By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

For the past 15 years, the 22-acre site along West Mulberry Street in the Kennett Square Borough has existed as a forlorn brownfield of what had once been the site of a National Vulcanized Fibre Company (NVF) plant – a craggy terrain of cement, unkempt vegetation are the lone reminders of a time when a thriving business existed there.

Over that time, there has been a concerted effort to remediate the area of contamination left by prior industrial use, particularly related to PCBs and other hazardous substances. The Rockhopper company has been working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) on extensive soil and groundwater testing and removal, but in light of a proposal by the Delaware Valley Development Corporation (DVDC) to build 294 “for rent” and “for sale” residential units at the site, the question whether the site will be safe enough for residential housing has remained a serous topic of conversation with area residents and borough officials. 

On July 1 beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Borough Hall on South Broad Street, a convergence of concerns, ideas and facts about the site will invite both groups to the creation of the new NVF Clean-Up Focus Group.

Led by Kennett Square Mayor Matt Fetick and Borough Council member Joel Sprick, the focus group – open to all Kennett Square residents – will take a deep dive into all aspects of the clean-up in order to provide residents with up-to-date information and serve as a forum for their questions and concerns.

‘Do we know things have been done right?’

“It is critical to me that the future development of the NVF site be fully transparent and that the residents understand the process and have a comfort level in the clean-up efforts,” said Fetick. “When we got the plans last summer from Ryan Homes to build on the site, I was the first person who said, ‘Before you even come to a Council or Planning Commission meeting, I want you to hold a public meeting and put this out in front of the public.’”

Fetick said that because the format of borough meetings is not designed for extensive back-and-forth questions between the audience and presenters, the residents deserved such a forum to focus solely on the status of the site clean-up.

“What I’ve heard consistently from residents about the site has been, ‘Do we know that things have been done right? ‘Who is making those decisions?’” Fetick said. “For someone to develop that site, there is a borough code they gave to follow. They have to go to the Planning Commission, meet its requirements, then meet with Borough Council and go back to the Planning Commission. All of these steps are prescribed by borough ordinances. 

“What is not prescribed by borough ordinances is the clean-up process, so my recommendation to Borough Council was to hold meetings specifically about the clean-up and not about the redevelopment. We have no control over the clean-up, but we need to act as an intermediary between the borough, borough residents and the overseeing body, which is the DEP.”

‘We remain committed to Kennett Square’

In a March letter to the residents of Kennett Square, Rockhopper wrote that over the previous 15 years, the company has “spent millions of dollars and countless hours” working with the EPA and PA DEP to bring the property into compliance with the Commonwealth’s Act 2 Program — the framework designed to ensure the safe redevelopment of environmentally impacted sites. The Act 2 Program - formally known as Pennsylvania’s Land Recycling Program - is a science-based initiative that allows for the safe reuse of contaminated properties. This process is overseen by the PA DEP, which regulates environmental protection at the state level. 

“We understand that any discussion of redevelopment on a former industrial site can raise important questions and concerns,” the letter read. “We share those concerns and have gone to great lengths to ensure all work meets or exceeds regulatory standards. We have complete confidence in the PA DEP and EPA process, which is built on rigorous science and public transparency. When the Act 2 process is followed properly, as it has been here, it allows properties to be properly remediated under governmental oversight, and safely restored and re-integrated into the community. 

“We remain committed to Kennett Square, to full transparency, and to an open dialogue with borough leadership and residents as this site moves toward its next chapter. We believe this property can— and will—be part of a healthier, safer, and more vibrant future for the borough.”

The focus group meeting next week follows a Nov. 7, 2024 presentation at the Kennett Library, where members of ten architectural, engineering, legal, traffic and development agencies gave a presentation about a proposed residential complex at the NVF site. 

The proposed residential community, being developed by DVDC, plans to construct a complex that will include 246 single-family townhomes: 38 single-family townhomes and 104 stacked townhomes (with two units per townhome), as well as a projected total of 492 parking spaces for residents and visitors. They are projected to be priced between the upper $300,000s for a 1,200 square-foot residence to the low-to-mid $500,000s for a 2,220-square foot residence.

In addition, the complex will offer 48 mixed-income and affordable multifamily residential units that will be accompanied by 149 additional parking spaces. 

The planned development will also provide ample room 30,000 to 50,000 square feet of green space that will include shade cover, native plantings, a lawn and outdoor seating areas.

Fetick said that the purpose of the focus group will be to control the messaging and the interaction to communicate with the DEP in order to obtain clarity and the assurance that residents’ questions are being addressed.

‘I want to involve residents now’

“While I think that Rockhopper is following the proper process, we don’t have a window into that process,” Fetick said. “All we can do is take it on face value that they are submitting the correct documents, but at the end of the day, the DEP is going to say, ‘Yes, it’s clean,’ or ‘No, it’s not.’

“Instead of waiting for the site to be deemed clean, I want to involve residents now. At the end of the day, neither I nor Borough Council has any say in the clean up process or in the determination that the site is clean, but some day, we are going to get a letter from the DEP saying that the site is clean and is ready to be developed. I don’t want to wait until we receive that letter to ask questions. I want to ask questions now.”

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