There may be 140 condominiums gracing the property of Mahoning Valley Country Club for 55-plus adults, according to developers who presented a sketch plan to Mahoning Township supervisors last night. The developers were seeking input from the board, as an introduction of their long-term plan.

"We want to intermingle 55-and-older housing among the holes of the golf course," said Lou Rock of Lehigh Engineering. "We have done several of these types of developments in Lehigh and Northampton counties. In fact we just broke ground on one in Northampton County. They took sales of 40 units in the first night they were available."Rock said they built a 241-unit development with similar guidelines and within a time period of 2008 to 2010; 201 of the units were sold and only 40 are left.He told the board there would be minimal impact on the township as the roads would be maintained by the condominium association that would be organized for the development, and there would be on-site water and sewage treatment. Rock said the owner is hoping to package a membership to the course with the homes when they are developed. There would be 140 to 150 units.Rock said there would be a positive impact on taxes as well without causing an increased burden to the schools because of the age-limited community. He estimated each unit would raise about $3,700 in taxes, meaning the entire development would generate a half-million dollars in tax revenue for the school, county and township.Chairman John Wieczorek told Rock that there have been discussions in the past about building developments in that vicinity and he was concerned about the pair of single lane bridges on the road."Would there be plans to improve them?" he asked.Developer Carmen Tessitore told Wieczorek that they would entertain anything to make the area better.Wieczorek also mentioned the water supply in that area was obtained through wells."There's a concern about surface wells and the water supply, and if a development like this one would endanger the local water supply," he said.Rock assured Wieczorek if the plan proceeded there would be plenty of testing done on the water supply and other needs.Rock also pointed out that this age group generates about one third of the traffic of a family development. He told supervisors a family development of only 40 units equates to the traffic created by this size development. Wieczorek questioned whether such a statistic is still as accurate as it once was.Rock answered that they have performed studies on some of the first age-limited communities they constructed and have found the one-third average compared to single family dwellings still stands.Supervisor Linda Benner, who asked if the units would be the same size, was told they would average around 1,600 to 1,800 square feet each.Rock said they were usually single-floor units but some could be designed with lofts. Tessitore added that they usually try to determine when they move forward what the demand would be."Where are these current developments?" asked Supervisor Bruce Steigerwalt.Rock said there were two in Hanover Township, one on Bridle Path Road and another on Jaindl Boulevard. They have also built two in Palmer Township, one in Allen Township and in Lower Macungie Township.Steigerwalt asked what kind of code allows for constructing these types of development, to which Rock answered that several of them were designed under cluster ordinances, while others were designed as an overlay with an age restriction.Steigerwalt pointed out the current ordinances do not allow for clustered developments."We would need to rewrite our subdivision and our zoning ordinances to allow for cluster developments," he said.He pointed out the comprehensive plan discusses this, but Supervisor Frank Ruch pointed out that any ordinances are not going to happen quickly.Rock volunteered to send sample ordinances from other townships that have used them successfully. He added that the ordinances were developed by the different townships and the Lehigh Planning Commission reviewed them as well.The discussion concluded with no major objections to the concept. Rock thanked the supervisors for listening to them and providing their concerns so that if and when the project does begin serious planning, they know what issues would be important to address.