Birmingham Township will turn 325 years old in 2011, and
supervisors there have never conducted a mediation procedure—until now—according
to Supervisors’ Chairman John Conklin. The mediation happened on a night when
supervisors began considering a 325^th anniversary celebration.

Conklin said the idea behind the mediation is to avoid a
zoning board hearing to determine whether to allow a pole barn on the 23.6-acre
Victor Leonhard property at 700 Brinton’s Bridge Road.

The board reached no decision during the Dec. 20 session.
Conklin said the meeting was to give the applicant a chance to hear concerns,
and then make a proposal considering the board’s and neighbors’ comments. That
proposal may be considered during the Jan. 17 supervisors’ meeting. If the board
accepts the final proposal, the plan may go forward. If not, the applicant
would have to go to the zoning board, Conklin said.

Speaking during the mediation was the family’s attorney,
engineer and several neighbors, some of whom objected to the pole barn. Two
neighbors spoke in favor of the plan.

Attorney Art Sagnor presented the basics of the application,
saying the Leonhard property is a working farm and the site of a
landscaping/hardscaping business. There are already two residences at the
location, as well as several smaller out buildings, including a 12-stall horse
barn.

There are various types of livestock on the property,
including horses, cattle, donkeys, goats and chickens.

“Clearly, it’s a licensed farm,” Sagnor said.

The proposed 5,100 square foot
barn—85 feet by 60 feet—would house farm and business vehicles and equipment.
According to the plan, the barn would be situated in the corner of a meadow
area, surrounded on three sides by woods and 270 feet from the nearest property
line, he said.

It would be gray in color, 16
feet high.

All three supervisors, Conklin,
Al Bush and Bill Kirkpatrick, expressed concerns over the possibility of noise
and the chance that the landscaping/hardscaping business expandion would harm
the residential character of the area. That part of Brinton’s Bridge Road is
zoned residential.

Each asked if the applicant was
willing to place limits on the business, limits on hours, activity and the
number of people who would come to the property.

Kirkpatrick said he wanted no
manufacturing or commercial activity on site.

Sagnor responded saying there
would be none of that.

“We’re not cutting flagstone,”
Sagnor said, adding there would be no retail operations at the property and no
customers coming to the site.

Six residents spoke to the
board. Peter Gangel, Robert Holliday, Jarl Mork and Scott Berger spoke in
opposition to the proposal. Mark Mattei and Ryan Peterson said they are in
favor of the Leonhards getting the barn.

Berger and Gangel, both from
Brinton’s Bridge Road, each said there is already too much noise emanating from
the property.

Gangel said the quality of the
residential area is deteriorating and that it would be made worse if the barn
was erected.

“There’s no need for a 5,100
square foot barn if you’re not expanding a business…I don’t want a business
behind my house,” he said.

Berger said he wants limits on
an already noisy situation.

“We hear it every morning. We
don’t even need an alarm clock,” Berger said.

Mork, also from Brinton’s
Bridge Road, said there would be noise and that the proposal was not in keeping
with the residential character.

Holliday, who lives on Webb
Road, said he was concerned about the environmental impact and that the
business would grow.

Other residents said they were
in favor of the barn.

Mattei, who said his property
was closest to the proposed barn site, said he thinks the Leonhards have done
well to maintain the rural character of the property.

“I’m honored to live next door
to them,” Mattei said. “I’ve never seen storage or anything stockpiled there.
It’s a gleaming piece of Chester County. I’m the only one who’s going to see
anything.”

Peterson, another Brinton’s
Bridge Road resident, said there’s been no noise, “nothing louder than a leaf
blower.” He added that he’s never seen a retail customer.

“I’ve never seen more than a
small pile of stone [there], “ he said.

Other business:

Greg Kurey, of the Recreation,
Parks and Open Space Committee presented the supervisors with myriad options on
what might be done to celebrate the township’s 325^th anniversary.
The presentation was given, not for any immediate decision, but to start
getting feedback from the board.

Kurey suggested having the event
Aug. 27 in the vicinity of Sandy Hollow and Birmingham Hill.