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Northampton Township
Historical Commission 55 Township Road Richboro, PA 18954 
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Township
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Northampton
Historical Commission
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NORTHAMPTON Decades ago, the community decided that it wished to be mostly residential. Lots of people agree. By Christine Bahls Thirty-five plus years ago, Northampton Township was a very different place. Farms predominated. Police officers were volunteers. Public sewers were sparse. Public water did not exist. Some 6,000 people called Northampton home. Today, farms occupy an estimated 12 percent of the land. Nearly 40 paid, sworn officers protect Northampton. Public water and sewer serve many township residents who now number nearly 40,000. The remarkable thing is that more people are coming. At the current rate of development, officials estimate a minimum of another 3,000 homes and a minimum of another 4,000 people by 2010. At its current growth rate, the township could be built to capacity between 2010 and 2015, according to the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. Such growth affects water, sewer, public safety and health, the Council Rock School District, traffic, and to some, a way of life. "It's very close to being overpopulated," said resident Joe Colyar, who's lived in the township since 1964. "I think the township should go slower with development." That's a difficult thing, once zoning is in place. But township officials said they are dealing with the impact. For example, the township is building anticipated impact costs, such as road resurfacing and widening, and even state road repairs, into its budget. A new firehouse, the township's third, has opened on Hatboro Road in Ivyland. The police department has a seven-year plan to increase staffing. Northampton is living with its choices. In the mid - 1960's, it opted to be a classic bedroom community and decided to bring public water and sewer into the township.
For developers, that was a virtual invitation. "I think the supervisors back in 1964 shot themselves in the foot," said township manager D. Bruce Townsend. "What I don't think they envisioned is that Bucks County and this area would become [so] popular," or that development would happen so quickly. Concentrating on building homes means that there is less room for commercial and industrial construction. Northampton, then and now, doesn't want much of that type of development - a decision that impacts residents' tax bills. In addition to its real estate tax, the township also has an earned income tax, which it splits with the school district. "We've considered expanding the commercial [sector]," said Supervisors Chairman Pete Palestina. "But we've been a bedroom community." He said the supervisors know the tax consequences of their decision. Townsend estimated that each new home costs the township about $1,000 in services each year. A commercial property requires about half that. "Northampton is primarily a residential township, and the planning commission wants to retain (that)," according to the township's 1998 proposed comprehensive plan. "The bulk of the remaining vacant land has been earmarked for future residential growth." Northampton has 3.8 percent of its land dedicated to combined commercial and industrial zoning. That is the smallest percentage among the communities that touch its borders, according to the plan.
Communities that opt for more families and less tax ratables face potential problems, said Barry Seymour, the assistant executive director for regional planning at the regional planning commission. Eventually, development will stop. Lots of additional people, who would have added to the tax base, won't be moving in. And young adults with families might decide to live out their lives there. "It can get stagnant," Seymour said. A wealthy community might not experience problems because it can afford to pay higher taxes. But, he said, a less wealthy community could lose residents under the same scenario. The aging of the town's population will also have an impact on schools and taxes, because retired folk generally don't pay an earned income tax. "That will be an issue everywhere," Seymour said. "In the future it will have a lot of implications for the schools because property taxes go there. We may have a lot of empty schools. It's happened all over." Townsend once met a resident who complained about the paucity of commercial and industrial properties. " 'Could we put that type of zoning behind your house?' " Townsend recalled asking the resident. The answer, predictably enough, was no. "I want to keep this a bedroom community," Coylar said. "I don't like to see the industrial base grow to any great extent." Northampton is a bedroom community with a remarkable draw. No major highways, which would detract from the suburban ambiance, exist here. Two-lane roads are the rule. Single-family homes abound. The average lot size is about two-thirds of an acre - larger than Middletown but smaller than Upper Makefield, Seymour said. The commercial and industrial district are separate and distinct from the rest of the community. Mother Nature and diligent amateur gardeners keep the township verdant. A few decades ago, the tree population was extremely depleted between the farming and development. Today, Coylar said, he is thinning out the trees he planted 35 years ago. And then there's the school district. Nearly eight out of ten residents are married with children, and they usually go to a Council Rock school. "I moved because of the schools. The schools are highly desirable," said school board president James DiDio. He moved here five years ago from Montgomery County. Desirable and crowded. Nearly 50 of the 71 modular classrooms parked on school lots in the Council Rock district accommodate Northampton children. Plus, Northampton's growth is the driving force behind one planned elementary school on New Road and another possible elementary school. And, 60 percent of all Council Rock students come from Northampton, school district administrator William Gretton III said. It's also planning to build a second high school near Holland Road and Route 332, again primarily because of Northampton's growth. Despite this, Gretton said, the new schools will deal with the past, not the future. "We are only building for the current enrollment level." Gretton said. "Our projections for the future are only slightly more [children]. We are not building for extras in the future." "If we only build those two [-the elementary and the high school- ] our projection is that, minimally, we will retain 45 modular classrooms throughout the district," Gretton said. Each modular accommodates about 25 children who will still need to use the main school's bathrooms, auditoriums and the like. The projected cost for the New Road school and the high school: $93 million. A $40 million dollar bond has already been issued. Chairman Palestina, seated behind the wheel of his cream colored Lincoln, was busy pointing out areas that have been eyeballed for improvements, as well as those places where changes were opposed by the residents or the supervisors themselves. As he drove, Townsend and supervisor James Kinney, seated in the back, chimed in with their comments. The board is aware, Palestina said, that there aren't enough ancillary roads to connect the major ones, alleviate traffic on the main arteries and reduce the number of drivers cutting through developments. But residents don't always want those secondary connectors, he said. About 10 years ago, residents protested the extension of Chestnut Drive, which would have connected Upper Holland Road to Lower Holland Road. They said they didn't want additional traffic driving through their developments. A few similar battles have been fought over the years, he said. Townsend said that the township would pay for new traffic configurations at the dreaded routes 332, 232 and Almshouse Road intersection. Each road leading into the intersection will have four lanes. The estimated cost is $250,000. And this isn't the first time the township has paid big bucks to improve state roads. Northampton paid $250,000 for the light at Almshouse and Jacksonville Roads, Townsend said. The three officials said that at least one commercial development outside Richboro didn't succeed. An approved age-restricted development, planned at Bristol and Jacksonville Roads, was to have included some shops, including a pharmacy and a dry cleaner. Palestina and Kinney said they liked the concept, but Ivyland residents living across the street, and some board members, including John E. long Jr., didn't like the idea. "I grew up in Richboro," Long said. "I have no problem with the [existing] commercial areas, and they are important, but I can't see putting in [more] when there is a Kmart a mile away." "If the board couldn't increase the commercial in this instance," Townsend said," ... what chance is there to expand it anywhere else?" Rewind to 30-plus years ago, when the supervisors decided to run water and sewer lines. They did it because the clay-like soil is great for some kinds of farming, but lousy for septic systems. The township's western end, above Hatboro Road, has virtually nothing but septic tanks. To accommodate those tanks, building lots are larger there. But people are still building. Long worries that further well digging will cause problems for existing homeowners. "The wells are not too deep to begin with," Long said. "As you put more straws in the glass, you end up drawing the water down." Harvey Field, chairman of the township' planning commission, has looked at more than just developmental impact from Northampton. He's also looking at its neighbors. "We [all] keep developing, and sending the sewerage down the line" to the treatment facility in Philadelphia, he said. As the development continues in Northampton, so does the need for more police. Hiring one police officer, said Chief Barry Pilla, will cost a minimum of $41,000 - and more if a car is needed. He wants another seven officers by 2007. Fire Chief Charlie Vaughan said that, in the foreseeable future, a small group of paid firefighters will be needed to respond to fire calls on weekdays. At the moment, he said, he can only count on eight of his 44 active volunteers to be available during those times. The Tri-Hampton Rescue Squad sees more ambulances, more equipment, and more paid staff in its future, said Chief Matthew Fleck. He expects them to cost at least $250,000. To Field, the township's eventual build-out will not change the character of this desirable community. "We will still have a lot of room between houses," he said. Northampton by the Numbers POPULATION
LAND
ROADS, TRAFFIC, MONEY
Sources:
The proposed 1989 Comprehensive Plan, Township Manager D. Bruce Townsend,
the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and the Bucks County
Planning Commission.
Group
wants to preserve Home
Sweet Home The
Pleasant Plains Public School Cornerstone
Reveals Old Memories History
Set In Stone Landmark
Restaurant to Make a Move A
Tale of Two Buildings A
Lightning Move for the Spread Eagle Spread
Eagle's Move Went Well 'Citizen
of the Month' Knows Her Town's History
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