Chadds Ford Township supervisors voted down a request from the Brandywine Valley YMCA to consider a text amendment that would have allowed a Y in the LI zoning district.
The Nov. 6 vote was 2-1, with Supervisors’ Chairman Deborah Love dissenting. She wanted the request to move to the township Planning Commission and Delaware County Planning Department for recommendations.
Love said those agencies could work through the process of clarifying an amendment that would bring a recreational facility to the township. Chadds Ford currently has no such facility and people have to drive out of the township for their recreational needs.
The YMCA wanted to build in the Chadds Ford Business Campus at Dickinson and Hillman drives. That site is zoned for light industrial use and the proposed text amendment would permit — with conditional use approval — a nonprofit community center in all LI districts in the township. Such a facility is currently not allowed in that type of zoning district.
Resident Bruce Prabel spoke against the proposal saying that while having a YMCA in the township is a good idea, the location is poor and that some of the Y’s operations are retail in nature. He also said the seven-day per week operation — which can go fro 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. during weekdays — is excessive for the proposed site which many people consider too close to the Estates of Chadds Ford and Painters Crossing Condominiums.
He added that the other YMCAs in the Brandywine Valley group have as many as 80,000 members and they all would have access to the proposed Y in Chadds Ford.
Prabel also said the text amendment would apply to each of the LI districts in the township and that the Y could expand at will.
“If this is allowed we lose control…It destroys the LI district,” which he said acts as a transitional district between residential and business.
He then suggested other locations along Route 202 that are larger and would better serve the YMCA and the community.
Supervisor Keith Klaver agreed, saying that the location doesn’t make sense because of potential congestion, that the site would be prone to accidents.
“It’s a safety issue for the community and for people using the Y,” Klaver said.
Fellow Supervisor George Thorpe — who attended via phone because he was home recuperating from knee surgery — agreed with Klaver.
The rare 2-1 vote ended the current request.
Other business
The board approved several other resolutions, including two that also carried controversy and concern.
The board approved a lot line change for the two parcels of the Dickinson and Epp property along Route 1. That property has a roadway leading to the back of Painters Crossing Condominiums. Some condo residents, and others from the Estates of Chadds Ford, are concerned that the road would eventually become part of the southwest segment of the loop road system. Supervisor-elect Frank Murphy also urged the board to vote against the request because of that possibility.
Solicitor Hugh Donaghue read a section of the resolution that said any development of the property must still go through standard land use approval process and that such development requires the roadway to be improved to meet township standards and then be offered to the Chadds Ford Township for dedication.
The resolution approving the change passed 3-0.
• Also passing — but with debate and concern — was the approval of renovations for David Dodge on Route 202. While the supervisors agreed that the project was a good one, there was disagreement over a suggestion made by Love.
Under the township’s updated Fee in Lieu ordinance — which allows developers to give money instead of property for open space use — the applicant would have been required to pay more than $8,600 in open space fees. Love suggested that the fee be reduced to $1,500 because Dave Kelleher, owner of David Dodge, has donated a lot of money to the community in the past. He most recently was a $5,000 sponsor of the Battlefield Run.
Thorpe agreed with Love, but Klaver opposed the idea.
Klaver didn’t like lowering the fee because of the precedent it would set and said he would only vote for the resolution if the original figure were part of it.
Deborah Reardon, chairman of the Open Space Committee, took exception to the changing the fee in lieu requirements without her committee being included.
She also said that while it was good that Kelleher donates to the battlefield park, the park is state-owned and could be sold without Chadds Ford having anything to show for efforts top preserve the park.
Kelleher was present and said he didn’t want to be part of any dissention in the township.
Donaghue suggested that the board pass the resolution as written, but with the understanding that Kelleher would appeal the $8,600 fee.
Love later suggested that perhaps the fee ordinance is too excessive with regard to renovations.
The measure then passed 3-0.
• Supervisors also adopted a preliminary budget that will be voted upon during the Dec. 4 meeting. The budget is balanced with revenues and expenses anticipated to be slightly more than $1.21 million. There is no tax increase.
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.
