WEST WHITELAND TWP, PA — A plan to replace the 53.55-acre former Weston Solutions office campus with 55 housing units advanced through West Whiteland Township’s conditional-use process Wednesday, setting the framework for one of the larger residential redevelopments along the Route 202 corridor while leaving subdivision and land-development approvals still to come.
The proposal from Weston Way Partners II calls for 49 lots with single-family detached houses and the conversion of the historic Morstein mansion into as many as six apartments at 1400 Weston Way. The property is bordered by King Road, the U.S. Route 202 expressway and existing residential neighborhoods.
The township’s Aug. 26 meeting provided a Decision and Order granting conditional-use approval subject to conditions. The document states that approval was granted July 22 and the decision issued Aug. 26.
The conditional-use application had returned to the Board of Supervisors’ Aug. 26 agenda after consideration began July 22. Township planning staff recommended approval of the Decision and Order.
The redevelopment would convert a former office campus in the township’s R-1 Residential District to housing under its cluster-development provisions. Plans include 21.67 acres of qualifying open space out of 22.39 acres overall and about 3,000 linear feet of new roads.
The property also contains several historic resources. The Morstein mansion, designed in 1898 and previously converted to office space, would be retained and converted to residential use. The site also includes a historic stable complex and the Morstein train station, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The township Historical Commission recommended approval after reviewing the application twice, while supporting preservation and adaptive reuse of the mansion. Commissioners expressed disappointment that another use could not be found for the stable complex.
Conditions require the developer to photographically document the site’s historic structures and install interpretive panels. The developer must also explore whether elements of the stable building can be repurposed elsewhere in the development.
Transportation improvements are also attached to the approval. Old Phoenixville Pike must be widened to a paved cartway of at least 20 feet between King Road and the proposed internal Road “A,” and the development must include a concrete pad and shelter for a bus stop near King Road.
The developer must provide a playground for residents, and the township will not accept dedication of streets, stormwater facilities, utility infrastructure or other improvements on the property, leaving those facilities outside township ownership.
Residents raised concerns during the July 22 hearing about stormwater management, traffic, vehicle circulation, landscaping, buffering, runoff and flooding. No resident sought or received formal party status in the conditional-use proceeding.
The Planning Commission reviewed the proposal four times and ultimately recommended approval with conditions. Following the July 22 hearing, supervisors directed the township solicitor to prepare a Decision and Order approving the application with the Planning Commission’s recommended conditions.
Conditional-use approval does not constitute final authorization to develop the property. The project remains subject to the township’s subdivision and land-development requirements, with compliance with many of the imposed conditions to be addressed during preliminary and final plan reviews.
The developer must also consult with companies whose pipelines cross the property before land-development approval and provide the township with documentation of those consultations and any recommendations received.
Any later development proposal that materially conflicts with the conditional-use approval would require a new application and hearing before the Board of Supervisors.
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