Developer: Gateway Village is just what county planners sought

DINGMAN — The neighbors don’t appear to agree, but the developer planning Gateway Village says he’s proud of a project that is exactly what county planners called for. Several weeks ago The Courier reported of a new residential and commercial community being planned on State Route 739 at the Log Tavern Road intersection. This may have gone without notice except that the developer, Dominic “Dino” Bradlee, plans to build an on site sewage facility, discharging treated effluent into Dwarfskill Creek. A storm of public controversy was raised and the next public meeting of the Dingman Township Supervisors was filled with an overflowing crowd of township residents. There were environmental issues as well as concerns over the possible decrease in home values for homeowners that reside along Dwarfskill Creek and Crescent Lake. “No discharge of treated sewage water in any amount into the Dwarfskill Creek is acceptable,” said Pat Staab of the Crescent Lake Homeowners Association. Bradlee’s Gateway Project covers a ¾ mile long tract of the land being developed on state Route 739. Gateway Village, as it will be called, will contain 730 residential living units. The units will consist of 45 single family lots, 125 estate townhouses with a double garage, 76 village town homes with a double garage and 148 with a single garage. There is also expected to be 80, one bedroom apartments and 136 two-bedroom apartments and 120 congregate living units for seniors with assisted living if required. The residential units will be built around a central area with retail stores and other commercial tenants. Walking trails and small pocket parks will be located throughout Gateway Village with some walking trails leading to Dingman Delaware Middle School and Elementary facilities which are close by. One bedroom apartments should sell in the neighborhood of $130,000 with single family, four-bedroom homes selling for as high as $400,000. The target market for apartment and home sales will come from a wide variety of demographics, said Bradlee. “Real estate brokers and other advertising methods will constitute the main focus for sales. The residential units are going to be affordable for new young home buyers, seniors, everyday working people, and I am especially proud of that part of the project,” he said. A major concern for Dingman Township and Delaware Township residents is the sewage processing plant. Bradlee says the entire sewage facility after completion will be sold to a publicly held company like Aqua America of Bryn Mawr, Pa. Aqua America is one of several companies that buy small sewage processing plants which they operate for profit. “The original proposed 300,000 gallons per day discharge may be less. PA DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) stipulates the tonnage allowed. We have to abide by their guidelines,” remarked Bradlee. “The discharge from a properly running sewage facility is very clean and should cause no environmental concerns. The 300,000 gallons per day discharge is the maximum anticipated discharge based on ‘full build-out’ which may be 25 years from now when I’m long gone,” he explained. “There will be a safety system built into the processing facility. It is a state of the art system. It is monitored 24/7 and there are alarms that sound if anything should go wrong. We will have an on site sewage storage system that can be utilized while repairs are being made on an emergency basis,” said Bradlee. “The system was designed by highly competent sewage plant engineers.” Bradlee said conventional land based septic systems could have been planned, but only with a fraction of the planned residential units, according to the Pike County Comprehensive Plan. “They call for mixed use high density developments to prevent residential sprawl. The plan calls for this type of development at this exact location on Route 739 and that is why I purchased this large tract of land,” he said. “Gateway Village is exactly what is needed for this area. It will contain high density residential housing rather than spreading an equal number of units over a much greater area of land. “We will limit urban sprawl and be in line with the expectations of the Pike County Comprehensive Plan and the township supervisors,” stated Bradlee. Bradlee said he has also been talking with Dingman Delaware School officials for a few years about having them tie into his sewage treatment plant. “They have a system that divides the two campuses and is problematic because they have no flow into it during the summer months. If they were to tie in to my facility it would allow them to utilize the area between the campuses for some other educational or recreational purpose. Since they have purchased the land on the other side of 739 across from them they may now have other plans,” Bradlee suggested. The Gateway Village plan is only in its preliminary stages. The initial step for a project such as this requires the developer to win approval for a satisfactory sewage plan, or module. Once Bradlee has gotten sewage approvals, the rest of the proposal will come into play. Various portions of the project will require public hearings and comment time before the Dingman Township Supervisors. The planning period will provide Bradlee much needed time to win over public acceptance for a Dwarfskill Creek sewage treatment discharge that currently boasts few backers other than its would-be developer.