Kennett to focus first on infrastructure repair
By Rick Marts, Staff Writer, The Times
The pitted, rutted road surface of Ways Lane in Kennett Township has prevented emergency services and mail delivery to homes on the private road way. Now, township officials are looking for short-term and long-term solutions with an eye on future development in the area.
KENNETT — On Wednesday night, the Kennett Board of Supervisors held a “working public meeting,” which is a new concept aimed at improving management transparency and the immediately tackled a challenge that has plagued the township for years: Ways Lane.
During the meeting’s first 90 minutes, the supervisors, various technical advisors, and a few residents focused on what to do about the disrepair of Ways Lane and its harsh effects on residents and commercial properties that border it.
Concern over providing mail and emergency services, both of which have been suspended due to unsafe road conditions, is the supervisors’ immediate concern. However, the glimmer of development and more productive land use crept into the discussion.
Police Chief Albert McCarthy said, “I won’t send a squad car down that road. The conditions are too unsafe.”
The Times verified the Chief’s comments by driving the one-mile length of the Ways Lane from Cypress near the Italian American Club to where it ends at S. Walnut. In places, the road narrowed to less than one lane, crater-sized pot holes threatened axles and wheel rims, and severe shoulder erosion made the road a dangerous obstacle course.
The township supervisors, Solicitor Steve Sanders, Engineer Tom Wilks, Communications Chairman Bill McLachlan, Roadmaster Roger Lysle, and several concerned residents discussed a long-term strategy to unite and protect the neighborhood, legal ramifications of government involvement, and short-term tactics for repairing privately-owned Ways Lane.
The group also addressed questions of who owns the road, why the township cares about its deteriorating condition, who is negatively affected, and what is the history of attention given to the road.
All in all, the discussion was a civics lesson in how local government can come together with its residents to solve seemingly intractable problems. The actual solutions remain to be seen, however. The Times plans to follow this endeavor.
Supervisor Richard Leff noted, “This is not a new challenge to the township. Road paving was planned, but never happened.”
He questioned how can the problem be resolved, given that the township does not own the road or adjoining properties?
Solicitor Sanders answered, “If the township addresses the problems of a deteriorated and unsafe road surface that it does not own, it might be liable for subsequent accidents on the road.”
A key problem that surfaced during the meeting is that many property owners are involved, but only a few large ones own most of the land. Several private rental homes owned by the many mushroom farms in the immediate area line the road and provide housing for the farms’ employees. And the East Penn Railroad owns its right of way adjacent to about half mile along the road.
Even without ownership, Solicitor Sanders argued that, “By condemning the property, the township could with impunity make improvements, such as repaving and widening. On the other hand, property owners might perceive their property values had declined because of the condemnation. But in the long-term, the advantage is that values might actually increase.”
McCarthy recalled some of the history associated with Ways Lane.
He said, “Owners have come to the township in the past asking for help, but they would not agree to pay for the needed improvements.”
Township resident and former supervisor, Bill Hewton, said, “The township has been interested in developing this area for many years. Studies have been done costing many thousands of dollars.”
Township Manager Lisa Moore provided additional detail: in 2003, the township contracted for a $55,000 study, which was funded by $13,000 of township money and a $42,000 grant it received.
Supervisors chair Scudder Stevens summarized the discussion this way: “We need a long- and short-term evaluation for the road. We also need a clearer statement of ownership and a meeting of the owners to determine their positions. We also need an immediate repair to what surface is left so that traffic is not impeded in the near term and the mail and emergency services are available. And we need to have a legal opinion on our ability to make immediate, though unilateral, repairs to the property.”
Great article and photo!