Chester County Real Estate News: August 30, 2010
Tredyffrin passes two student housing ordinances
Two ordinances addressing student housing were discussed, tweaked and approved at the Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors meeting. The Registration Ordinance and the Zoning Ordinance, while separate entities, will help to regulate and enforce student housing throughout Tredyffrin. Both current and future homeowners will be responsible for complying with the Registration Ordinance, but the Zoning Ordinance will only apply to future homeowners. Current homeowners renting to students will be grandfathered in. The ordinances were approved unanimously by the board and will go into effect on September 16. The registration ordinance requires both current and future homeowners who rent to students to register with the township. Homeowners will be required to provide their own contact information and that of their renters. Also, information must be provided about the college/university/trade school the renter will be attending. The township plans to be in contact with Realtors and local schools to document which students live where. The hope is that by documenting who owns and rents each home, contacting the individuals if necessary will be easier and more time-efficient. Separately, the Zoning Ordinance, states that all future homeowners wishing to rent to students in the R-1/2, 1, 2, 3 and 4 residential districts would need special-exception approval from the Zoning Hearing Board before occupancy. To qualify, the owner will need to show that the property meets the requirements of the ordinance. Those requirements include a buffer of at least 10 feet around the home, no more than three student tenants, and a specified minimum distance from other student homes.
Source: Main Line Media News; 8/18/2010
Study lauds Coatesville’s potential
Following three days of interactive workshops as part of a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation study considering funding redevelopment of Coatesville’s train station, project officials offered some surprising information. “We found you could support, today, 68,000 square feet of new restaurants and stores. They would generate $17.6 million in sales,” said Robert J. Gibbs, a market economist, of Gibbs Consulting Group. “I think our study was conservative, too conservative. I think you could generate $30 million in sales.” The market study was just one part of an overall project that will result in recommendations to PennDOT regarding what it would take to redevelop the station. As part of an initiative called Plan the Keystone, PennDOT wants to improve 12 targeted stations along the Keystone Corridor from Harrisburg to Philadelphia. According to Batson, the corridor is important not just regionally but nationally.
Source: Daily Local; 8/26/2010
West Whiteland municipal building’s contractor sues township
The general contractor for the new West Whiteland Township municipal building is suing the township for $1.5 million, claiming the township withheld funds that it and subcontractors were owed. The township says the building leaks and that is why they withheld payments. In a lawsuit filed Aug. 11, attorneys for Magnum, Inc., a Warminster-based company, said the $1.5 million represented contractual obligations that the township failed to pay, additional costs due to township-caused delays, and costs associated with change orders that the township initiated among other things. Magnum is also trying to recoup expenses incurred as a result of trying to correct the leak problem. While the township claims that Magnum performed faulty or defective work, the contractor claims the alleged deficiencies were caused by the township’s project design.
Source: Daily Local; 8/23/2010
Customers: Rate hike ‘horrendous’
Protesting a rate increase that would more than triple the average customer’s bill, residents turned out in force Tuesday at two hearings regarding wastewater rates for Pennsylvania American Water Company. Speakers described the requested rate, which according to a news release from the company would raise the average customer’s monthly bill from $27.43 to $90.26, as “unconscionable,” “horrendous,” “unthinkable,” and “outrageous” and criticized the company on a range of charges, from unfairness to poor service. But the primary challenges to the rate increase were the arguments that the company was unduly shifting an investment burden to the customers. Company representatives said the primary reason for the rate increase, which would increase revenues to the company by $8.2 million, was the construction of a new wastewater treatment facility in which the company had invested $55 million. The facility in South Coatesville serves Coatesville, East Fallowfield, Caln, West Caln, Valley, Sadsbury, West Sadsbury, Highland and West Brandywine. More than 600 people turned out for the two meetings.
Source: Daily Local; 8/25/2010
Penn Township embarks on Comprehensive Plan project
The Penn Township Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission will be revising the township’s comprehensive plan. The township will be working closely with the Chester County Planning Commission to hold 14 work sessions and two public meetings in the coming months. The task force will begin in earnest on Wednesday, September 15 at 7 p.m.
Source: Chester County Press, 8/25/2010
