It’s been two years since Hurricane Ida destroyed Hank’s Place on Sept. 1, 2021. Flooding filled the entire iconic eatery with seven feet of water. That’s two years since owners Anthony and Katie Young have been caught up in a bureaucratic Catch-22, with their hands and feet bound by red tape edicts from the federal and municipal government.
On the positive side, the Youngs have gotten all the necessary permits to rebuild on the northwest corner of the intersection of Route 1 and Creek Road, the site where Hank’s Place has been for decades.
They applied for and got a demolition permit to raze the old building. They went through a conditional use hearing for an outdoor deck, and they even got permission to have a food truck on their own property so they could demonstrate to potential lenders that they had some money coming in despite the restaurant itself being unusable. Additionally, they even got a zoning variance for a reduced number of parking spaces. And that’s where the Catch-22 situation begins.
There will be fewer parking spaces under the approved plan because of federal requirements. It was not the Young’s choice.
In order to rebuild on the site, FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, requires the new building be raised on stilts to get it up out of the flood plain. But the Americans with Disabilities Act also comes into play because a restaurant on stilts needs more wheelchair-accessible ramp space than one closer to the ground. Longer ramps mean a larger footprint which translates into fewer parking spaces.
This is where the township added its red tape. The Zoning Hearing Board members, in granting the parking variance, said they’d like to see a formal shared parking agreement between the property owners of Hank’s Place, Antica, and Brandywine Prime. The ZHB said it likely didn’t have the authority to require a formal written agreement, but members said they wanted the supervisors to get involved. And so the supervisors did. In the resolution granting the building of the new restaurant, the supervisors said:
“Applicant shall formalize, and record, a shared parking agreement in a form to be approved by the Township Solicitor, with the business owners that are located adjacent, specifically currently Antica and Brandywine Prime, or any successors thereof [emphasis added], that are located on the same side of Route 1, on the north side, across from Creek Road.”
That obligates all future owners of any of those three properties, even those who aren’t currently involved. It also makes it more difficult for current owners when they try to sell.
But a gentlemen’s agreement for shared parking already existed going back to 2017 after the Youngs bought Hank’s Place. According to Anthony Young, there’s been no real problem with the informal handshake agreement.
There are people in the township who don’t want Hank’s rebuilt unless it’s rebuilt the way it was, but the feds won’t let that happen. And while some people don’t care if Hank’s ever reopens, there are others who understand that there is no Village of Chadds Ford without Hank’s Place.
One such member of the community who never speaks out at the Board of Supervisors’ meetings did speak up against the condition. Katharine King told the supervisors during the July meeting that the formal parking agreement is hampering the situation, getting in the way of the Youngs doing what they need to do to rebuild. She's right.
Something has to give. The Youngs can’t move forward with their plans to return to Chadds Ford without that agreement. So, that’s what should go away.
The Youngs have been beaten up. Three years after buying Hank’s they were shut down along with other restaurants because of former Gov. Tom Wolf’s mandate in response to COVID. They survived the lockdown, but a year later Ida did her thing.
The village isn’t the village without Hank’s Place. Hank’s Place is the last vestige of the village. The township should withdraw the parking condition. The informal agreement worked and, as is said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
But it wouldn’t be surprising if there are people who’d rather see a two- or three-story parking garage on that site. Wouldn’t that be charming? No, it wouldn’t. But a rebuilt Hank’s Place would be. Let’s get it done. Drop the condition and let Hank’s Place come home to where it belongs.
(10 votes, average: 3.90 out of 5)
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