The Shoppes at Concord, the shopping center planned for the empty lot at Route 202 and Ridge Road in Concord Township, has gotten another continuance in its zoning appeal. The next session is now planned for July 15.
The lot is across Ridge Road from Olde Ridge Village and borders Chadds Ford Township. Many Chadds Ford residents are opposing the plan that calls for a gas station, which, they fear, might experience a spill that will pollute their wells. Now, they might get their wish to see that proposed gas station go away.
Chadds Ford Live contacted two of the attorneys representing the applicant, as well as Robert Hill, the president of Retail Sites, who wants to build the shopping center. The one attorney who did respond was Hugh Donaghue, Concord Township’s solicitor.
Donaghue said it’s his understanding that the applicant has spent the last several months redoing the plan without the gas station.
He said he thought that today, Friday, May 8, Retail Sites would file an amended plan without the gas station.
“Electronic versions [of the new plan] are expected today, and paper plans delivered early next week,” he said. “My understanding is those new plans have been amended and eliminated — and I haven’t seen the plans yet, I’m just gleaning from conversations I’ve had — that it looks like he [Robert Hill] has eliminated the gas station completely, and he’s put in the required separation between the buildings.”
Concord’s Zoning Officer Manos Kavadias had previously ruled that the gas station was not an approved accessory use and that three building pads should be treated as three individual buildings because they were separated only by expansion joints. Treating them as one building would require conditional use approval because the structure would be more than 62,000 square feet. Those rulings are what the applicant has appealed.
“The new plans, my assumption is, that they are going to comply with zoning in that regard,” Donaghue added. He did stress that it’s an assumption at this point. He won’t know for certain until he sees the new plans.
The zoning appeal began in December, and there was a second session in January. However, there have been a series of continuances since. The first continuance was to February, which was then followed by continuances to May 20 and then the new continuance to July 15.
“We’ll see what happens in July, but more likely than not, the can will get kicked down the road again anyway,” Donaghue said.
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.
