K. Hovnanian Homes – ChaddsFordLive.com

Bumpy start for zoning change request

It wasn’t all sunshine and roses for K. Hovnanian Homes. The builder is asking for a two-part zoning change so it can construct a 114-unit townhome development on property zoned for business along Brandywine Drive in Chadds Ford Township, but there was some pushback.

Members of the Planning Commission expressed concerns about the request, as did a few residents.

As previously reported, Hovnanian wants to build on the 20-plus acre property across from Hannum’s Harley Davidson and behind Brandywine Coachworks and Painters Crossing shopping center. That lot is zoned for a planned business center. The developer wants a map change that would rezone the parcel from PBC to RM, allowing for the residential multi-family development.

In addition to that change, there is a secondary request for a text amendment that would change the density and the setback requirements for RM districts.

The March 12 Planning Commission meeting was the first time Hovnanian presented the current request to the commission since the Board of Supervisors said it would be OK to do so.

Last year, Hovnanian asked that an overlay district be created that would allow the development, but the township gave that idea a thumbs-down. In February, supervisors agreed to have Hovnanian take the current zoning change request to the township Planning Commission and the Delaware County Planning Department for their recommendation.

Planning Commission member Mike Ashmore objected to the double request. By combining a map change with a text amendment, he said, the applicant is “creating a modified zoning district that would exists in only one place in Chadds Ford.”

He added that the setbacks proposed are smaller than those of all other districts, are less than those currently required for RM districts and would adversely affect the health, safety and welfare of the community. He also said they are only being sought to make the project economically viable.

Ashmore wants the developer to consider two questions: “Is this an appropriate change? Is this a use we would like to see?”

Commission Chairman Craig Huffman said he thinks it makes more sense to have a heavier buffer between residential and commercial zoning districts.

Two residents — both from Harvey Lane — also opposed the idea. Ron Padula said he’s concerned about the lack of street parking, while Eric Garner — whose property overlooks the area — objected for two reasons.

He referred to traffic on Brandywine Drive as “The Brandywine 500” because of speeding and he also said building on the property would remove a “20-acre sponge” that currently soaks up stormwater and prevents Painters Crossing from flooding.

John Jaros, the attorney representing Hovnanian, said the site could be used by right — meaning there would be no need to go to the Zoning Hearing Board for a use variance — for a business center that would have more impervious surface than the proposed residential plan.

He also said the proposal is consistent with the township’s Comprehensive Plan that calls for multi-use areas and that the text amendment requested is only for RM districts that are surrounded by commercial-use districts.

Traffic engineer Matt Hammond said the development would not add dramatically to already existing traffic conditions. His traffic study said there would be an estimated 67 more trips per hour — just more than one per minute — in and out of Brandywine Drive during peak hours.

Several residents, including Supervisor Frank Murphy and tax collector Valerie Hoxter, asked if they could get a copy of the traffic study. Township Manager Judy Lizza told Hoxter to file a Right to Know Request, but Huffman said he would get one for Hoxter.

The development plan calls for 114 units that engineer John Kennedy called “well-priced.” It would be an age-targeted community geared toward empty nesters, he said.

“They are not family friendly,” Kennedy said. “There’s no play area.”

He said there would be an estimated 9 school-aged children living in the development, but that was challenged because the units would average about 3,000 square feet and have three or four bedrooms.

Kennedy supported the estimate by referring to studies in Montgomery County that showed the student-aged population in similar developments there was even less than what’s estimated for the Chadds Ford development.

All units have garages and off-street parking, according to the plan.

There are sidewalks throughout the proposed neighborhood with a 6-foot wide walking trail leading to Painters Crossing shopping center near the AMC movie theater. The trail would then connect to an as yet to be built 5-foot wide pedestrian crosswalk, which would connect to the already existing sidewalk beside the theater.

No decision was made during the session.

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Residents balk at proposed developments

Local News

A standing room only crowd at the Chadds Ford Township municipal building spoke almost unanimously with one voice and one word: No.

No to the YMCA, no to a K. Hovnanian Homes development and no to the southwest leg of the loop road around the intersection of Routes 1 and 202.

A special informational meeting of the Chadds Ford Planning Commission drew a larger attendance than almost a year’s worth of supervisors’ meetings. The crowd was made up mostly of residents from Painters Crossing Condominiums and from the Estates at Chadds Ford, the communities most directly affected if the proposals go through.

Hovnanian and the Y want to build in the township, but current zoning prevents that. Both have requested changes in the zoning code. Hovnanian is asking that the Brandywine Drive site be rezoned from Planned Business Center to Residential-Multifamily, while the YMCA wants a text change to allow for non-commercial recreational use in the LI, Light Industrial District.

While all speakers spoke against at least two or three planned developments, commission member Mike Ashmore reminded people later in the session that the township can’t prevent development. He said the Comprehensive Plan, last updated in 2008, is what guides current planning, including the focus on building up the Route 202 corridor with both commercial and residential development. He suggested that maybe the comp plan should be re-examined before there are any zoning changes.

Commission Chairman Craig Huffman opened the session with a quick rundown of 13 proposals under consideration in Chadds Ford and Concord Townships, but the primary concerns for the residents centered on three.

Margaret Faia, from the Estates at Chadds Ford and the Chadds Ford Preservation Society, said she and her group oppose the YMCA being built in the Light Industrial District at Hillman and Dickinson drives across from the entrance to the estates. She said the area is already too congested.

The loop road would also run along Hillman Drive and that will add to the problem, she said. According to her research, 90,000 vehicles go through the intersection of Routes 1 and 202 everyday.

“How many will use the loop road,” she asked.

Faia added that she opposes another possible business development along Dickinson Drive — one not yet before the commission. That, too, she said, would add to traffic congestion.

She added that doing business is a privilege, but safe residential areas are a right.

Richard Kaser, also from the Estates at Chadds Ford, said that since Evergreen Drive is the only access point — in and out — for the development, traffic from the YMCA would pose a serious problem.

“It’s a serious safety concern for us…Our children will be put in danger,” he said.

Another estates’ resident said the K. Hovnanian-proposed 120-townhouse development along Brandywine Drive would create an undue burden on the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District.

Harvey Lane resident Eric Goodman cautioned against the Hovnanian project because it would just increase traffic along Brandywine Drive and possibly bring unwanted people onto neighboring properties.

Only one person, another estates’ resident, spoke out in favor of the loop road, saying it was needed.

Three property owners from the Painters Crossing Condominiums — including township tax collector Valerie Hoxter — expressed concerns over the loop road proposal. As currently planned, the road would run within 100 feet of the 1500 building, Hoxter said.

That proximity of traffic noise and headlights shining into windows would adversely affect the owners and ultimately reduce property values for every owner of every unit in the entire complex, she said.

Hoxter added that the township did a good job in listening to homeowners on Summit Drive and Heyburn Road when it prevented those streets from being used for ingress and egress to and from Chadds Ford Estates. She wants the same consideration for condo residents.

Also taking aim at the loop road was Republican Party candidate for supervisor, Frank Murphy, who said truckers would wind up using the loop even if it’s marked for residential traffic only and they’ll drive at 55 mph even if marked for 35 mph.

“The loop road is a real problem and must be thought through,” he said.

Murphy added that he grew up in Upper Darby and lived in Aston, but “I don’t want Chadds Ford to be Upper Darby or Aston.”

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Overlay in ‘deep sleep;’ development still possible

Local News

The proposed overlay district for a swath of Chadds Ford Township from north of Route 1 to south of Hillman Drive is on hold with no timetable of being resurrected. However, proposals for a YMCA and a 120-townhouse development in that area remain in play.

Chadds Ford Township Planning Commission Chairman Craig Huffman made the announcement during a commission meeting on Aug. 19.

“Supervisors are now looking at a text amendment. The overlay district is not dead, but in a deep sleep,” he said.

Huffman added that the overlay concept would lead to increased traffic and residential density. Lengthy impact studies — both financial and traffic — need to be done and currently, “the overlay is not the best approach.”

As previously reported, the Neighborhood Commercial Overlay Ordinance, if approved, would rezone a 100-acre area — currently limited to various business and commercial uses — to allow for mixed use, including residential and recreational. K. Hovnanian Homes and the Brandywine YMCA are still looking to move into the area and the supervisors may find a way to accommodate those uses without enacting the overlay.

Hovnanian wants to build a residential development between Brandywine Drive and Painters Crossing shopping center and the YMCA wants to build a facility on Henderson property in the business campus in the area of Hillman and Dickinson drives. Neither use is permitted under current zoning.

Speaking after the commission meeting, township Supervisors’ Chairman Deborah Love said delaying the overlay was no reason to delay examining the two proposals.

“To keep, these two applicants at bay until the overlay happens, if it ever would, is wrong…It’s not fair to business,” Love said.

She added that the overlay concept came up as a way to allow business entities to use spaces that have been empty for a long time. However, there was a negative reaction because the change was linked to the creation of the southwest section of the loop road. Residents of the Painters Crossing Condominiums and the Estates of Chadds Ford have strong objections to that.

The loop road is not presently under current consideration, but Love said the township had given developers a sense of being accepting of the Hovnanian and YMCA plans going through the approval process in anticipation of the overlay. Through text amendment or other rezoning actions, the plans can move through the process.

“They were at the starting gate and we can’t afford to make them wait,” she said.

Love agrees that traffic and other impact studies are vitally important and must be done as part of the process before the board would consider approving the plans.

“All three supervisors want the traffic study to be done. We’re not backing off those things that we asked the developers to do,” she said.

Love thinks the sooner the board starts considering rezoning the two sites, the better.

“I don’t think we can delay them based on people not liking something. I think we have to give everybody their due process…But, I can say the board does not want to make a decision until the total traffic impact is completed,” Love said.

Other business

• Planning Commission members voted to recommend a conditional use hearing for a proposed 28-room hotel on Route 202. Developers want to convert the vacant Watkins building at 1516 Wilmington Pike. It’s a 4-acre site and no land development is planned.

• David Dodge is looking to expand and renovate its Route 202 building. The commission did a sketch plan review for the project. A 7,900 square foot expansion is proposed that would provide increased the sales and service areas.

• The commission also reviewed a sketch plan for a proposed Audi dealership farther north on Route 202. That site is the location of a former motel and the plan would involve the Zoning Hearing Board because the current zoning does not allow for a car dealership.

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Overlay ordinance not a slam dunk in Chadds Ford

Local News

A possible overlay ordinance that would allow for mixed use in 100 acres along Route 202 is being viewed with apprehension. Developers want it, residents don’t.

It’s the Neighborhood Commercial Overlay Ordinance, formerly referred to as the Loop Road Overlay, and it’s needed to allow two proposed developments. One is a YMCA at Hillman and Christy drives in the Henderson business campus and the other, proposed by K. Hovnanian Homes, is a 120-townhouse development on Brandywine Drive behind Painters Crossing shopping center on the site of the former Brandywine Club.

The plan could also pave the way for work on the southwest portion of the long sought after loop road. That’s one of the sticking points.

Salvatore Faia, of the Chadds Ford Preservation Society, told Planning Commission members during their July 10 meeting that his group is opposed to any zoning change, but that talks about the Hovnanian plan and the loop road should be kept separate. He said any change would be “inappropriate.”

Faia, who lives in The Estates at Chadds Ford, said the society also opposes the YMCA.

“It would have a negative impact on the residents of the Estates at Chadds Ford,” he said. “Residents already have fire, police and emergency concerns because of traffic.”

Those residents have only one point of ingress and egress to and from their development, that being on Evergreen Drive at Hillman Drive, directly across from the proposed Y. Having that stretch of Hillman Drive be part of the loop road would add to their traffic concerns.

Residents of Painters Crossing Condominiums would also be affected. Plans for that southwest leg of the loop show the road so close to the condos that the headlights of traffic moving toward Route 1 would shine directly into some of the residential units.

One condo resident, township tax collector Valerie Hoxter, asked the commission to consider that close proximity and requested they move the planned road farther away if possible. She also wanted to know what the timetable is for the ordinance.

Commission Chairman Craig Huffman said there was no way he could give an exact time frame. Maybe by the end of this year, maybe not, he said.

“An overlay ordinance will be developed and then we will take a fine-toothed comb to it…We will take our time to do it right,” Huffman said.

He explained that extensive traffic and financial impact studies must be done and that they would happen while the commission works on language for the ordinance.

In response to concerns expressed by Open Space Committee Chairman Deb Reardon, Huffman said that working on language for the ordinance before the impact studies are complete doesn’t mean that the project can’t be stopped if new information indicates the rezoning would be a bad idea.

A planning commission is a recommending body that reviews land development plans and is also responsible for writing land use ordinances. Actual approval of those plans and ordinances is the responsibility of the board of supervisors.

Township planning consultant Ray Ott started the discussion by giving a general overview of the project.

The area in question straddles Route 1 on the west side of Route 202 from north of Brandywine Drive to south of Hillman Drive. He said there are currently six different zoning districts in that area, all of which are for single use only, all business, commercial or light industrial, not residential or recreational.

Ott said the township’s Comprehensive Plan, which he wrote in 2009 and was later adopted by the township supervisors, calls for adding mixed-use areas to accommodate growth while protecting sensitive areas.

He said it makes more sense for the township to consider creating the overlay than to address development needs on a piecemeal basis. It makes it easier to plan for the future, he said.

Another reason for the overlay, he said, is that it makes it easier to develop a sense of community that’s not so car-oriented. The overlay can improve what he called the “streetscape,” even allowing for sidewalks and pedestrian crossings. Citing the Hovnanian specifically, he said that people would be able to walk from their homes to the shopping center.

Supervisor Deb Love said connectivity has become important with residents saying they want the ability to walk and not rely on their cars to shop.

Ott also said that a townhouse development, such as the one proposed by Hovnanian, would have a positive impact on the school system because there would be fewer school-aged kids in townhouses than in detached single-dwelling units.

He also said it would help prevent “the big box phenomenon.”

Representatives for Hovnanian and the YMCA were on hand to give updates on sketch plans for their proposals. Neither of which can be presented as formal plans unless and until an overlay ordinance is adopted to allow for their use.

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