Birmingham
Township supervisors, Monday, rejected a request from Mercedes-Benz of West
Chester to change the look of the Route 202 auto dealership. The ruling came
during a conditional use hearing where the applicant sought to modify
conditions from a hearing decision made in January 2001.
Ross
Unruh, the solicitor for the Township Zoning Hearing Board, represented Mercedes.
Supervisors allowed Unruh to make the case because the zoning board was not
involved, according to Supervisors’ Chairman John Conklin.
Unruh
told the board that the township Planning Commission was recommending no
changes.
At
issue were a change of façade to the south and east sides of the dealership’s
building on Route 202 and to modify a setback.
Peter
Collins, the area manager for Mercedes-Benz, and Dominic Marziani, architect,
testified that the automaker was not satisfied with its retail appearance in
the United States and was looking for something new.
“It’s
a marketing decision,” said Collins, a family look…how the brand image is to
appear.”
Marziani
said the new idea was to decrease a setback from 53 feet 3 inches to 49 feet 8
inches along a canopy that parallels Route 202 and to create a colonnade along
the same side. The Mercedes-Benz sign would be modified and moved under the
canopy. The sign is currently on the face of the existing canopy. There would
also be an exposed metal roof with a six to eight inch fascia.
“It’s
a cosmetic change only,” Marziani said.
Township
resident Henry Starr didn’t like the proposed cosmetic change, saying it would
be “ridiculous” for the township to approve. He cited the controversy
surrounding the original conditional use hearing in 2000. Starr also objected
to the fact that the design presented to the board did not show how the new
signage would look.
Supervisor
Al Bush said, “The existing design is much truer and more fitting to the
community.”
Conklin
told the applicant, “Our job is to represent the community.”
The
decision was 3-0 against.
During
the regular meeting, held Jan. 18, the board rejected a Certificate of
Appropriateness for a proposed deer fence for a residence at 1175 Birmingham
Road.
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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