Residents of New Hope Borough packed Tuesday evening’s council meeting to express their views on the proposed redevelopment of the The Landing restaurant and Fred’s Breakfast Club along North Main Street.
The council voted 4-1 to not oppose Landmark Hospitality’s plan at this point and it will go to the New Hope Borough Zoning Hearing Board for a review of several dozen variance requests at a meeting later this spring.
The proposal still has to go through the land development process.
New Hope Borough residents were not afraid to voice their opinions to the council members on Landmark Hospitality’s proposal for the multi-million development on the waterfront.
The objective of Landmark’s proposal is to build a 44-room upscale hotel, restaurant, and pool right along the Delaware River. The proposed development would also include 43 new parking spots along with two artist in residence buildings. It would additionally include riverfront docks, a public walkway, and updates to the streetscape along North Main Street,
The closed Fred’s Breakfast Club would be taken down and The Landing would be incorporated into the new building.
Frank Cretella, who is behind Landmark, has previously called the development a “boutique hotel” and he had stated in the past that he was willing to work with the borough to make the plans work.
Known for being one of the most vibrant and trendy boroughs in all of Bucks County, New Hope Borough residents didn’t hesitate to let their voices be heard. The borough’s community room was packed with residents waiting for their chance to speak up.
The overwhelming majority of residents were against Landmark’s proposal.
A major reason for their dissenting opinion was that the new development would cause more traffic to an area that is already congested thanks to all the automobiles that drive through it each day. Since the proposed development would cause more people to visit New Hope, questions surrounding how the local government would handle traffic flow were brought up.
Since the proposed development is right on the river, other residents voiced their fear of flooding concerns, citing the new development could only exacerbate the problem.
Besides traffic and flooding concerns, other residents mentioned how it would affect the aesthetics of the town, obstructing residents’ view of the river.
Multiple residents brought up their house’s view of the Delaware River and how this proposed development would affect this.
Some residents said the proposed development could be beneficial in the long term, bring in new business and tourists to the riverside town. However, this was a vocal minority at the meeting.
Landmark is familiar with the New Hope area and already owns The Logan Inn and the Mansion Inn in New Hope Borough and Hotel du Village in Solebury Township. The husband-and-wife operated firm also owns eateries and venues in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.
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