On July 6th, 2026, the Upper Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners approved Artisan Land Development’s plans against overwhelming resident opposition but has not yet approved the minutes that record this action. Nevertheless, the Board followed through with a signed agreement with the developer.
The Journal has obtained a copy of the “Agreement” signed between Artisan and the Board of Commissioners. Based on the Journal’s review of the agreement, there appears to be a significant discrepancy between what the public was told during the meeting and what the signed agreement actually provides. Is there a reason for this delay in approving the July 6th minutes so these discrepancies do not surface?
For example, the commissioners, particularly Al Leach, repeatedly told the public that the development would still proceed through the normal Township planning process, including review by the Township’s Planning Commission. This review would include consideration of waivers from existing Township ordinances.
But the agreement appears to tell a very different story. According to the agreement, the Board had already granted “ALL” waivers requested by the developer. If the agreement means what it appears to say, then the developer may have already received approval for every waiver it requested before going through the normal development-review process.
That raises some very serious questions: Why was the public told that the normal planning process would still occur if the Board had already agreed to grant all of the developer’s requested waivers? Why wasn’t this information clearly disclosed to the public when the agreement was approved? And did the Board effectively bypass portions of the Township’s normal development-review process when it approved this agreement?
There is another issue that deserves scrutiny: the developer has ties to one of the commissioners, Elwood Taylor. Taylor hired the same attorney to sue the Township that Artisan used to sue the Township. Taylor sued the Township when a prior Board wouldn’t allow him to be on the Planning Commission while he was a commissioner. Given this relationship, the public deserves to know exactly what was agreed to, exactly what was represented at the meeting, and exactly what waivers were granted to the developer.
The Upper Pottsgrove Journal will continue to report the information that matters to Township residents—including the information others may not report. As of today, the Upper Pottsgrove Planning Commission has not seen the Artisan Plans.