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Chester County Press

Uncle Irvin: Newark Road bonanza

07/14/2015 01:18PM ● By Richard Gaw
Right now, it looks like New Garden Township is in the sweet spot for commercial development. And that's good for Chester County, Kennett Consolidated School District, and New Garden Township itself.

Newark Road, north of old Route 1, looks like it could be a real blockbuster for property tax relief. Plans by the Ciarrochi family call for an eight-building, 1-million-square-foot business park that could eventually employ up to 2,000 people and and spin off property taxes in excess of $1.5 million. The industrial park would be right across Newark Road from the New Garden Flying Field and Technology Park. Water and sewer lines are already in place, as well as the Toughkenamon ramps to the Route 1 Bypass.

These plans are in their infancy, and must be embraced by the whole township and nurtured by the New Garden supervisors. Moreover, pressure must be brought to bear on State Sen. Andrew Dinniman, State Rep. Chris Ross, the County Commissioners and Congressman Joe Pitts to use their political influence to put together a package of financial and tax incentives that can be dangled in front of prospective employers to locate on Newark Road.

The Newark Road location is ripe for this kind of commercial development because most of the infrastructure is already in place, except for improvements to Newark Road itself.

(Uncle Irvin's column is his opinion only, and is not a news story.)