It was a brief zoning hearing, but Pennsbury Township’s Zoning Hearing Board granted the variance that David and Lisa MacMain requested. The hearing lasted no more than 20 minutes.
The MacMains live at 357 Chandler Road, at the corner of Chandler and Pocopson roads, and is designated a Class 2 Historic Resource in the R-1 Zoning District. The family wants to convert and slightly enlarge their garage — currently used only for storage, according to David MacMain — into general living space.
“It’s just some additional living space,” David MacMain said. “We find ourselves on that side of the house a lot, which is where the kitchen is and where we drink our coffee.”
Township code requires a 50-foot side yard setback, but the work would require encroaching into that 50-foot space. However, according to attorney Ryan Jennings, the encroachment would be de minimis, by no more than 10 feet. In fact, he said later, the encroachment would likely be no more than three or four feet. Also, that encroachment only involves one corner of the garage’s area on the east side of the house.
David MacMain explained the project to supervisors during the March 18 Board of Supervisors meeting, which was also attended by members of both the Planning Commission and the Historic Commission. Both of those groups — through members Kay Ellsworth and Judy Wilson, respectively — told the supervisors that they support the request, and both commissions provided letters of approval for the project. The supervisors followed suit by saying they support it as well.
About the only point of concern was exactly how much space was needed. At the end, ZHB solicitor Ed Foley used a four-foot maximum encroachment as one of the conditions for approval.
The request passed unanimously, 3-0.
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.
