YORK COUNTY, Pa. — A plan to build 10 new apartment buildings along a historic stretch of road in Newberry Township is leaving residents with more questions than answers.
On Monday, residents of Newberry Township voiced their concerns about an upcoming construction project which will take over a section of wetland property by Church Road and Paddletown Road.
Safety was a top priority for residents, who say the winding roads in this area combined with high rates of speed and increased traffic pose a dangerous risk, especially for homeowners living just off the roadway.
Denise Kohr, a resident of Newberry Township, said, "What about the people that live in these houses immediately adjacent to, say, Paddletown or even Church Road right there where their house is right on the edge of the street? I mean, if somebody errs a few inches they're in their living room."
The apartment complexes would bring up to 360 additional cars to the township's already precarious roads, making some residents worry that speeding will become an issue. Gloria Weaver, another resident, says she experiences this every day. She said, "You can sit in the house and you can hear them flying down."
The Hagerstown, Maryland construction company, Zenith Construction, presented findings from multiple speed monitoring studies at Monday's meeting in an effort to decide on a safe speed considering the increased traffic that will be introduced to the area once the project is completed.
But these studies weren't enough for concerned residents and board members who are still left with more questions than answers. Board member David Parsons brought up a series of questions, including how long the project will take, when construction is expected to begin and how much the new housing will cost, but without the owner of the company in attendance, these questions went unanswered.
Elliot Shipley, a representative of Zenith Construction, said generally the owner does not attend these sort of community meetings due to it being unnecessary when there are others who can answer most of the questions. However, residents at the meeting expressed that a developer from a different state combined with a lack of communication on future plans is not giving them the confidence to back this project.
Despite hours of questions and answers, there is still significant community pushback on this project.