Ag District
- Township To Try Again For H2O Grant
