March 13, 2013

More testimony with little new information, but with some objection, came out of a March 12 hearing in Concord Township regarding the proposed Wegman’s development.

Testifying were a land planner and two civil engineers, one of whom was a traffic engineer. All three said the planned development — with the food store planned for Concord and other retail stores in Chadds Ford Township — would be both safe and beneficial to the community.

The hearing combines a request for conditional use approval and on the creation of a zoning overlay — the Loop Road Overlay — that would allow for the new 140,000 square foot store. Current zoning allows for manufacturing, warehouses and offices. If it passes, the overlay would also allow for retail stores, restaurants and supermarkets. Conditional use approval is needed because of the large size of the proposed market.

Construction will be on 20.3 acres in Concord and 13 acres in Chadds Ford. The entire site is between Route 202 just north of Applied Card Way, the Applied Card building to the east and Route 1 to the north.

Plans for development also call for parking spaces and new retail stores in Chadds Ford and for completion of the third leg of the loop road around the intersection of routes 1 and 202. This segment of the loop would extend from Applied Card Way at Route 1 to Route 202 across from Hillman Drive.

Land planner Dennis Glackin completed testimony started in late January, and was then cross-examined by Rocco Imperatrice, representing Glen Eagle Square where Whole Foods is located.

Glackin said there would need to be stormwater management on the site, but that those plans are yet finished. In all, he said the overlay and the development would be “a significant benefit” to the area, especially because of the loop road. He said the plan would be a benefit without the loop, but the new road makes the plan even better.

Civil engineer Greg Elko and traffic engineer William Lothian echoed Glackin’s sentiments. Both said the plan would be beneficial and that the new road, along with improved intersections into and out of the development, would make for safer conditions.

In addition, Elko said improved sidewalks would also promote safety and that the development would be a benefit to public safety and health.

Attorney Garth Hoyt, representing Applied Card, filed two procedural objections. He first said that the Concord Township Planning Commission had not considered the plan in a public meeting, only in agenda sessions.

Township solicitor Hugh Donaghue responded, saying that while the commission did consider the plan in two agenda sessions, it also reviewed the plan in one regular meeting. He added that agenda sessions are advertized.

Hoyt also objected to the size of parcel in Concord. He said the ordinance requires the property to be a minimum of 20 acres, but that the current owner of the property will be retaining three acres, leaving 17 acres for Wegman’s. That, he said, made the area too small.

Again, Donaghue responded by saying that tract size is determined before subdivision and land development, so the plan is in compliance with the code.

Robert Gundlach, the attorney for the applicant, added that the ordinance allows for the Chadds Ford parcel to be included in determining tract size because it’s part of the project.

The hearing is scheduled to continue 7 p.m., Thursday, April 25 in the municipal building.

The Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board will be weighing school safety against granting an easement for an already existing trail on school property.

Other concerns include the legal ramifications of conveying an easement as well as whether it can be done on a trial basis.

At issue is a private trail that runs through part of Chadds Ford Elementary School property. Currently, it’s open only to members of the Wilmington and Chester County trail clubs. If the easement is granted to Pennsbury Township, however, the trail will become public and use will increase. That concerns School Board Director Kathy Do.

Do said she wants to make sure that people using the trail can’t get into the playground area. She wants an extension of the chain link fence that runs along the east side of the school property adjacent to the trail.

That trail, part of the Brandywine Creek Greenway, enters school property through the driveway off of Route 1, then cuts to the east by the stream where students re-introduce shad into the Brandywine Creek. It then turns north and veers onto private property that borders the school.

“I favor this,” Do said, “but I want to make sure it’s safe…If more people will use [the trail],” our children’s safety is of primary interest.

Fellow Director Frank Murphy agreed with Do, saying the safety issue must be studied.

Director Holly Manzone said it is safe. She said that people need to walk and exercise more to be healthy and it’s safer to walk on an existing trail than along heavily trafficked streets.

Do added that she had spoken with CFES Principal Mark Ransford about the trail and, according to her, Ransford said he’s never seen anyone use the trail during the week.

Board President Eileen Bushelow said the board needs to be more fully educated on the legal ramifications of granting the easement, and Director Vic Dupuis wanted to know whether there could be a trial easement for a year or two before easing the property in perpetuity.

Sheila Fleming from the Brandywine Conservancy and Michael Lane from Pennsbury Township made a presentation about the trail to the board during the March 11 work session.

Fleming said that while the trail segment through school property already exists, there was never any formal easement. By granting the easement to Pennsbury Township, the trail would become public, allowing for greater use.

She said the goal is to have the entire 30-mile Brandywine Creek Greenway open to the public so that “people can walk from the Village of Chadds Ford to Honeybrook Borough.”

A parking area on conservancy property is being planned.

In response to Dupuis’s concern, Fleming said there could be a trial period written into the initial agreement so the school district could assess the trail’s impact before committing to a permanent easement.

There was a consensus of members that a trial basis was the way to go. None of the directors expressed any outright opposition.

Negotiations with private property owners are going on all along the trail where there are as yet no easements.

Lane said easements are needed to preserve the trail. He said it was “endangered” because new people moving into the area might not want it unless the land is already eased for public use.

Public easements through school property are nothing new in the district. Rick Hostetler, director of buildings and grounds, said there is already a trail easement through Pocopson Elementary School.

It could take three months to a year to convey the easement, Fleming said.

Years ago, The Village People sang the praises of staying at the YMCA. Now the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley is singing about coming to the Village of Chadds Ford — the entire township of Chadds Ford, really.

Members of the Chadds Ford Business Association learned about the possibility of a YMCA branch coming to the township during a breakfast meeting with Chadds Ford supervisors.

There’s no formal application yet, just some preliminary talks, according to Supervisor Keith Klaver. The Y wants to build in the Chadds Ford Business Campus on Henderson property. The building would be on Hillman Drive across from the Estates at Chadds Ford.

Denise L. Day, 
president and chief executive officer of the Brandywine group, said in a telephone interview that the Y approached the supervisors first to get some guidance on how to proceed, but that a formal plan and application could be coming shortly.

The plan would have to go through the Planning Commission first, but Day is uncertain whether they would have to go through the Zoning Hearing Board as well.

Regardless, Day likes the idea of having a branch in Chadds Ford Township. Her group already has six locations, including one in West Chester and another in Kennett Square. Another Y group has the Rocky Run facility in Middletown Town ship. Chadds Ford is roughly equidistant, about 10 miles, from each of those three sites.

“We see Chadds Ford as an un-served area for us. While we do pull from Chadds Ford to some extent, for some folks it’s inconvenient to drive into Kennett…We see that there is a real need, a huge un-served population that’s part of our service area. This would really round out our service area,” Day said. “There’s definitely a need for services right there for families.”

Day said the West Chester facility has about 23,000 members, with 2,000 in downtown West Chester. The Kennett facility will see a bump in membership when the expansion project there is finished sometime this summer.

The Y projected for Chadds Ford would be about the same size as the pre-expansion Kennett Y.

She said there would be no swim team at the Chadds Ford Y. A warm water family pool is planned, one with a lot of play elements, more than could be put into Kennett.

While the Kennett site will be getting a warm water pool, the one in Chadds Ford would be larger. An indoor playground is also projected and the gymnasium, she said, would be about the size of “a gym and a half.”

Though there’s no formal application yet, Day said her group would be approaching the Planning Commission soon.

“We’re getting set up to be able to do that,” she said.