Concord planning eminent domain

Concord Township Council Tuesday night voted to take property through eminent domain to assure three other property owners can more easily hook up to the township sewer system. Whether or not the township actually condemns and takes the property remains to be seen, according to council Vice President John Gillespie.

At issue are three homes on Concord Meeting Road that back up to the Concord Woods development. The rear of the properties are lower than the front, Gillespie said, and the owners want to tie into sewer lines using gravity feed instead of installing pumps to push the waste to lines uphill. But, those pipes in the rear belong to the Concord Woods HOA, Gillespie said.

According to Gillespie, the township offered the HOA $5,000 for an easement but the HOA declined, saying the price would be $15,000. The township declined that, Gillespie said.

The resolution gives the township the legal authority to take the land, but Gillespie said there’s still some negotiating going on to prevent the taking. He wasn’t sure what, if any amount, would be paid should the township condemn the property.

“That’s a legal question and I can’t answer that,” he said.

The township solicitor, Hugh Donaghue, wasn’t at the meeting to answer the question.

Other business

Council voted to allow the Spring Hill Farm development in Chadds Ford T0wnship to tie into Concord's sewer system

Concord Township will host an open house for The Garnet Valley Greenway (trail) Feasibility Study on Tuesday, March 10, from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m. at the Concord Township Building, 43 S. Thornton Road.

The Garnet Valley Greenway stretches 5.75 miles in a north to south direction. The trail would potentially connect to the Octoraro Trail, Concord Township Park and Delaware County’s Clayton Park.

There will be a voting machine demonstration at the municipal building on Monday, March 9 from 3-6 p.m. State Rep. Stephan Barrar will host the demonstration.

Council made four re-appointments during its March 3 meeting. Shawn Lawler was re-appointed to the Planning Commission, Denise Martin to Parks and Recreation, and Fred Glessner and Chip Price were re-appointed to the Zoning Hearing Board.

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.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (5 votes, average: 3.60 out of 5)
Loading...

Comments

comments

Leave a Reply