Read the full article: inquirer.com
By Katie Bernard – watchdog reporter, PA
Aug. 6, 2025
U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has joined a resident-led effort to block a new senior housing development in Lower Makefield, arguing the project represents broader problems in community development.
A staffer for Fitzpatrick and dozens of Lower Makefield residents gathered at the township’s zoning board meeting Tuesday night in opposition to a zoning variance for the Trinity Realty Companies development. They argued the land should be preserved as open space, that the development could worsen flooding, that the farmhouse on the property was historic, and that the new homes could harm existing home values while worsening traffic.
Those voices, Fitzpatrick argued in an X post Wednesday, were overlooked as Lower Makefield’s zoning board granted the variance.
“This isn’t just about one property,” Fitzpatrick said in the post. “It’s about ensuring our community’s future is shaped by the people who call it home. Too often, we’ve seen development advance without fully accounting for long-term consequences to the environment, infrastructure, and quality of life. I’ve long advocated for a better approach: one that prioritizes thoughtful planning and the voices of the people most affected.”
The zoning board did drop the number of approved units from 16 to 15 in a move one member said would “throw a bone” to concerned citizens. The project has to clear several more levels of approval before construction begins.
The sort of local opposition to proposed development seen in Lower Makefield isn’t uncommon. But it’s notable that a member of Congress became involved in the dispute, especially given the small size of the 3.5-acre proposal, which represents a drop in the bucket for the overall housing stock in the Lower Bucks County township.
In addition to sending a representative to the zoning board meeting on Tuesday, Fitzpatrick met with concerned neighbors, visited the site, and penned a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency asking officials to look into environmental and traffic concerns.
The episode offers a window into the ways the Republican lawmaker, who represents purple Bucks County and a sliver of Montgomery County, engages with local communities across his district even as he often avoids local media.
Fitzpatrick’s office has a pattern of engaging on environmental issues in Bucks County. He has asked the EPA to intervene in the review of a pipeline leak in Upper Makefield, he supported efforts to fight a natural gas compressor in West Rockhill, and urged the closure of Rockhill Quarry after asbestos was discovered.
In recent months, Fitzpatrick has promoted his interventions for Lower and Upper Makefield on his social media accounts, pointing to it as proof of his commitment to his constituents.
And that’s how Kyle Melander, district director for Fitzpatrick, presented the efforts in Tuesday night’s meeting, criticizing the developer as callous and dismissive of resident concerns and insisting that this is the congressman’s pattern.
“Whenever a concern is brought … the congressman always advocates regardless of the matter,” Melander said.
But the developer’s attorney, Jeffrey Garton, suggested the congressman came with ulterior motives — to earn votes.
“If there weren’t 250 voters, would you be here tonight?” Garton asked, referencing a petition that nearly 300 residents had signed seeking the delay of the zoning board decision or a denial of the developer’s request.
Fitzpatrick, who represents a district President Donald Trump lost, will be among the top targets for national Democrats in next year’s election.
During the zoning hearing, developers painted a picture of a project that would match the neighboring community, enhance stormwater treatment in the area, and provide natural barriers to neighbors concerned about the development’s proximity to their homes. Essentially, they argued, concerns of neighbors should act as no barrier to the project moving forward and appropriate studies would be conducted to address many of the residents’ environmental and flooding worries.
Eugene Umansky, a managing partner at Trinity Realty, said he’d never encountered a politician getting involved in a project of this scale but said he understood why Fitzpatrick would respond to a request by residents.
“He’s just trying to appease constituents and voting bodies and there’s no issue with that,” Umanksy said. “Do I think there’s a reason for involvement at that level in this project? Obviously, I’m biased, my answer is no.”
Still, residents of the neighboring developments were grateful to the Republican for listening to them. And they didn’t view his attention as political.
“You would be hard-pressed to convince me that building anything within 150 feet of where I sleep is going to be good for my quality of life,” Dennis O’Sullivan said in the meeting.
And Jack Cullen, a 78-year-old longtime resident of Lower Makefield whose home backs up to the proposed development, said the congressman met with community members last month before visiting the site in person and eventually writing to the EPA.
Cullen, who said he isn’t very engaged in politics, said he was impressed by Fitzpatrick’s inquisitiveness and care for the issue, and that Fitzpatrick “must be doing something right to keep the seat that he has.”
“I was not sure that we were even going to get the time of day from somebody in that position,” Cullen said.
As the project moves forward, Cullen said residents are still evaluating their options, and Fitzpatrick vowed to stay involved.
“I’ll continue working alongside our community to protect our open space and call on every elected official who values long-term stewardship to join us in putting those principles into action,” he said.
