Towamencin supervisors on Wednesday took a fresh look at a controversial plan to put 207 homes on the former Freddy Hill Farms property, casting the proposal as a potential middle ground between a 141-unit by-right layout and earlier ideas that topped 300 units. The new design mixes single-family homes, townhouses and small-lot singles, and it would come with road work around Sumneytown Pike, Troxel Road and Kriebel Road. Neighbors at the meeting zeroed in on traffic, stormwater and whether the township can keep any meaningful open space on the once-rural site.
As reported by PHILADELPHIA.Today, developer Tony Maras pitched the 207-unit concept as a compromise and reminded supervisors that his firm could instead pursue a 141-unit by-right plan if the denser option is rejected. Supervisors did not pick a favorite. They said they want to see full engineering and traffic studies first, and for now they have left both the compromise plan and the by-right layout in play.
What the 207-unit plan would include
North Penn Now reports that the concept carves the land into several distinct neighborhoods: 37 single-family lots on the east side of Kriebel Road, 38 single-family lots along a private road off Sumneytown Pike, and a southwest section with about 35 townhouses and 97 small-lot single homes. The layout would add a fourth leg to the Sumneytown and Troxel intersection, and the idea of making parts of Kriebel one way, or even moving a house at the corner, is on the table to handle new traffic patterns.
According to PHILADELPHIA.Today, the developer says roughly 66 acres of open space would be preserved, largely along an existing stream corridor. Residents at the meeting warned that new homes could list from the $600,000s into well over $1 million, which only raised the stakes in the debate. The township’s comprehensive plan lists the Freddy Hill site as a 94.3-acre parcel at 1440 Sumneytown Pike, paired with an adjacent 33.5-acre tract on Kriebel Road, a combined size that helps explain why multiple large-scale layouts have surfaced. Towamencin Township documents those parcel sizes in its land use appendix.
Traffic, schools and waterways
Planning Commission minutes show residents stressing that Kriebel Road is narrow and already lined with many driveways, with additional concerns about stormwater runoff and wildlife habitat along the stream. Those same minutes note worries about school capacity at General Nash Elementary, which is already using modular classrooms, and they record the developer’s plan to bring in ecological consultants, including a botanist and an arborist, to study potential impacts. Towamencin Township records planners and residents asking detailed questions about setbacks, parking and how open space is being counted in the overall calculations.
Where the process goes next
If supervisors decide to seriously pursue the 207-unit option, Pinnacle would be asked to produce full engineering, traffic and stormwater plans so the township can determine whether zoning changes are needed, North Penn Now reports. If not, the 141-unit by-right plan could move forward without additional zoning action, a fallback that the developer openly acknowledges shapes every part of the negotiation over what a compromise might look like.
Freddy Hill Farms announced its closure in 2025 after more than five decades as a family-run operation, and the sudden availability of a large, contiguous property has turned the site into one of Towamencin’s most closely watched land use questions. For now, the conversation in the township revolves around classic tradeoffs: new homes and future tax revenue on one side, and on the other, traffic, school impacts and the push to preserve enough green space so the area does not feel completely built out.
