The developer for this project wanted to design a Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND); however, because this area has a highly competitive residential market, there were already four other TNDs proposed within 3 miles of this project site that had been in the design process for more than a year. The client was in need of a design that would stand out among the other designs and raise the bar for the market in York County.

In order to expedite the planning process with York Township, the RETTEW team conducted a highly intensified public planning charrette. This process compressed a two-month conventional planning timeframe into a six-day event that involved public officials and other stakeholders, including the general public in the design and review process. The result was a 246-acre community with approximately 1,300 residential dwelling units of all types, multiple community-oriented building sites, 250,000 SF of commercial, and 108 acres of public open space ranging from a rural rail trail to formal public greens. One of the main features of the design is a town center — a feature the residents identified as important to the area during the charrette process.