Another hearing planned for L. Southampton mosque proposal – Bucks Round-Up – April 3, 2026

Another hearing planned for mosque proposal

Lower Southampton’s zoning board met with the owners of a Muslim community center on March 31 to further discuss their plan to operate a mosque on the community center property. The plan requires a zoning use variance. Residents of the neighborhood had concerns about traffic, parking, and noise and packed the meeting earlier last month, resulting in the March 31 hearing. Another hearing is planned for May 5, also at Poquessing Middle School. During the hearing this week, leaders of the Al-Asr Community Center on Buck Road outlined their request for a zoning variance. Community input included concerns about parking, hours of operation, prayer times, and capacity.  The mosque would be open all day for the five daily Islamic prayer times with a maximum of about ten to fifteen people expected throughout the day, according to Imam Bashir Balal Aygun, the spiritual leader of the congregation. Both the zoning board and nearby residents repeatedly raised concerns about parking issues created by increased attendance. The property is one of eleven tenants in the Buck Road business park who share parking. The other concern being raised in social media is whether the call to prayer would be broadcast outside the building. The applicant said all prayers will be conducted inside. 

SEPTA buying used passenger cars in Canada

SEPTA is expanding its Regional Rail fleet with 24 used rail cars from Canada. The authority reached out to Canada and others for rail cars after state legislators couldn’t reach a consensus on funding. SEPTA said infrastructure and safety upgrades were needed and the Federal Railroad Administration-mandated inspections and repairs forced SEPTA to sideline large portions of its 50-year-old Silverliner IV fleet. The move followed fire safety concerns, including a fire at the Levittown Train Station. The Silverliner IV cars, built by the Budd Co., make up approximately two-thirds of the Regional Rail inventory. SEPTA was forced to reduce capacity and cancel trips for several months. While most Silverliner IVs have returned to service, SEPTA implemented an enhanced maintenance program to keep the aging cars viable until they can be fully replaced, the agency said. To prevent further disruptions to commuter rail service, SEPTA has spent recent months scouring North America for used equipment to lease or buy. Earlier in the year, SEPTA integrated ten leased cars from Maryland’s MARC system into its daily operations.

Historic Patterson Farm nominated for National Register 

Lower Makefield Township has nominated the area, known as the Thomas Janney Historic Agricultural District, for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The site is known locally as Patterson Farm. Located along Mirror Lake and Yardley-Langhorne Road, the district includes both the Janney-Brown Yardley Farmstead and the Bayley Satterthwaite Doan Farmstead named after Tom and Alice Patterson, the last private owners before Lower Makefield Township acquired the Patterson Farm property in 1998 for $7.2 million to preserve its historic resources. Approximately 183 acres are permanently protected through a Bucks County agricultural conservation easement. The Thomas Janney Historic Agricultural District represents more than three centuries of continuous farming and reflects agricultural patterns established by early Quaker settlers. The nomination to the National Register of Historic Places was made because the site also includes historic buildings, open fields, streams, ponds, and wooded areas that preserve the look and feel of farm-rich Bucks County before its development over the past 75 years. Gaining recognition as a national historic place formally recognizes the Thomas Janney Historic Agricultural District’s importance and may help the township acquire preservation grants and other funding to support the restoration and stewardship of the historic structures, according to the Lower Makefield Historical Commission. The nomination will be reviewed by the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office before being sent to the National Park Service for final consideration. 

Pat Wandling is a veteran journalist, formerly of The Bucks County Courier, and was a mainstay on WBCB for over 20 years.