Chadds Ford Township residents are gearing up for a zoning hearing in Concord Township next week. Close to a dozen residents stood across from St. Cornelius Church on Sunday with signs trying to generate interest in the hearing regarding the proposed commercial development planned for Ridge Road and Route 202.
The group Save-Ridge.Org opposes the widening of Ridge Road to six lanes and the inclusion of a gas station in the proposed development.
As Carolyn Daniels said, “We’re not opposed to development, but we want responsible development.”
The group argues that the current plan would bring in more traffic congestion to the area because of the road widening and the fact that the main entrance would be on Ridge Road. They also argue that a gas station at the property could possibly contaminate wells, and that the plan would destroy open space, harm local wildlife, and diminish the quiet, scenic quality that defines life in Chadds Ford. They are also arguing that there are areas of the development that are in Chadds Ford Township.
Save-Ridg.Org is soliciting donations so it can retain land use and environmental legal experts to challenge the development.
The zoning hearing is scheduled for the proposed Shops at Ridge Road on Dec. 17. At issue for the hearing is the proposed gas station for the 22-plus-acre property.
Concord’s zoning officer determined in October that the township code does not support the retail sale of gasoline as an accessory use to the proposed 57,000 square foot supermarket. The hearing is an appeal of that determination.
The meeting is at 7 p.m. in the Concord Township municipal building meeting room.
The property, though in Concord Township, borders Chadds Ford Township, and many Chadds Ford residents, even those who are not part of the Save-Ridge.Org, oppose the plan. Save-Ridge is urging as many people as possible to attend the hearing. Residents have said that the gas station could contaminate well water, rendering those wells unusable.
While not part of this hearing, people are also concerned about the proposed widening of Ridge Road to six lanes for a quarter of a mile, with the main entrance being on Ridge. One member of the Save Ridge group, Ellen Spoehr, has said the widening could have a negative impact on Heyburn Road, which is in Chadds Ford.
The site, along with several different development plans, has been controversial for years. There have been three different owners with development plans during the past 17 years.
It was originally owned by Capano Management, which wanted to put in a commercial development with a small part in Chadds Ford for residential. But that never came to fruition, and Capano eventually sold to Pettinaro Commercial Real Estate. Pettinaro reduced the size of its proposed development, which excluded the Chadds Ford property.
The Pettinaro plan called for the widening of Ridge Road, and that triggered concern among many Chadds Ford residents, especially those who live on or just off Ridge Road. That concern led to several lawsuits with Chadds Ford being a party to those suits that also involved Concord as well as Pettinaro.
But Pettinaro never developed the property either, and in 2021, leased the property for farming of soybeans and wheat for two years. Nothing has been done with the site until Pettinaro sold it to Retail Sites, a New Jersey-based company, late last year.
Open space remains an issue for some people. As Hank Somers said recently, “With that development, all that foliage is going to go away. So, all these horrific storms, the water will go right down the hill,” and he added the concern about the possible contamination of well water. “We’re all on well water, and we’ve heard that once well water is contaminated, you never get it right.”
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.
