This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

West Cornwall Township’s Zoning Hearing Board unanimously approved a special exception Monday for 120 age-restricted apartments at the site of the former Quentin Riding Club at the intersection of state routes 72 and 419.

Quentin Associates LLC applied for the special exception because age-restricted multi-family apartment dwellings are only a permitted use in the township’s mixed-use overlay district with approval by the zoning hearing board. 

The overlay district was created as part of the township’s new zoning ordinance adopted in September 2022.

Read More: West Cornwall Township zoning ordinance stokes development anxiety

The petition for the special exception was a first for both the new district and the new zoning ordinance, said Kim Juliana, a member of the township’s planning commission, Tuesday.

The zoning hearing board will consider another petition for a special exception on Monday, Sept. 18, for a Wawa convenience store and gas station also to be built on the site of the former Quentin Riding Club. That hearing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Quentin Fire Hall.

Read More: Wawa proposed for corner of routes 72 and 419 on former riding club

On 14.49 acres of the 46.3-acre site, the proposed apartment complex will include four buildings, each with 30 apartments, interconnected sidewalks and walking trails as well as a club house. The site plan also includes 251 parking spaces, some of which are garage spaces, according to documents submitted by the developer.

Residents who attended the hearing voiced concerns about the proposed development’s impacts on traffic and stormwater, said township supervisor Dennis Tulli in a telephone interview Tuesday.

A traffic study examining impacts for development of the entire parcel is being reviewed by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, township engineer Jeff Steckbeck explained in a telephone interview Tuesday.

With approval from the zoning hearing board for the special exception, the developer’s next step is to prepare a conditional-use application for consideration by township supervisors, Steckbeck said. 

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Margaret Hopkins reports primarily on West Cornwall Township, the City of Lebanon Authority, and the Lebanon County Metropolitan Planning Organization. A resident of Mount Gretna Campmeeting, she is interested in the area’s history and its cultural and economic roots. As a former print journalist,...

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