The three-part hearing for the proposed Wegman’s development in Concord Township is coming to an end. While the conditional use aspect is still ongoing, testimony for the zoning amendment and map change have concluded.
Concord Township supervisors closed those two portions of the hearing process on May 7 after a redirect examination of an applicant’s witness, objections from an attorney opposing the application and testimony from the township’s land planner. Supervisors hope to render a decision during their June 4 meeting.
Attorney Rocco Imperatrice, representing Glen Eagle Square, formally objected to the application saying the plan represents illegal spot zoning, there’s already sufficient commercial development in the area, there’s nothing that would restrict other big box stores such as Walmart from moving in, it would bring excess traffic to the area and that the store can be developed under the current zoning codes.
Those comments came after traffic engineer William Lothian, testifying for the applicant, responded to a letter from Glen Eagle’s traffic engineer containing 25 comments that challenged the traffic estimates.
Lothian responded by saying that most of the projections were based on methods that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation wanted used. He also said that other areas were coming into compliance and that all concerns would be addressed properly.
After Imperatrice’s objections, the board called its own witness, land planner Tom Comitta. Comitta has been a land planner and landscape architect for 40 years and has been working with Concord Township for 30 years.
Comitta said he reviewed the proposed plan and said it is consistent with the official comprehensive plan that he wrote. He cited several clauses in the plan to prove the point.
He said the two most significant points are the proposal increases mixed commercial use in the area and that it also builds the third leg of the loop road, the leg on the southeast corner of the intersection of routes 1 and 202.
That portion of the loop would connect on Route 1 at Applied Card Way, then loop through the development and connecting with Route 202 across from Hillman Drive in Chadds Ford Township.
In a closing comment, attorney Robert Gundlach Jr., representing the applicant, said the plan was not spot zoning and that no big box store is part of the application.
Other retail operations are part of the plan, however, but those stores would be small retail establishments in Chadds Ford.
The land for the development is owned by the Hineman family and includes a 20-acre parcel in Concord and another 13 acres in Chadds Ford. The entire site is between Route 202 just north of Applied Card Way, the Applied Card building to the east and Route 1 to the north.
Chadds Ford Investors is the applicant, with Carlinio Construction being the principal partner of the group.
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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