Car dealer clears first hurdle

Posted by Rich Schwartzman on April 13, 2023

Piazza Auto Group is one step closer to bringing two dealerships into Chadds Ford Township. After multiple trips to the township Planning Commission, the commission members recommended both a map change and conditional use for a Hyundai and a Genesis dealership along the west side of Route 202 north of Garnet Ford.

The addresses for the dealerships are 1540 and 1550 Wilmington Pike. They are adjoining properties, but the zoning map change is needed for the 1540 address because that is zoned B-Business, a zoning district where auto sales are prohibited.

Discussions involving a conditional use recommendation involved a concern over traffic flow and the turning radius regarding car deliveries. Commission member Tom Bradley was the most vocal saying the plan presented showed an entry that was too tight and with too sharp a turn for a car carrier to get onto the property, especially if a car was trying to exit onto Route 202. He also said the turning radius was too tight for a car carrier to exit easily. He said he opposed and would likely vote against the recommendation.

However, that changed when township resident Phil Oberly asked if widening the turn into the site would make it easier to enter. At that point, Adam Brower, Piazza’s engineer for the project agreed that it would, and Bradley agreed.

Commission Chairman Craig Huffman made motions for both recommendations and they passed unanimously, with a few conditions.

Those conditions include widening the turn into the site and removing some trees on the property for better traffic flow, to the satisfaction of the supervisors who would conduct the conditional use hearing. Additionally, Piazza would have to build a trail along Oakland Road, from Five-Points to the Brinton 1704 House, at the rear of the property, and agree to pay $84,000 for a traffic study.

To move forward, Piazza Auto Group must get conditional use approval from the Board of Supervisors, get the zoning map change from the Hearing Board, and go through the land development approval process.

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.