Local News Birmingham

Farmers sow seeds of optimism

Read more about the article Farmers sow seeds of optimism
Randell Spackman gets his Thornbury Farm store ready for the season. Some crops, for now, aren't locally grown yet.

Businesses try to maintain a sense of normalcy even in tough times. They have to. It's a common concern, but it becomes more so in times of uncertainty. Even for businesses that provide necessities, like farmers. Consider Randell Spackman, of Thornbury Farm in Thornbury Township in Chester County, and H.G. Haskell, of Hill Girt Farm in Pennsbury. They grow and sell food and have their…

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Otto’s gets tiered parking

Otto’s BMW can move forward with plans to replace a row of 21 standard parking spaces with a bank of 19 two-tiered parking racks. Birmingham Township supervisors voted 3-0 Monday night to grant conditional use approval for the project. Supervisors held a hearing on the matter last month. The current 21 standard spaces — used for employee parking — are against a retaining wall at…

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Otto’s to go double-decker parking

Read more about the article Otto’s to go double-decker parking
Otto's BMW wants to use double-decker parking for some of its inventory. Birmingham Township supervisors will decide whether or not to approve the request in March.

Otto’s BMW in Birmingham Township wants to add a little more inventory parking and is planning to go double-decker. The dealership went before the township Board of Supervisors Monday night to get conditional use approval to install 19 double-decker parking units to take the place of 21 current employee parking spaces. Those spaces are against a retaining wall at the rear of the building. Otto’s…

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New owners for Dilworthtown Inn

Read more about the article New owners for Dilworthtown Inn

After almost a year, the Dilworthtown Inn has new owners. Frank Rupp, a member of the board of Chadds Ford Business Association, and his wife Susan made settlement earlier this month for the inn and sister properties, the Blue Pear Bistro and the Innkeeper’s Kitchen. The restaurants have been closed since the death of Jim Barnes in April of 2019. Who will eventually operate the…

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Birmingham into the Crebilly fray

Birmingham Township Supervisors are keeping an open eye — and an ear —  on the Crebilly Farm situation in Westtown Township. And they’re making plans to become a party to the next round of hearings on the Toll Bros. application to develop the farm. The topic came up not as an agenda item during the Nov. 4 Board of Supervisors meeting, but rather during the…

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Fire puts community’s neediest at risk

Read more about the article Fire puts community’s neediest at risk
Volunteers load a delivery from Chester County Food Bank for storage.

A malfunction in a freezer at 4 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13 sparked a fire at the Kennett Food Cupboard. The damage from fire, soot and smoke forced Kennett Area Community Service, who runs the cupboard, to throw out half of their current inventory and close their doors. "We hope to open in 7-10 days,” said Leah Reynolds, executive director of KACS. The cupboard supplies…

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Birmingham in brief

• Birmingham Township Supervisors, in a 2-0 vote, approved a two-lot subdivision for a 4.3-acre property owned by Supervisors’ Chairman Scott Boorse and his wife Jennifer during the supervisors’ Sept. 9 meeting. The property will be split into two lots. No construction is planned on the site until the lots are sold, said Jennifer Boorse. Scott Boorse recused himself from the vote. • The township…

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Heat warning Wednesday through Sunday

The national weather service in Mount Holly has issued an excessive heat warning which is in effect from 8 a.m. Wednesday to 10 p.m. Sunday. Heat index values will be up to 110 due to temperatures in the upper 90s, and dew points in the lower 70s. The highest heat index values will occur during the daytime, especially on Saturday. However, given how hot and…

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Sewer obstruction in Birmingham

A sewer line along Route 202 in Birmingham Township is partly obstructed and supervisors want to fix it as soon as possible. To that end, supervisors voted 3-0 Monday night to spend up to $64,000 for the repair project. Former Supervisor Bill Kirkpatrick, who’s now on the sewer authority, said the obstruction is between two manholes between the Acura dealership on Route 202 and the…

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Taxes up in U-CFSD

As anticipated, Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board directors again voted for a budget that will raise property taxes in the district. There was no discussion or debate during the June 17 meeting. The vote was 8-0 with Director Gregg Lindner absent. The $90.26 million budget calls for real estate taxes in Chester County municipalities to be 29.16 mills — $2.916 per hundred dollars of assessed property value,…

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