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Chester County Press

Back to building?

10/16/2013 04:23PM ● By Acl

By Nancy Johnson

Correspondent

E.J. Walsh III & Associates, the developer of the Village of Rose View, wants to finish the homes that they started in 2006 in the active adult 55-and-over community. They now want to complete the project with townhouses, instead of the quads that were included in the original plan, so revised plans must be submitted to the Penn Township Board of Supervisors.

At the Oct. 2 board meeting, Ross Unruh represented the West Chester business that is comprised of several members of the Walsh family. The attorney said that because the development is already largely constructed, they were asking the board to grant several waivers in regard to the submission of their revised plans.

The supervisors agreed to the first of the waivers, which will allow the applicant to submit for preliminary and final land development concurrently.

Another waiver request related to sidewalks only being on one side of the street, as they are in the existing units. Again, the supervisors agreed to the waiver, but the mention of sidewalks brought up an ongoing issue with a section of the existing sidewalk that is underwater following any rain storm. "Something has to be addressed there,"said supervisor Victor Mantegna. "I'm not an engineer, so I don't know what."

After a brief discussion, Matt Walsh said they would raise that area of sidewalk along Route 796 and this would be shown on the on the plans when they are resubmitted. The supervisors were satisfied and approved the sidewalk waiver, with the condition that the repair is included on the new plan.

There were several waiver requests related to the sewer, and the supervisors had considerably more concerns about them. Dan Becker, the township's sewer consultant, recently met with E.J. Walsh III & Associates, but he was not at the board meeting. His findings had not been received in writing.

Both  Curtis Mason, the chairman of the board, and Al Federico, the township's engineer, expressed concerns about lateral pipes that will be abandoned in the revised plans, and felt that Becker was the one who was qualified to make a decision  about granting the waivers.

Ross replied, "I didn't understand from our meeting that [Dan Becker] had big problems. Basically, we don't want to tear out what we've already constructed."

The board voted, with Bill Finnen opposed and Robin Marcello abstaining, to grant the four waivers related to the sewer issues, subject to Becker's recommendation.