East Lampeter officials to mull using township property for affordable housing

East Lampeter Township officials are considering turning a township-owned property into an affordable home for local families.

The idea comes as township leaders brainstorm ways to address homelessness as the number of people who are unsheltered continues to rise across the county.

Township Manager Ralph Hutchison in September proposed using the township’s 2555 Old Philadelphia Pike property next to Nolt’s Mill as an affordable home for Conestoga Valley District families. The township’s five supervisors voiced support for the idea and asked township staff to pursue it further.

“That’s just an idea,” Hutchison said at a September public meeting. “We haven’t pursued that other than we did ask the rental agent to put a pause on efforts to try to lease the property until the board would make a decision.”

Hutchison last week said plans are still in the preliminary stages and nothing has been approved yet. The goal, he said, would be to place a family in the two-story house at a below-market rate with the help of a local housing organization. When one family moves out, another family would move in.

The property has been used as a standard rental house since the township purchased it in 2020 as a part of the Nolt’s Mill property. According to county property records, the township purchased the lot with the mill, house and a shed in 2020 for $318,000.

A family had been living in the house since the purchase, Hutchison said, but they moved out this year.

Township officials suggested working with Exton-based Bridge of Hope, a religious nonprofit that focuses on unsheltered families, to place a family in the house. A representative for Bridge of Hope on Monday said there have not been any formal discussions about a partnership.

The township in September also agreed to earmark $10,000 in its budget for local nonprofit SEEDS to fund its efforts to address homelessness in the Conestoga Valley School District, which includes East Lampeter, Upper Leacock and West Earl townships.

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