A two-year-long negotiation between Chadds Ford Township and K. Hovnanian Homes has come to an end.
Supervisors on June 3 voted against a proposed zoning change and text amendment that would have permitted — with conditional use approval — the construction of a 107-unit townhouse development along Brandywine Drive across from Hannum’s Harley Davidson and Painters Crossing shopping center.
Supervisors Frank Murphy and Samantha Reiner voted against the request, while George Thorpe abstained.
John Jaros, the applicant’s attorney, declined to comment on the decision. Prior to the vote, however, he gave a brief history of plan.
K. Hovnanian first approached the township with the idea in 2013. Numerous sessions with the township Planning Commission saw the concept go from creating an overlay district and then to changing the parcel’s zoning from PBC, or planned business center, to residential-multifamily. Both of those ideas were rebuffed.
What remained was to change the zoning to PBC-1, and then write a text amendment that would allow townhouses in a PBC-1 district with conditional use approval.
The Planning Commission recommended approving that idea, and a hearing for the zoning changes was scheduled for February.
That hearing was closed in March with an April decision anticipated. However, the board decided in April to reopen the hearing in May because of some remaining questions. It was then continued to June 3.
The supervisors’ reluctance to approve the requested changes was obvious when none of the supervisors wanted to make a motion to approve. Reiner said there were “sufficient inconsistencies and a lack of attention to detail” in the presentation. “I have a number of reasons not to embrace this,” she said.
Murphy eventually made the motion himself and Reiner seconded. Thorpe then said he didn’t think the board had all the answers, but thought approving the change might lead to other changes that could allow other uses, such as a nightclub.
Other business
• Supervisors passed two resolutions, one approving the Brandywine Valley Scenic Byway Corridor Management Plan and one approving the Walkable Chadds Ford Master Plan.
Referring to Walkable Chadds Ford, Murphy said, “We’ll make sure this plan gets implemented properly.”
The Walkable Chadds Ford Plan, promoted by the Brandywine Conservancy, is a series of suggestions that would, as the name implies, make it easier to walk around in the Village of Chadds Ford. Suggestions include a pedestrian walkway between Route 1 and the Chadds Ford Historical Society, a walking and bicycle path along Route 1 from Ring Road down to Fairville Road in Pennsbury Township, and changing the direction of Station Way Road.
The scenic byway plan seeks to preserve historic and scenic features along Route 52. It would coordinate planning activities in the townships that the road passes through.
• Valerie Hoxter was appointed to the Planning Commission to complete the term of Mike Ashmore who resigned from the commission last month.
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.
(8 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
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Perhaps the supervisors can now reconsider a Chadds Ford branch of the YMCA…something to benefit the community as a whole and not a developer.