Neighbors oppose commercial building becoming housing in Middletown. Here's the plan

The Middletown zoners approved a five-unit apartment complex in a building at 266 Hulmeville Road that nearby residents say once served as the township’s police headquarters.

Healthcare Building Solutions Realty applied for the variances needed for the project.

The business owner, Albert J. Hornung, purchased the building in 2012 and refurbished it and the single apartment that was already in the building, in which his parents now reside. He used the building for his medical realty business but, since the pandemic, most of his employees are working from home and he no longer needs the office space. He told the zoners there is a glut of offices now in the region, so he thought a residential use for the building would be better.

Hornung's attorney, Michael Maginniss, said that Hornung planned to renovate the building to add four more one- and two-bedroom apartments. The building is located at the corner of Hulmeville Road and West Richardson Avenue. He expected the apartments would rent for $2,000 to $2,500 a month, the going rate for upscale apartments in Bucks County, and he wanted to make sure the tenants were “of high caliber.”

Richardson Avenue resident Leo Castello said Hornung may have good intentions but adding four apartments to the one already there would increase the population of Richardson Avenue by “50%...and it would be at the neighbors’ expense."

“Our quiet neighborhood — I want to keep it that way. We are not going to benefit. I don’t think it will increase the value of my home.” He presented the board with petitions against the proposal. The board received 17 signatures opposing it.

Mike Breshahan lent his support to the opposition. “I agree with Leo 100%. I don’t think five apartments will help our home values."

But Francis Drummond whose family has lived in the area for 150 years said that Hornung upgraded the property when he bought it and he wouldn’t oppose the apartments. “I trust his judgement,” he said.

Hornung said that if the plan wasn’t approved he most likely would sell the property. Maginnis said that “any other commercial use would have a more negative impact.” The apartments were the “best and most reasonable use” for the building, he said.

The zoners then took a break to meet in executive session. After meeting they voted unanimously to approve the plan for the apartments, allowing for a multi-family use in a C Commercial and for a sideyard setback of just over 11 feet where 15 is required.

But Castello later questioned the decision made after 10 p.m., requesting that the zoning board not publicize their decision until they answer some questions that he and others had, including how many people could live in a one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartment and whether Section 8 or other government subsidized housing could be put in the building.

He also wanted to know whether the apartments would have their own laundry machines and how much electricity the apartments would need off the local service grid. And he asked how many other apartment buildings the zoners approved for residential neighborhoods and were any approved for their own neighborhoods.

Township Building and Zoning Director Jim Ennis said the questions presented Thursday could not be considered by the board which had already decided on the project.

"The decision has been rendered.  The decision was based on everything presented and considered during the hearing.  They will not reconsider anything after rendering their decision," Ennis said of the zoners. "An appeal of the decision to a higher court" is what the neighbor or neighbors would have to attempt, he said.

.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Apartments coming to Hulmeville Road and Richardson Avenue in Middletown