"Solebury planning should not be driven by, or obligated to adhere to, regional projected needs as those projections do not align with Solebury Townships Vision, land use goals, and housing goals."
That sentence sits on page 84 of the draft Solebury Township Comprehensive Plan. The township is calling the plan "Solebury 2035." The Planning Commission approved the draft on September 28, 2026. On October 6, the Board of Supervisors sent it to the Bucks County Planning Commission and the neighboring municipalities for review, as the Bucks County Herald reported.
Most buyers comparing Bucks County townships treat thin Solebury inventory as a market condition that could ease when rates or seasons change. The draft plan describes something sturdier. Solebury's limited supply comes from three decades of voter-funded decisions, and the township is about to write that choice into its guiding document for the next ten years.
The Forecast That Measures Its Own Rules
The plan's housing section starts with a short table of counts and projections.
| Year | Housing units in Solebury Township |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 3,747 |
| 2024/2025 estimate | 3,786 |
| 2030 forecast | 3,834 |
| 2040 forecast | 3,845 |
From those figures, the draft concludes that "an estimate of 59 additional Housing Units may be needed within Solebury by 2040." It calls the township's future housing needs "modest."
The footnote under the table explains where the forecast comes from. It is "based on the typical range of single-family housing units approved per year over the last five years." So the township took the pace its zoning has allowed and projected it forward. The 2020 and 2024/2025 counts show how slow that pace is: about 39 net new units in roughly five years, in a township of nearly 3,800 homes.
That changes how to read "need" in a plan like this. A forecast built from past approvals measures supply, and supply depends on rules the township sets. The draft is open about the trade-off. It says the same farmland, open space and natural resources the township protected "have created some constraints on housing options within the township, particularly when combined with rising housing costs and limited housing diversity."
Voters Paid to Make It This Way
The constraint is something Solebury residents voted to pay for. The township's land preservation page lists five referendums, in 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2019, that together authorized up to $56 million in borrowing for preservation. According to the township's winter 2019 newsletter, the most recent one, on the November 2019 ballot, approved up to $12 million more and passed by a 3-to-1 margin.
The township's preservation achievements listing shows the results. It counts 4,047 acres preserved through the township program and 7,036 protected acres in total, out of about 17,376 acres in the township. That works out to roughly 40 percent of Solebury that will not be subdivided.
Preservation deals are still closing:
- Doan, 22.5 acres, July 2025
- Nakashima-Yarnall, 21.73 acres on three tracts along Aquetong Road, December 2025. The township's summer 2026 newsletter notes it connects to an adjacent easement, creating more than 42 contiguous protected acres.
- Estate of David McShane, 30.59 acres, February 2026
More may follow. At its September 17, 2026 meeting, the Land Preservation Committee approved sending a letter of offer for a property identified only as #168, and it put a second property on its October agenda. That owner has signed a letter of interest. Every acre that goes into an easement is an acre that will never become a building lot.
Why County Inventory Doesn't Reach Solebury
The broader Bucks County market is moving the other way. The Bucks County Association of Realtors' September 2026 report, built on Bright MLS data, shows these countywide figures:
- 1,062 active listings at the end of September 2026, up from 880 in September 2025
- 529 closed sales in September 2026, down 3.6 percent year over year
- A median sold price of $515,000 for September 2026, up 1.0 percent from a year earlier
- An average of 29 days on market in September 2026, compared with 30 a year earlier
Those are county numbers, and they should not be read as Solebury's. They do show the mechanism, though. County inventory rose by roughly a fifth in a year even though fewer owners listed. New listings came to 620 in September 2026, down from 646 a year earlier, so the countywide build-up came from homes accumulating on the market. In a township that expects 59 new units over 14 years, inventory depends almost entirely on existing owners deciding to sell. A wider countywide supply gives buyers more choice in Bucks County generally, and it adds very little to the pool of homes they can actually buy in Solebury.
What New Housing Would Look Like
The draft proposes growth in small pieces. It "advocates consideration of supplying new housing through different dwelling types than are currently permitted in township zoning," and it lists them:
- Accessory dwelling units, such as an in-law suite
- Tiny homes, such as a second dwelling on a lot
- Apartments above ground-floor commercial space, including live-work units
- Adaptive reuse of existing nonresidential buildings
Possible zoning changes include small additions for in-law suites and converting garages or other outbuildings into apartments. The draft describes all of these as "small-scale, low-impact" options that would avoid converting farmland or forest, and it ties them to "attainable housing." Among the people it names as possible beneficiaries are teachers, farm workers, firefighters, police officers, postal workers, recent college graduates, starter families, and hospitality, retail and landscape workers.
On location, the draft calls the Route 202 Mid-Northern Corridor near New Hope, which it labels the Logan Square Gateway, the township's highest-intensity area. That area has public water and sewer and potential for limited, walkable redevelopment. The draft treats the northern and southern stretches of the corridor as rural or environmentally sensitive.
Some of these conversions are already happening, though the units are going to visitors, not residents. On October 6, supervisors approved an application to use a second dwelling unit on a Centre Bridge Road property as short-term lodging. They also approved Canal Side Properties LLC's plan to reuse the historic 1855 Toll House at 3776 River Road in Lumberville, a 1.01-acre property, as short-term lodging, according to the Bucks County Herald. Both decisions show the township working through applications to put existing buildings to new uses. Neither adds a long-term home to the market.
For a buyer, this changes what to look for on a Solebury property. The outbuilding, the bank barn and the oversized garage could matter more over the next decade, depending on how the township writes its zoning after the plan is adopted. The draft lists those zoning changes as follow-up work, not current rules.
Proposals Larger Than the Forecast
The draft names one gap in its own estimate. The draft says its analysis "does not capture the additional development that has occurred recently, including the development of the Birches Senior Living community which includes 93 dwelling units for senior residents." Elsewhere, the draft says the township is "considering a proposal to construct a 142-unit senior and age-restricted" community. Separately, Fountainhead at Solebury's preliminary land development and conditional use application was on the Planning Commission's October 26, 2026 agenda. Projects like these go through their own approvals. A 142-unit proposal by itself is more than double the 59 additional units the plan estimates by 2040.
The Dates That Shape What Comes Next
The process still has two public steps this year:
- By November 15, 2026: The township's Attainable Housing Survey closes. It follows board forums held April 9 and June 4.
- December 8, 2026: Comments on the draft plan will be considered at a public meeting, according to the township's Comprehensive Plan Committee page. Comments can be sent through the Bucks County comment portal.
A Few Direct Questions
Does the draft plan change zoning right now? The draft itself treats specific zoning changes, such as the accessory-unit and conversion options, as steps to take after adoption.
Will preservation keep going after the plan is adopted? The pipeline is active. The September 2026 planning report shows an offer letter approved for one property and preservation talks with another owner.
Where can I read the draft myself? The full draft is posted as a PDF on the township site. The housing section starts on page 84.
This post is general information about township plans, not legal, tax or financial advice. Any owner thinking about an accessory unit or conversion should check what is allowed with the township and the right professionals.
If you own in Solebury and want to understand how your outbuildings, acreage or location near the Route 202 gateway affect your home's value under the new plan, Nick Esser can walk you through it. Request a Free Home Valuation and we'll show you how your property compares in a township that has chosen to grow slowly.
