By Richard L. Gaw

Staff Writer

The Kennett Township Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an amendment to a township ordinance at their Oct. 17 meeting, that clears the way for the township’s codes department to conduct inspections of rental properties.

Under the current guidelines for Ordinance 279, it requires that a rental unit is to be renewed every three years, or unless there is a change of tenant at the property during that time. The definition of the word “tenant” however, did not permit the township to inspect a rental property unless money was exchanged for rent, and the township was finding that several business owners were allowing their employees to live at their properties for free, in exchange for employment or other situations.

To clear up the confusion and better define the word, the definition of “tenant,” as it appears in the revised ordinance, now reads, “A person other than a property owner to whom a landlord grants temporary or exclusive use of land or a part of a building, usually in exchange for rent, or other considerations.”

The change in definition now permits the township to inspect all rental properties, regardless of the financial arrangement.

In other township business, Township Manager Lisa Moore recently visited state representatives in Harrisburg to promote the township’s $1.5 million grant request it submitted to the Commonwealth Funding Authority, that if approved on Nov. 14, will be applied to the cost of constructing a roundabout at the Five Points intersection in the township. The township has also applied for a grant with PennDOT for the project.

The estimated cost of the roundabout project is $2.3 million, but Moore said that because two of the roads that enter the intersection are owned by the state, the township is hoping that PennDOT would pay for a portion of the project.

The township is about to submit request for estimates for the conversion of the Parish and Pennock Trail, extending from Pennock Park to Hillendale Road, to a multi-surface trail for pedestrians and bicyclists. The project is slated to begin next year.

There will be a text amendment hearing before the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 7 at 5:00 p.m. to hear a proposal from a developer who is requesting too change current township ordinances in order to make way for the construction of a mixed-use development on the Giordano property at the entrance to Ways Lane, that will include town homes, apartments and retail. Currently, the township zoning laws only permit the residential or commercial development in that area, but not both.

The township has not heard from PennDOT about a scheduled time it will make repairs to the now-closed Clifton Bridge in the township, but it did indicate to the township that the bridge is on its funded list of projects.

The township’s police department will host a drug take back event on Oct. 27, from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., at the township building.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].