Historic Kennett Square’s second annual Winterfest is sold out
By Rick Marts, Staff Writer, The Times
KENNETT SQUARE — PA Act 167 requires the state’s municipalities to adopt new stormwater management ordinances that comply with state standards. To facilitate this process, Chester County has provided a model ordinance that, with a little tweaking for local conditions, the Borough Council believes can be implement in the best interests of residents and water management.
To determine how much tweaking is needed, the Borough sought the advice of Pennoni Associates, an engineering consulting firm, and the Council is doing its due diligence by conducting public hearings to obtain public comments.
The first such hearing was held Tuesday night, February 18. Its primary witness was Michael Ellis, a professional engineer with Pennoni and representing the Borough’s Engineer’s Office. Ellis introduced and summarized the new ordinance #907 and suggested how it might be tailored to accommodate conditions in the Borough.
Some of Ellis’ suggestions, however, met resistance from several council members who asked him to take another look and return at a later date for a second hearing.
One part of the County’s model ordinance has to do with a property owner installing any new “impervious cover” or substantially disturbing the ground. Impervious cover refers to roofs, sidewalks, patios, and other deterrents to water naturally seeping into the ground. The model law states that if the impervious cover or ground disturbance exceeds 1,000 square feet, the property owner must comply with a mandatory and possibly expensive engineering study and analysis of the impact of water run-off.
Because lot sizes in the Borough are smaller than in most of the rest of the County, Ellis recommended that Kennett Borough adopt a more stringent standard of 500 square feet as a trigger for compliance with the new law’s requirements.
This was a point that caught Councilman Geoffrey Bosley’s attention. He asked, “Why can’t the Borough live with the less stringent standard of 1,000 square feet, as recommended in the model ordinance?”
A great deal of discussion ensued relative to this issue, with Councilman Danilo Maffei concluding that “much of the discussion has focused on the worst case scenario, rather than the typical situation we are likely to deal with here in the Borough.”
Ellis pointed out that the Borough can add more requirements later to address circumstances not adequately covered under the model ordinance.
After the discussion ended, the Borough’s solicitor, Marc Jonas, asked for public comment, and when no one rose to speak, she closed the hearing.
Council President Leon Spencer reopened the Council meeting to discuss the new ordinance. A motion was made and seconded to approve the ordinance. Discussion included the obvious point that the ordinance needs further study in a few areas.
Borough Manager Brant Kucera noted that “we need to protect the Borough’s water supply as well as protect the individual property owner from incurring exorbitant costs for projects on relatively small lots.” He added, “The more science behind a standard and the less ground that is disturbed, the less negative impact will result.”
When the vote was called, the motion did not carry.
Other Council business included reports from various Borough entities.
In her report to the Council, Mary Hutchins, Executive Director of Historic Kennett Square, said plans were in place for Kennett Square’s second annual Winterfest to occur on Saturday, February 22, 2014, from 12:30-4 p.m. She said organizers were expecting about 1,400 people. Sad to say, however, tickets are sold out as of this writing, perhaps due to the warming trend arriving this weekend.
Reporting on Public Works and Finance, Councilman Bosley recalled the Borough’s fine performance during the snow and ice storms. He lauded the performance of police, fire department, and public works employees.
In addition, Council President Spencer noted that “we live in a community of many dedicated people.”
In his report, Spencer said that a public forum will be held next Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. to discuss the kinds of issues that residents raised at the last Borough Council meeting in January. These issues involved various neighborhood code violations and the need for enhanced enforcement.
Spencer also encouraged residents to visit the Borough’s website to review the Council’s agenda for upcoming public meetings. From there, they can determine they might have an interest in making comments at the appropriate time during the meeting.
