(Sep 07, 2023) Rep. Danielle Friel Otten
EXTON, Sept. 7 – Uwchlan Township residents David Fertell and Matt Hanes on Wednesday offered testimony before the Pennsylvania House Local Government Committee regarding legislation that would allow municipalities to evaluate the impact that development projects have on local communities. The public hearing, held in Allentown, was requested by state Rep. Michael Schlossberg, D-Lehigh, who is the prime sponsor of H.B. 782. State Rep. Danielle Friel Otten, D-Chester, is one of the bill’s 10 listed cosponsors. H.B. 782 would amend Pennsylvania’s Municipalities Planning Code to: Require mega-development developers to provide a detailed analysis of the impacts of development, including the real cost on traffic, future infrastructure costs, emergency management services, sewer, storm water, damage to agricultural lands, parks, and open space, impact on neighborhoods, natural resources, and wildlife, and harm to neighboring properties. Allow the host municipality to use this analysis to consider conditions that address the impacts and costs of the development and give neighboring municipalities the opportunity to have their concerns addressed. This legislation could have a direct impact on a proposed development project in Uwchlan Township, where residents have pushed back against the proposed sale and development of Lionville Station Farm, owned by the by the Downingtown Area School District, to Audubon Read more