Chester County Real Estate News: February 15th
New dialogue opens on River Station development
East Caln and Downingtown began discussing the River Station project three years ago with a joint committee consisting of three members from each municipality. The panel essentially stopped meeting a year ago as the project began to hit a barricade. The River Station development is proposed for the former Sunoco property off Route 322 and Boot Road. The portion of the project in question is east of Route 322. East Caln owns the southernmost section of the property, and the borough owns the northern section. An extension of Boot Road is part of the proposal. Downingtown Borough’s portion of the project included commercial opportunities as well as some housing, but the East Caln portion was all housing in the style of Philadelphia row homes. Downingtown plans to build a new senior center and library on its portion of the project.
Source: Daily Local; 2/9/10
New Garden Township to add greenways to land-use plan
Adding a greenway plan to the township’s comprehensive land-use plan could save the township development woes down the road. Open Space Review Board Chairman Bernie McKay said that by making the township’s stance on open space preservation official by adding it to the comprehensive plan, greater leverage could be available when dealing with developers seeking to build in the greenway corridor. It would also make the township’s goals clearer when in conditional use situations with new developers. Interim Township Manager Ed Hill said adding the greenways and trail plan to the comprehensive plan isn’t such a “big deal,” but it would require contacting school districts and municipalities affected by the change within 30 days. Hill said the change could be as simple as adding an appendix to the comprehensive plan, with a one-paragraph insertion in the plan itself referring to the open space and greenways section. The township’s open space efforts have already led to the preservation of roughly 1,000 acres of passive open space.
Source: Daily Local; 2/08/09
Coatesville Council fires City Manager
Coatesville City Council officially terminated Harry Walker from his city manager position and appointed Wayne G. “Ted” Reed as interim city manager for a year. The resolution to terminate Walker effective immediately was passed in a 5-1 vote. Council unanimously approved a resolution to hire Reed as interim city manager. Reed said he will begin working for the city on Feb. 16. Reed will work for two weeks at no fee then will be on the city payroll for a year until Feb. 28, 2011. Reed served as a former city manager from August 1987 through August 1991. He then became executive director of the City of Coatesville Authority and was instrumental in assisting the sale of the authority’s assets in 2001 to the Pennsylvania American Water Co. in a deal that netted the city more than $39 million. Kirby Hudson temporarily served as interim city manager for the past month while Walker was administrative leave. Hudson will now serve as assistant city manager again.
Source: Daily Local; 2/9/10
Residents seek letter opposing development in East Goshen
Members of the Greenhill Homeowners Association attended East Goshen’s Board of Supervisors meeting and asked the officials to write a letter to West Goshen’s Board of Supervisors expressing opposition to the proposed Traditions development. The HOA represents residents from 27 homes on Culbertson Circle and Eastwick Circle that are adjacent to the proposed development which is in West Goshen just over the township line. About two weeks ago the Goshen Fire Company, which will share its driveways with residents of the proposed independent living facility, wrote a letter to the West Goshen Board of Supervisors. In the letter, the fire company said that it was not a proponent of the project, but if the project went through it had a set of conditions that dealt with safety concerns and impacts to its operations. The township backed away from the request that it write a letter, but Chairman Donald McConathy noted that a representative for the township would make a general statement regarding the township’s opposition to the project.
Source: Daily Local; 2/7/10
Chesco commissioners approve bond resolution
A resolution to allow $9.5 million in funding through two new bonds designed to promote investment and redevelopment has been approved by Chester County Commissioners. The “recovery zone economic development bonds” and “recovery zone facility bonds,” authorized by the 2009 federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will allow companies and municipalities to borrow money at a lower rate and thus encourage economic development, the county said in a news release. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has allocated to Chester County a limit of $3.84 million for recovery zone bonds and $5.77 million for recovery zone facility bonds. The Chester County Industrial Development Authority will administer the bonds, according to the resolution. Federal regulations define a recovery zone as any area designated by the county as an area of significant poverty, unemployment, rate of home foreclosure, or general distress. Chester County has determined that the City of Coatesville and 15 boroughs – Atglen, Avondale, Downingtown, Elverson, Honey Brook, Kennett Square, Malvern, Modena, Oxford, Parkesburg, Phoenixville, South Coatesville, Spring City, West Chester and West Grove – qualify for the program, according to the release.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 1/27/09
