The vice chairman of the Pennsbury Township Planning Commission wants to take a seat with the Board of Supervisors.
Aaron McIntyre, 50, has been a Pennsbury resident for 10 years and has been active in open space issues, the Pennsbury Land Trust and is president of the Hanover Hunt Homeowners’ Association.
Besides serving on the township Planning Commission, he is also a representative to the Kennett Area Regional Planning Commission.
While on the Open Space Committee, he said he was involved with selecting properties for open space preservation consideration. Open space and development issues remain significant in his eyes.
“The biggest issue is how to guide development in such a way to preserve the semi-rural charm, the open space and environmental issues of the township,” McIntyre said.
But, he said that maintaining financial responsibility is just as important because “ the temptation to spend is continuing to come before the township.”
An example of that temptation, he said, is the call for more public roads, with the township responsible for maintenance versus private roads, those that exist only within a given development. Individual homeowners’ associations, not the township, maintain those private roads.
And McIntyre said there is a need to watch out for, what he called “ tax creep.”
He said there’s always a call and trend to look for ways to spend money. “ That must be carefully controlled, or it will balloon out of control,” McIntyre said. “ Money must be spent carefully and judiciously.”
Here he cites money spent on the Mendenhall property as an example, saying the township spent too much.
He said the $700,000 to $900,000 was more than needed, especially considering there were not as many environmental restrictions placed on the property as there could have been.
“There were so little that the county backed out,” McIntyre said.
Had the county been part of the transaction, there would have been more money available so the township would have paid less, he said.
McIntyre also fought against the use of township property being leased for private development of Pennsbury Village project.
Both that project and the way open space taxes were initially presented to public became controversial and divisive within the township, yet McIntyre said it’s not as bad as it seems.
“The split is one which is typical and expected because of policy differences,” he said. “ But the last two elections show the township is more united than people think, though there is vocal disappointment in the changing of the guard.”
He said he has previously supported those involved in both factions, though he is more affiliated with the Wendell Fenton and Charles Scottoline faction. Fenton and Scottoline are currently sitting supervisors, having been elected in 2005 and 2007 respectively, the two elections he referenced.
McIntyre is running in the Republican primary. He did not cross-file, he said.
McIntyre is a senior vice president with Smith Barney, involved with investment management and financial planning.
Also running for supervisor in the May 19 primary is Steve Eichinger.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
