For Concord Township Supervisor Kevin O’Donaghue, the 325-acre Beaver Valley, a Woodlawn Trustees property on the west side of the township, is “a political football.”
O’Donaghue made the comment at The Gables Restaurant in Pennsbury Township, the sight of a fund-raiser for the Save the Valley group, an open space organization fighting any proposed zoning change that Woodlawn might seek.
The sitting supervisor was not attending the event when he spoke, but was downstairs speaking with a Concord Township resident who would attend. O’Donaghue reminded the resident of something he said earlier in the year.
“I am on record as being against any zoning change,” he said.
His political football point may have been proven when the two Democratic Party candidates for township supervisor did show up for the fund-raiser.
Dan Foster and Dan Levin are challenging Libby Salvucci and Dominic Cappelli, respectively. Both Democrats oppose any zoning change, but so does Salvucci who said so during a Board of Supervisors’ meeting this summer. Cappelli recused himself from any deliberations on the matter.
Woodlawn requested the zoning change so that the property could be developed with more density, but with more open space, according to CEO Vernon Green. Woodlawn withdrew its request for a zoning change this spring, but Green said they would resubmit later this year. It has not yet done so.
Supervisors Dominic Pileggi and John Gillespie have made no public comment on where they stand on the issue. Even if those two do favor rezoning, the board would be split 2-2 with one abstention. A Foster victory would not change that, but a Levin victory would tip the balance.
“Based on my 25 years experience in working with businesses large and small, developers the size of McKee and the others do not invest as much money as they have in plans, studies and writing a new ordinance unless they have at least received passive approval from the supervisors that new zoning would go into effect,” Levin said.
(McKee is one of several developers with a financial interest in developing the property under plans that can only be done with a zoning change.)
He said that there’s always been unanimity on votes in the past and is skeptical of currently stated positions.
“I think they might find an excuse to let it go through,” he said. “And by the way, they may not be in favor of the zoning change as presented, but they haven’t stated a position against any other similar plan,” Levin said. “I can state categorically that I won’t vote for any plan to rezone.”
He also said he would prefer tighter zoning restrictions.
Meanwhile, Foster said he’s glad Salvucci came out against the zoning change, but wishes she — and O’Donaghue — had done so sooner. Foster’s been against it from the start, he said.
Foster said that adding 500 or more homes in the township would add problems to an already overburdened Garnet Valley School district that, he said, is more than $110 million in debt. He said supervisors need to slow the growth to give the school district some breathing room.
About 200 people were expected to attend the fund-raiser. Among those who did, was Donald Bunnell who said he lives near the Newlin Grist Mill. He said he’s all for property rights, but he, too, thinks Concord needs to slow its growth.
“When I moved here, Concord was rural. I’d go down Cheney Road and it was nothing but woodlands. It was beautiful,” said the 33-year township resident. “Over the years the open space has disappeared except for the valley that’s now in question.”
He called the valley “sacrosanct” and said William Bancroft, who established the trustees, preserved it for a reason. Now, though, “Woodlawn Trustees has no right to get rid of that when their mission in the first place was to preserve.”
Save the Valley founder Jason Hoover is from Wilmington, but said he lives closer to the property — which runs from the Delaware state line to Smithbridge Road and from Route 202 to Chadds Ford Township — than any of the Concord Township supervisors.
Some of the criticism of the organization is that it’s made up primarily of people who live outside the township and even outside the state. Hoover said there are many Concord residents who support the group, but are afraid of retribution from supervisors, so they don’t speak out publicly.
There were three women interviewed who said they lived in Wilmington, but were unaware of the property’s location.
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.
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A lot of good information was provided in this article and it is gratifying to see that there is beginning to be an understanding of the serious consequences for developing Beaver Valley. It would be nice if the Chadds Ford supervisors took a proactive role and went on record against it.
However, it is beyond my comprehension how a Concord Twp Supervisor crashes a Save The Valley Event (again) and tries to set the tone of the article with Chadds Ford Live. A more appropriate headline and theme for the article would have been how Save The Valley still going strong, still plowing ahead undeterred by election time rhetoric. Fortunately, the merits of the issue defy spin by a politician.
A friend asked if I meant to refer to “Chadds Ford” Supervisors in my earlier comment. Yes…I live in Chadds Ford close to where the Beaver Valley development would take place. Not only would it destroy a precious piece of open space, it would add almost 14,000 car trips a day to our back roads and 202. Speaking of 202, we now have to suffer with a huge electronic billboard (“Concord’s Digital Monument”). I am fearful that Concord Township Supervisors are ruining the quality of life in Chadds Ford Township too. So, yes Chadds Ford Supervisors need to weigh in and officially tell Concord Township ENOUGH. No, it is not about politics or ideology, it is about quality of life.