Jaindl Eyes Building 55-and-Older Community

A 55-and-older community is now the concept being mulled by David Jaindl for a drawing board development that has been known as The Hills at Winchester, South Whitehall Township officials said last week.

Jaindl is also looking at including a restaurant and neighborhood-friendly retail in the development, which lies on 94 acres of farmland off of Walbert Avenue.

Community Development Manager Gerald Harbison told commissioners during their last meeting on Wednesday night that Jaindl has discussed updated plans with township staff and had planned to meet with neighborhood residents in the township building before Thursday’s Zoning Hearing Board meeting.

Jaindl first floated the idea of developing the former Rutz Farm into single-family homes to commissioners in June 2011. As of August, the concept was to build about 90 high-end single-family homes.

It was unclear—based on Harbison’s comments—how a 55-and-over community would affect the proposed density or layout of the project.

The land is currently zoned as low-density residential, which would allow the development of 117 lots with minimum lot sizes of 20,000 square feet.