Kennett Township supervisors granted conditional use approval for Kennett Area Community Services to build a new facility.

“It gives this small nonprofit, after 70 years in this community, a permanent home,” said KACS Executive Director Leah Reynolds.

The new building, located along West Cypress Street in both Kennett and New Garden townships, would be 29,257 square feet and would allow KACS to become a food distribution hub, offer showers and laundry facilities to homeless families, create offices that partner agencies can use for free, and more, Reynolds said at Wednesday’s Kennett Township supervisors’ meeting, during which a conditional use hearing was held.

New Garden Township was a party in the hearing, as part of the property sits in their township.

Before the hearing Wednesday, Reynolds said the food cupboard had closed for the day after having 65 families waiting more than an hour to enter.

“In the new building, people will have a new experience,” she said, adding that there will be a safe waiting room for families, and both entrances and exits under cover so people will not have to stand outside in the open in inclement weather. “We will be able to help more people.

“We are really busting out” of the current facilities in Kennett Borough, she added. “We are giving out over 88,000 pounds of food each month. That’s an enormous amount of food.”

The supervisors attached two conditions to the approval. KACS has to comply with letters from township engineer AECOM and township landscape architect Thomas Comitta, and specific security features like lighting and cameras will need to be reviewed by Kennett Police Chief Matt Gordon and approved by the supervisors.

Supervisor Scudder Stevens asked Reynolds what the amount of food KACS gives out says about the community.

“Pre-COVID we had 550 families,” she told the supervisors. “Last month for May we had 935 households. All of those numbers are radically higher than we ever thought they could be, and they continue to climb.”

Thomas Schreier, a landscape architect and vice president of Hillcrest Associates, testified at the hearing that the property will have two access points, as well as an internal circular road that allows for easier movement around the building.

A traffic study would be provided when the land development plan is submitted for approval, he added.

New Garden Township Supervisor Steve Allaband, who attended the Kennett Supervisors’ meeting with the New Garden manager, asked questions about lighting and whether the plan would comply with both municipalities’ lighting requirements. He also asked whether there would be any discussion of a crosswalk from the sidewalk on the opposite side of West Cypress to the new KACS building.

Supervisors’ Vice Chairman Richard Leff said he thought the crosswalk was a great idea, adding, “We’ve been trying to make this a more walkable community.”

Kennett Planning Director Diane Hicks said the township planning commission had recommended to the supervisors that the lighting plan is reviewed by the police chief to address possible security concerns.

“I think this project is absolutely going to benefit all of our communities,” Allaband said. “I would certainly be in support of this, and we greatly appreciate the cooperation of Kennett Township.”