Changes on Station Way Road

Posted by Rich Schwartzman on February 26, 2025

The Brandywine Conservancy is still in the process of recovering from Hurricane Ida, and the Chadds Ford Zoning Hearing Board has granted some help. The board voted 3-0 Tuesday night to grant a series of variances that would allow the conservancy to make some changes to its property at 6 Station Way Road. There are some conditions attached, though.

Attorney Andrew Rau, representing the conservancy, said the variances, if granted, would allow for a rehab of the property, one of the many buildings impacted by the hurricane in 2021.

Specifically, the board granted waivers allowing the conservancy to raise its building at 6 Station Way Road by five feet and with a finished floor at 2 feet above the base flood plain, according to Rau.

Another variance allows for an addition to be put on the rear of the building, which would double its size to accommodate employees who can no longer use other buildings that were damaged in the 2021 flood.

There were some concerns expressed about stormwater runoff and how that might affect neighbors on Station Way. Engineer Marc Henderson said there will be a rain garden put in as part of the project, and that garden will be larger than is actually required, and that the water would be discharged to the south of 6 Station Way, keeping the water on other conservancy owned properties on that street.

The approvals granted are contingent on the Chadds Ford Board of Supervisors approving a reverse subdivision, bringing all of the conservancy’s Chadds Ford properties into the Cultural Campus Zoning District that was created last year.

Other conditions relate to parking and to selling properties.

One condition is that the conservancy tells employees who will be working at 6 Station Way not to park on Station Way. Conservancy Executive Director Virginia Logan said she has no problem with that, adding that there is ample parking on other parts of conservancy grounds.

Additionally, the conservancy is not to convey any of its other properties on Station Way that are part of the stormwater management, making sure the water is only on conservancy land.

As for an overview of the project, Logan said the changes will make for a flood-resilient campus. There have already been changes made to the museum grounds, as previously reported, and ll of the changes going on to make the campus flood-resilient will cost about $30 million.

“In September of 2021. This whole community was devastated by the flood waters from Hurricane Ida. On Brandywine’s campus alone we have 10 different buildings that were inundated by flood waters, and six of them were declared significantly damaged,” she said.

Logan continued, saying the conservancy is working to meet the highest and most stringent code standards. “The total work, between damage and relocation of functions from one building to another or one part of a building to another, and the mitigation work such as the flood hardening, is well over $30 million.”

The relocation of functions has caused some buildings to be occupied by more employees than before because the former offices can’t be used. The property at 6 Stations Way is one example.

“What we’re trying to do with 6 Stations Way Road is to create a central home for the staff. It will accommodate 25 or 26 staff in this building when it’s done and it will enable the conservancy staff to be together in one building,” she said.

Logan said the additional space would come from the addition planned for the rear of the building, which will allow for the front of the building to retain its Victorian style. She added that the standards for restoration, rehabilitation, and mitigating activities of such a building, built somewhere in the mid to late 1800s, come from the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior. Part of those standards means the addition must be clearly differentiated from the older, original part of the structure “to protect the historic integrity of the property.”

With the conditions and the contingency that the Chadds Ford Township Board of Supervisors approves the reverse subdivision, the conservancy will need to go to the Planning Commission, Sewer Authority, and the Board of Supervisors before work gets underway. The hope is to get started this spring.

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.