MARION — The future of a 48-unit Marion housing development located at 78 Wareham Road (Route 6) is now in the hands of the national homebuilding company Toll Brothers.

Toll Brothers, which was founded in Pennsylvania in 1967, has built homes in 24 states and as of 2022 has sold more than 150,000 homes, according to the company’s website.

Previous developers Matthew Zuker and Armando Petruzziello first proposed the 48-unit development along the Weweantic River in March 2021, which would have consisted of cottages and townhouses for those ages 55-and-up or who are looking for a second home.

At the time, then Town Planner Gil Hilario expressed concern over a “huge influx of housing that is not typical in Marion” due to two other proposed housing projects.

Planning Board members had noted that the growth could cause problems for school capacity, fire services and sewer systems.

Despite these concerns, Zuker eventually appeared before Town Meeting in April 2022 to request a zoning change to allow for his proposed cottages and townhouses, which Town Meeting approved.

Since then, Zuker and Petruzziello worked on their plans for the development until this year when Toll Brothers took over after spending a few months evaluating the property.

At a public hearing on Monday, July 21, representatives from the company shared their plans for the 30-acre property.

Rather than featuring a mix of detached houses, attached townhouses and duplexes, all 48 structures are now planned to be single-family homes.

According to Jeff Heidelberg, who presented the new design plan to the Planning Board, Toll Brothers is looking to make a “more efficient layout” than Zuker’s design.

“It would reduce the amount of impervious areas, adhere to some of the comments that we heard from the fire chief and change the arrangement of the housing units to fit better for the homeowner’s association [building],” Heidelberg said.

Included in Heidelberg’s plan is leaving a 20-foot gap between each house, which takes some of Fire Chief Brian Jackvony’s safety concerns into consideration.

“He wanted additional space because it’s, in his opinion, a cluster development,” Heidelberg explained. “There’s a lot of homes, and he’s nervous that if one goes up … there’s a high chance another one could go up.”

During the public hearing, Rich Gilbert, who lives across the street from the development site, questioned how the developers would address traffic flow, noting that the traffic is “pretty bad” near the site’s entrance, which is along Route 6 and nearby the River Junction Restaurant.

“I see kids doing wheelies on motorcycles, and … they’re not doing 50, they’re not doing 60, doing almost 90, and I see too many things happen,” he said.

Planning Board member Tucker Burr noted that the property lies along “a very dangerous section” of Route 6, with its main entrance located near a hill.

“About the first two weeks of December, the sun is directly on the road as it crests and comes over and [you] can’t see anything,” he said.

Developers and the town of Marion can’t put signs or adjust traffic patterns, such as installing traffic lights, without appealing to the state, but to make the development more visible to drivers, Heidelberg proposed “a boulevard looking entry along the front.”

“There was concern about sight lines as you’re coming up over the rise of the hill,” he said. “We need an indicator that vehicles should be slowing down.”

The entrance would feature a center island with 20-foot wide roadways on either side to give the development a “grand approach” and a sign identifying the property, which Heidelberg said would give drivers the “visual cues that traffic’s going to be entering.”

Planning Board Chair Andrew Daniel said that it’s still unknown when ground will break for the project, noting that since Toll Brothers has taken over developing the site, the permitting process must start from the beginning.

“This project’s been going, going and going, this piece of land discussion, for a long time,” he said. “I’m hoping to see a shovel in the ground.”