October 22, 2024 - ChaddsFordLive.com

Hearing board OKs temp parking

The Chadds Ford Zoning Hearing Board granted temporary approval for David Dodge to park overflow inventory cars at the former Bunch Auction House. Zoning board members voted unanimously on Oct. 22 based on testimony given a month earlier.

During the September hearing, Leah Kordeck, the controller for the dealership, said David Dodge has 900 cars in inventory, but only 385 parking spaces at its Route 202 location. Peter Miller, president of Carlino Commercial Development, the owner of the auction house property, said Carlino is willing to lease space to the dealership. (Go here for that story.)

The parking approval is only for two years, from Oct. 22 of this year until Oct. 22 of 2026, as read into the record by member Bill Mock. Only 84 or the 114 spaces at the former Bunch property may be used and use is limited to new car inventory only. No vehicles may be parked on the gravel area. No car carriers may be used to take cars to the site, and no mechanical work may be done on the cars parked there. Customers are not to be taken there to look at the cars. Any violation of these or the other conditions would nullify the approval.

A hearing for a proposed bed & breakfast at 1465 Smithbridge Road scheduled for Oct. 22 was postponed. ZHB Chairman Bob Reardon said an attorney for one of the parties was ill. That hearing is tentatively scheduled for the next meeting on Nov. 26 but added that might change.

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.

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Letter: UCF repeats errors

Opinion

I read with interest, the three articles about UCFSD School Buildings. While they indicated that people have called attention to the limitations of the middle school building for years, it was in June that a study was commissioned, with a vote by the board to take place in seven to eight months. Other columns indicated the need for work in three of the elementary schools. It strikes me that a little more long-term planning may have been helpful earlier in the process to avoid all of these projects occurring at the same time.

When I read about the “community” sessions to avoid the problems that occurred with the high school, it seems as if they are repeating a pattern of leaving many taxpayers out of the process (those who don’t have students currently enrolled). That was a challenge the last time, and the voters rejected the plan because of cost and lack of information. The negative reaction was magnified when the district devised a workaround for voter approval. This caused high annual tax increases for the foreseeable future. It sounds like the plan is the same this time around, looking for a way around the ACT 1 index. A better engagement strategy, although time-consuming, might work.