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Chester County Press

What's the holdup?

06/25/2013 08:28PM ● By Acl

In March, the Penn Township Board of Supervisors gave the OK for preliminary earthmoving at the site of the Jennersville Medical Building, although not much work has been done.

By Nancy Johnson

Correspondent

On Feb. 6, the Penn Township Board of Supervisors signed off on the final plans for a state-of-the-art medical office facility to be constructed on Woodview Road, adjacent to the Route 1 bypass. Some residents have asked why, several months later, the project is not under way.

According to Penn Township Board of Supervisors chairman Curtis Mason, the delay is related to the sewer permit. "They are responsible for getting the sewer permit," he said. "We just review it and we're not all that worried about it because it is an on-site system."

Apparently a problem arose when someone at the DEP read a story in the spring 2013 issue of Synapse, a magazine published by Chester County Hospital, regarding the proposed medical building. The story noted that the building would have a cafe and a surgery center for outpatient procedures. However, the sewer application submitted to the DEP did not include either of these in their plan.

"I'm sure they'll get it worked out," Mason said. "It's going back and forth with the attorneys right now, and there are a lot of entities involved when you consider the builder, the landowner, and Chester County Hospital, which will be the main tenant."

While he believes the medical office building will be a great asset to Penn Township, Mason is adamant that all the conditions on the approved land development plan must be met.

"We will make sure that nothing goes in there that wasn't approved, and escrow money won't be released until we are satisfied," he said. "It's not like the old days with a handshake. This is a $25 million project. We can't take a chance."