March 12, 2015

Members of the Chadds Ford Business Association were updated on happenings in Chadds Ford Township during the group’s March breakfast meeting.

Beth Burnam, of the Brandywine Conservancy, gave a synopsis of the Walkable Chadds Ford plan, while township Supervisor George Thorpe gave a short history of the township as well as an update on the status of several township issues.

Burnam said a draft of the master plan for Walkable Chadds Ford would be presented to the public during a meeting at the Chadds Ford Historical Society scheduled for 7 p.m. on March 18.

Among other things, the plan calls for sidewalks and bike lanes along the northbound side of Route 1 from the bridge over the Brandywine Creek to Ring Road. Also under consideration is a traffic signal on Route 1 at South Creek Road.

Burnam said that light would be synchronized with the one at North Creek Road and Route 1 to avoid traffic backups and to give people a chance to cross Route 1 on foot.

Additionally, a walkway is planned for North Creek Road between the Historical Society and Route 1, and there is a suggestion to change the direction of Station Way Road from one-way northbound to one-way southbound.

Thorpe, the vice chairman of the township Board of Supervisors, introduced newly appointed Supervisor Samantha Reiner to the association. Reiner took over for Keith Klaver, who resigned from the board in January for health reasons.

After that introduction, Thorpe gave a PowerPoint presentation showing the current township building, Turner’s Mill, in a pair of photographs dating back to 1893, a time when the area really was pastoral and bucolic.

“That’s where we came from, folks,” he said. “It was walkable then.”

He also showed a map of the township from 1913 when Chadds Ford was still Birmingham Township, Delaware County. He then showed a zoning map from 1997, the year the name was changed to Chadds Ford Township.

In terms of demographics, the township is 95 percent residential with 3,640 residents as of the 2010 census. The remaining five percent is comprised of 300-plus businesses, mostly along Route 202, he said.

With a township millage rate of 0.787 mills, Chadds Ford is the fourth lowest in taxes — for both township taxes and total millage — in Delaware County, Thorpe added.

He reminded the crowd that the hearing on possible zoning changes for the townhouse development proposed by K. Hovnanian Homes is still under way.

Hovnanian wants to build 107 townhouses on a 20-plus acre site along Brandywine Drive, a parcel that’s currently unused. Thorpe said the proposed plan “would be good for taxes.”

The township is also working on several ordinances, one for noise and another regarding stormwater management, and is looking to update the Comprehensive Plan, he said.

Thorpe also mentioned that the Wegmans project is moving along and a new hotel, the Brinton Suites Hotel, will soon open on Route 202. He said the hotel was a good use for the old Watkins building.

Also, two new car dealerships will be opening along Route 202. An Audi dealership is under construction, and Ruggeri Cadillac will open soon.

The next Chadds Ford Business Association meeting is scheduled for noon, Thursday, April 2, at the Chadds Ford Historical Society. The guest speaker will be a representative from PennDOT, who will talk about the Route 926 bridge project and the status of plans for the fourth segment of the loop road around the intersection of Routes 1 and 202.