Buttonwood Place receives planning nod in Yardley Borough; two-story building would house retail, residential units

By Petra Chesner Schlatter pschlatter@buckslocalnews.com @petraschlatter

YARDLEY BOROUGH The planning commission voted Nov. 10 to recommend that borough council approve revised plans for Buttonwood Place, a commercial/residential building proposed for Buttonwood Drive just off South Main Street.

The council is expected to review and take action on the plans at its meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18.

Suzanne and Tim Foster, owners of T. Foster & Co. Fine Jewelers at 7 S. Main St., are proposing to construct a roughly 13,000 square foot two-story building facing Buttonwood Park and the Yardley Town Center.

The building, designed to appear like a traditional downtown streetscape with a varied roofline and street level shops and businesses, would house 5,960 square feet of commercial space on the first floor and 7,510 square feet of residential living space on the second including seven multi-family units and some lofts.

A project for the same location was previously approved about five years ago. That plan included two structures at the site and slightly more square footage, according to Mike Mueller, the boroughs planning director.

The building would take access from Buttonwood Drive, a one-way road that links South Main Street at Firehouse Cycles and Penn Valley Drive at the Buttonwood Barn.

Mueller said the project is being handled as a new application because the square footage is slightly less than what was previously planned.

Its essentially the same project redesigned, he said. Its a good project - an infill in the commercial core for the community. Its a parcel thats vacant that can accept this type of development fairly easily. Its a good location for it. And its nice to have a mixed use building with commercial and residential.

Mueller said the plan incorporates enough parking to satisfy the uses and is within the relief previously granted by the zoning board. Parking numbers dont change with this plan, he said. Actually, parking will work better now because there are fewer units.

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Buttonwood Place receives planning nod in Yardley Borough; two-story building would house retail, residential units