Chadds Ford Township Planning Commission members voted 5-0 to recommend supervisors develop a PRD-3 overlay ordinance. The vote followed a presentation of a possible housing development submitted by builder Joe Grace.
Grace is the principal consultant for Mansfield Development, a company owned by his adult children.
While the commissioners were unanimous in their vote, several residents attending the meeting were unanimous in the other direction.
The plan, still in the concept phase, calls for developing the 90-plus-acre former horse farm and riding school along Oakland Road between Webb and Brinton’s Bridge roads. The property, once owned by the Goodman family, is in the R-1 Zoning District and may be developed by right using 2-acre lots.
However, there are two other possibilities. One of those possibilities is to develop under the existing PRD-1— planned residential development — overlay that allows for 1-acre lots in the R-1 district. The other possibility is for the township to establish a PRD-3 that would allow for half-acre lots.
Attorney Mike Dignazio, representing Mansfield Development, called the PRD-3 concept “optimal.”
The difference in the number of homes is almost negligible. Dignazio said there could be 35 new lots under the 2-acre by right plan, with up to 41 or 42 lots under the PRD options. The big difference would be the amount of open space available.
Under the 2-acre zoning, Dignazio said, there would be no open space to dedicate to the township. Under the existing PRD-1 overlay, there could be 26 acres of open space. However, the township would lose the historic overlay on Oakland Road.
With a PRD-3 overlay, there would be 48 acres of open space and the historic overlay would remain. The half-acre zoning would also result in greater setbacks and buffers, Dignazio said, and bring in both public water and sewer to the area.
Several residents attended the July 9 meeting, but only two — Polly Teti and Larry Smith, both from Webb Road — spoke. Both are against the PRDs.
Teti said 2-acre zoning affords a greater sense of openness, while Smith said clustering would affect his property values and change the character of the area.
Smith said he bought his house under the 2-acre zoning, but might not have made the purchase had he known there could be clustering of homes right across the street.
Under the recommendation, supervisors would consider only whether or not to have a PRD-3 overlay. They would not be considering the development plan. No formal plan has yet been proposed. Everything is at the sketch plan or concept level.
Should supervisors want a PRD-3, the Planning Commission would be the people working on it.
Commission Chairman Craig Huffman told the audience to attend those meetings in order to be part of the process. He also wanted Grace to consider turning some of the open space into a municipal park.
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.
