EAST VINCENT TWP, PA — East Vincent Township supervisors will resume consideration of AQ Dev LLC’s proposed 53-lot Ruth Farm development Oct. 19 after questioning the project’s engineer over open-space calculations, stormwater permitting, sewer infrastructure, and property records during the latest conditional-use hearing.
The hearing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the East Vincent Township Municipal Complex. The application remains under review and has not received final approval.
AQ Dev is seeking conditional-use approval to develop the nearly 68-acre property at 446 Stony Run Road under the township’s open-space design option in the Low Density Residential District. The proposal calls for 52 new detached homes while retaining the existing farmhouse.
Spring-Ford Press reported that supervisors focused extensively on the project’s environmental and infrastructure plans during the second night of testimony, including whether land occupied by stormwater basins or otherwise constrained from development should count toward required open space.
Adam Brower, president of Edward B. Walsh and Associates and the applicant’s civil engineering expert, testified that the plan would preserve 30.72 acres as open space.
Board Chair Mark Brancato questioned how much of that acreage consists of wetlands, floodplain and other land with limited development or recreational potential. Brower maintained that the acreage qualifies as open space under township regulations.
The proposed 30.72 acres fall below the township’s standard 50% open-space requirement. Brower testified that the requirement can be reduced through the project’s proposed use of transferable development rights.
Supervisor Dana Ciaffone questioned the applicant’s calculation of that reduction, and Brower agreed to review the figures.
The development would use public water and sewer. Each home would connect through an individual grinder pump to a low-pressure force main extending about 1,300 feet east along Stony Run Road to a gravity manhole near West Bridge Street.
Brower testified that using public sewer would reduce the risk of failures or leaching from individual on-lot systems near Stony Run, which he described as a high-quality stream.
He also testified that the development would avoid disturbance to wetlands, Stony Run, the 100-year floodplain, the township riparian buffer and wooded areas along the stream.
Stormwater permitting emerged as another point of scrutiny.
The property is covered by an individual National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in January 2025. That permit was based on an earlier 86-lot development plan that township officials denied.
Brower testified that the permit remains active but would have to be amended for the current 53-lot proposal because the road layout, lot configuration and other elements have changed.
The applicant expects those revisions to qualify as a minor amendment, according to Brower. He testified that the current plan contains fewer homes, less pavement and impervious coverage and no additional areas of earth disturbance compared with the 86-lot design.
Brancato questioned how a permit obtained for a rejected development plan could apply to the new proposal.
Brower testified that the state stormwater permit is governed separately from township land-development approval and can be modified as a project changes. Testimony identified Artisan Construction as the current permit holder.
Supervisors also requested additional property and environmental documentation before the hearing continues.
Township Solicitor Joe Clement identified inconsistencies between deed references in the conditional-use application and parcels depicted on the development plans. The applicant agreed to provide deeds clarifying which properties are part of the application.
The board also requested test-pit results and a map showing testing locations on the northern portion of the property after questions arose about soil testing described in a consultant’s report.
Brower separately testified that he recently inspected the southern wetland and pasture area after concerns were raised about whether additional streams exist on the property. He reported finding no defined stream beds or banks and concluded Stony Run is the only stream on the site.
The Ruth Farm property has been the subject of several previous development proposals. A 50-lot plan received conditional-use approval in 2004, while an 86-lot proposal was later denied. Another 53-lot proposal received conditional-use approval in 2023, but the earlier approvals have since expired.
Additional questioning of Brower is expected when the hearing resumes, and the applicant has indicated that other witnesses will testify as the proceeding continues.
Residents can review the application and exhibits at https://www.eastvincent.org/index.asp?SEC=1F17BA9C-729B-4213-9A21-A433A79C78E6. The township is also offering remote access through Zoom registration at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4wjAKlyvSJ-QACnM2rvlsA.
East Vincent Township has separately scheduled a Bartons Meadows Town Hall for Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the Municipal Complex.
For additional reporting on the Ruth Farm hearing and the engineer’s testimony, visit the Spring-Ford Press article at https://www.springford.press/article/developer-s-engineer-defends-53-home-ruth-farm-plan-as-hearing-continues
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