July 17, 2012

It’s too soon to talk about any specifics that might result from a proposed townhouse development in Chadds Ford. It’s only a proposal at this point, not an official application.

There are a number of bureaucratic hurdles — zoning changes, Planning Commission review and supervisors’ consideration — before the plan becomes a reality. That said, we’d like to see the bureaucratic process go forward. It should be interesting to see the reactions to the plan and how things pan out in the end.

As previously reported, Hovnanian Enterprises wants to build 124 townhouses on 20 acres along Brandywine Drive — the loop road — near Hannum’s Harley Davidson dealership.

This the first development proposed in Chadds Ford in several years. The last plan to come before the Chadds Ford supervisors was the small sales office for Brüggemann Chemical currently under construction on Route 1 near Southpoint. That plan was submitted two years ago. The last major construction was the Toll Bros. development, almost a decade ago.

The Toll plan was controversial with the initial proposal calling for 270 houses on a former Girl Scout camp. Many people squawked saying the township infrastructure couldn’t handle that many new homes and people, and that school taxes would skyrocket because that many people would flood the district with too many students.

Through negotiations, however, the plan was reduced to less than half the original proposal and there have been no problems with infrastructure. Indeed, the township even got a much-needed new sewer plant out of the deal.

What the Hovnanian proposal does now is raise questions. Will the township prosper with such a development? Supervisors’ Chairman George Thorpe said during the July Board of Supervisors’ meeting that the township is looking for new sources of revenue and former Tax Collector Bruce Prabel said a residential development on the site would generate more revenue than a commercial development.

The proposal also raises the question of whether the economy might be changing, improving if only a little bit at a time.

That’s the biggest issue. While the business climate in places such as Concord Township still shows some dynamics, the same can’t be said for Chadds Ford Township. Granted, a yoga studio has moved into the old coffee shop in the Barn Shops, but there’s still no tenant across the street where the deli used to be and the site of the former Tales and Toys in Olde Ridge is still empty. The hearty bustle of a healthy marketplace remains stifled.

Whatever gets done with the 20-acre site on Brandywine Drive, we hope it’s a success. We also hope it’s a sign of better things to come.