Commission scopes two new subdivisions

DINGMAN - Rock Hill Estates, a proposed 200-lot subdivision on State Route 739 near Lake Adventure was back before the planning commission for review Wednesday. Douglas Olmstead, engineer for Boucher & James, Inc., was there to address concerns of Mike Weeks, township engineer, in a letter to the engineers. Storm water runoff was a township concern and Olmstead explained runoff would be addressed individually with each phase of the development of the former Boy Scout camp. Olmstead said Weeks call for a traffic impact study would present no problem. On another issue of concern, Olmstead explained that the serpentine design of one of the development’s roadways had been done to blend the road without negatively impacting the topography of the land which has several substantial slopes. Developers revised the plan to accommodate the township’s request for a wider road width in an area that contained a double cul-de-sac. The change would allow emergency vehicles to pass one another without having to travel on soft road edges. The roads were widened from 18 to 22 feet. The township also requires one school bus parking place for every 25 homes. That would require eight spaces, but Olmstead told the commission that the school district only called for four spaces. Both Weeks and commission member Mike Ciancitto expressed concern about the design of the school bus parking area. They could not see how the design would allow someone to bring their child to the bus pick-up area late without illegally passing a stopped bus to let their child off. Developers of the proposed 15-lot Raymondskill Estates submitted a preliminary sketch map to planners on Wednesday as well. F.X. Browne, Inc. presented plans for the project on Raymondskill Road, off state Route 2001. The township demands a 1,200-foot maximum distance to the far point for a cul de sac and the plan showed a distance of 1,700 feet. Developers asked how the commission might rule regarding a waiver for the project or if plan modifications were necessary. “It appears that the area where you propose the school bus pick-up needs to be closer to the entrance because I doubt that the school district will let the buses go in 900 feet,” said Ciancitto. Weeks said that even if the district allowed the buses to go that far in to the subdivision the pitch of the road would be too great for the buses. He said the angle of the entrance road as it intersects with Raymondskill Road needed to be more perpendicular for PennDOT approval.