Neill Dekker of the Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission offered some unsolicited words of advice to developers of the proposed Fields at Indian Creek Tuesday night.
The planning commission reviewed plans for the proposed 218-unit residential project for adults who are 55 and older, but did not make a recommendation.
Dekker said his critique of Fields at Indian Creek is based on living 12 years in Legacy Oaks, another 55-and-older development in the township.
“My comments essentially are observations for you,” Dekker told developers of Indian Creek.
“But I hope that they would be taken to heart by the Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission and the commissioners in their future considerations of ‘over-55’ developments.”
Dekker encouraged the developers to design “handicapped-friendly” homes and common elements “to perpetuate unit owner longevity.”
He said after 12 years, the average age of residents in Legacy Oaks is close to 70.
“The majority of our initial buyers are still here. Many have had to make expensive modifications to their units to do so. Many have elected for home care health providers.”
“I’m 71,” said Dekker. “And unless my health or my wife’s health dictates otherwise, we plan to stay in Legacy Oaks indefinitely.”
He said it’s not just 55-year-old people who are moving into his development.
“We have residents with walkers moving in,” said Dekker. He said some are moving in at 65 and others are over 75.
He suggested “basic unit living” in a 55-and-older development should be on the first floor of proposed homes and accessible without steps. “Doorways, hallways and bathrooms need to be wheelchair accessible.”
He indicated the development’s swimming pool also should be handicapped accessible.
Roads too narrow?
Dekker said curb-to-curb roadway width is proposed to be 26 feet throughout Fields at Indian Creek.
He said that may be adequate for side streets but for not major access roads.
“With parking possible on both sides, that width is essentially reduced to a one-lane roadway.”
He also said those 26-foot-wide streets will have parking on one side of the street lined up with driveways on the other side. That reduces the amount of room people will have to back out of driveways.
Dekker warned those problems will be compounded in winter. When snow accumulates along curbs, people park farther out in the street, just so they can open passenger side doors.
He said sidewalks in Fields at Indian Creek are proposed to be about four feet from the curbs.
“I would suggest this be an absolute minimum. Any closer and roadway snow winds up on the sidewalk.”
He said sidewalks in Legacy Oaks are only two feet from its roads. “Last winter it became impractical to clear sidewalks. We wound up trying to handle the roadway snow again, just to open the walks.”
Dekker said numerous T-intersections planned in Fields at Indian Creek will present problems for snow-plowing and snow storage. “All of your T-intersections have unit driveways at the top of the T. Where do you go with the snow?”
Not enough parking?
Dekker said the community center planned in Fields at Indian Creek is not centrally located, meaning the majority of residents will drive to get there.
He said it will be up to a 270-foot walk from the community center’s entrance to its parking lot. “From there, it’s another 170 feet to the pool.”
Dekker said Legacy Oaks has 112 units and a typical community event draws 60-70 people, who drive about 40 vehicles. “This exceeds the capacity of our 23-space parking lot and requires parking on adjacent streets.
“Indian Creek proposes 218 units and only 27 parking spaces. Roads in the vicinity of the community center do not provide much of an opportunity for overflow parking.”
He also said that parking lot is proposed to have only two handicapped spaces, “less than one percent of your 218 units.” He said those handicapped spaces are 100 feet away from the community center’s entrance.
He said Legacy Oaks has four handicapped spaces about 20 feet from the entrance to its clubhouse “and they are all used when we have a community social event.”
Dekker also said a 15-foot separation between buildings is not enough without some form of additional fire protection, particularly for older adults.
Larry Turoscy of Lehigh Engineering Associates, engineer for the development, thanked Dekker for his comments, saying: “We’ve done 15 or 16 communities as large as this throughout the area” and never had the kind of feedback Dekker provided.
“Age in place”
Agreeing with one point Dekker made, Maury Robert of the planning commission said all age-restricted communities should use universal design “and none of the four we have currently do.”
“The idea is to be able to age in place,” said Robert.
Without universal design, Robert said a lot of impediments are thrown in the way of people who want to do that.
“It’s ridiculous to not have universal design in all senior living facilities,” said Robert after the meeting.
Robert explained universal design includes a whole set of recommendations — including no steps, 36-inch-wide doorways and having light switches and sinks low enough so people in wheelchairs can reach them.
He said it’s called universal design because “a 20-year-old who breaks a leg needs the same things.”
Lower Macungie getting no homes
None of the homes in Fields at Indian Creek will be in Lower Macungie. Most of the 78.44-acre proposed development will be in Upper Milford Township and the rest of it is in Emmaus.
Cedar Crest Boulevard is east of the former golf course property, Pennsylvania Turnpike is west of the site and Chestnut Street in Emmaus is south of it.
Only about three acres of the Kay Builders development will be in Lower Macungie, along Indian Creek Road, including Fields at Indian Creek’s main entrance road.
The main impact for the township will be traffic from the development coming onto Indian Creek Road.
Waiting for ‘considerations’
Two minutes after the planning commission voted to table taking any action on Fields at Indian Creek, the developers unsuccessfully asked for a recommendation to move forward.
Dekker suggested the planning commission not recommend granting Fields at Indian Creek any waivers “until we’re satisfied that everything possible has been done to alleviate problems” that will be created in Lower Macungie Township by the development’s 218 homes.
Dekker said the township has asked for “considerations,” such as contributions from the developer toward traffic signals. “I don’t know that we’ve had a satisfactory response to some of the concerns we’ve expressed.”
He objected to granting waivers because it would be giving something up without getting anything in return, adding: “I can’t put it any plainer than that.”
Turoscy responded: “I don’t think we said we’re not contributing. That was an issue that was discussed with the [Kay Builders] owner last time and needs more discussion.
“I think what you’re saying to us is ‘give us the right money and we’ll give the waivers.’ I can’t make it any plainer either, Neill.”
Backyards unimportant to seniors?
During the discussion about the project, Turoscy said backyards are not as important for seniors because they don’t use them as much as people moving into more conventional single-family detached developments, where “kids would be playing in the backyard.”
Planning board member Ann Bartholomew disagreed, asking: “Why are backyards for seniors not important? I’m a senior and my backyard is so important to me, even more important now that I don’t have kids.”
She said seniors use their backyards for recreational purposes.
Dekker also took exception to Turoscy’s remark.
“Small lots are fine, but we still enjoy some privacy,” said Dekker. “The only privacy we have in an over-55 community is being able to sit on rear yard patio.”
Sidewalks on both sides of streets?
Sara Pandl, the township’s planning director, is encouraging Upper Milford Township to require Kay Builders, the to install sidewalks on both sides of its streets.
She said that is required in Emmaus and in Lower Macungie, but not in Upper Milford.
Jeff Chandler of Kay Builders told Pandl the developer has committed to Upper Milford that it will install sidewalks on both sides of the streets if that township wants them.
He added: “Truth be told, if we didn’t have to, we wouldn’t. But it looks like at the end of the day we’re going to end up doing two sidewalks in Upper Milford.”
Dekker said his Legacy Oaks development only has sidewalks on one side of the street and that is adequate. “I’m not sure sidewalks on both sides serve a useful purpose. We get by fine without them.”
But Bartholomew said people should not be forced to walk around parked cars in streets that have no sidewalks.
“It’s about living a good lifestyle,” she said. “People want to walk and say hello to their neighbors who are sitting on their porches.”
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