Deal adds 42 homes to development plans in Lower Heidelberg

by Steve Reinbrecht

Lower Heidelberg officials have approved changes to plans that would add 42 housing units to a long-in-the-works development at Sweitzer and Wagner roads.

The owner, Glen-Gery Shale Brick Corp., of Wyomissing, has agreed to build 135 homes in cluster-style development on about 50 acres of the 170 acres it owns in the bucolic spot. The company would give 35 acres to the township.

Berks County courts have been overseeing the project under an agreement reached after the township's zoning hearing board refused to grant the project a special exception in 2005.

The company has not submitted actual plans showing the new layout.

Original plans showed 92 homes on lots between 1 and 3 acres – 50 of them south of Sweitzer Road and 42 on the north side.

The new agreement calls for 135 homes in cluster-style development only on the south side of Sweitzer. The land on the south side of Sweitzer is relatively flat and used to grow crops.

It would give 35 acres on the north side to the township. Much of that land is wooded and steep. Part of it was a quarry.

Under the change, the builder will get to sell more units, and can avoid building on the steep slopes on the north side. The township gets land to preserve or use for recreation. Higher density adds traffic to narrow lanes and more demands on police and fire services as well as the Wilson School District.

A county map shows a creek flowing through the middle of the parcel. The plans in the township office show flood plains but no creeks or wetlands. 

Minutes from the August 2016 meeting minutes state that supervisors voted 3-0 to:

“Allow Glen Gery to build additional homes, increased from 92 to 135, in exchange for Glen Gery giving the township 35 acres of land for public use.

"The land is on Rebers Bridge Road down to Wagner and halfway to Sweitzer. lf a developer is willing to give the land, the Township is willing to take it and hopefully be able to develop it as a park. Ms. Johnson noted that the land is currently being farmed, and will continue to be farmed until the Township decides what to do with the parcel. The only other land owned by the Township is the parcel housing the Township building."