By Betsy Brewer Brantner
Contributing Writer

The owners of Kimble Farm have entered into a sales agreement with Rutter’s convenience store chain, and West Nottingham Township residents are not happy about the proposed new use for the property.

The Kimble Farm is owned by Walter Kimble and his wife Joyce, John Kimble (the brother of Walt) and two adult children of a deceased brother. Needless to say, everyone within that extended ownership group has reasons for finally wanting or needing to sell the farm. Walter and Joyce Kimble plan to keep 5 acres of the farm and the outbuildings. They will continue to live there. The taxes on the property can be burdensome for the owners.

Approximately 100 acres of the farm, which are being rented out to another farmer, could be sold to Rutter’s, but not without lengthy discussions and some approvals from the West Nottingham Township Board of Supervisors and the township’s Planning Commission and the Zoning Hearing Board. The township’s residents, especially those who live near the farm, have opinions, too.

The Zoning Hearing Board (ZHB) met on August 27 at the Herr’s Visitor Center to discuss the variances requested by M & G Realty on behalf of Rutter’s convenience stores. Zoning Hearing Board members Dan Siegfried, the chair, Frank Lobb, the vice chair, and Tom Lander, a member of the board, met before a large group of residents.

Rutter’s is a chain of convenience stores and gas stations with 86 locations in eastern, Central and Western Pennsylvania, the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, and central Maryland. 

Ryan Jennings, the attorney for the ZHB, set ground rules for the proceedings which included a request for an orderly meeting and no outbursts. 

It was quickly noted that a continuance was requested by M & G and subsequently approved by ZHB members. The next hearing is scheduled for Monday, October 13 at 6:30 p.m. and will be held at Herr’s Visitors Center in Nottingham.

Jennings answered a few questions and explained how residents could gain party status and have their testimony entered into the record in an orderly fashion. 

As the crowd slowly dispersed, some disparaging comments from those in attendance could be overheard. No one wanted to be quoted, but one lady who has a business bordering on the property said, “It backs right up to my property. I’m not happy about that.”

The one comment most often overheard was residents expressing their belief that the proposed Rutter’s project would bring more trucks through Nottingham. A proposed warehouse project in neighboring East Nottingham Township also has residents concerned that there will be a large increase in traffic. It is still not clear what the proposed warehouses would be used for.

Residents are not only concerned about the possible loss of another farm, there are also concerns about having a Rutter’s convenience store locate in the township because of the traffic it would draw to the local roads. Some residents compared the convenience store to a truck stop—and this is only the latest project in the area that has increased the number of vehicles on roadways. Obviously, this is not the first convenience store to locate in West Nottingham Township. Wawa has been operating there since the early 2000s, but the Nottingham location does not have parking for trucks. Another commercial property, CVS, is well over 12,000 square feet, about the size of Rutter’s, and it sits beside Wawa. And on the other side of Route 272 is Herr Foods, which has been operating there for decades.

David Ross, a member of the West Nottingham Township Planning Commission, explained, “We created the commercial district in 2012 to direct development in that part to protect our rural area. That whole area is defined in the West Nottingham Township 2006 Comprehensive Plan and in the 2012 Regional Comprehensive Plan. The plan was designed as a walkable community. The idea is to expand the village to what it once was. Eventually we would have a pedestrian bridge over the bypass. After we completed the comprehensive plan, we had numerous public meetings. At that time, due to the desire to preserve agricultural land, we came up with Transfer Development Rights.”

Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) is a land-use planning tool that allows landowners to sell their property’s development rights to another property owner, enabling them to develop at a higher density than normally allowed.  This system separates development potential from a piece of land (the “sending site”) and allows it to be transferred to another area (the “receiving site”). TDR programs are used to preserve land with conservation value, such as farmland or open space, while simultaneously directing growth to areas better suited for development.

While municipal leaders in the Oxford area have undertaken numerous efforts to encourage smart growth, the question remains—what has created the “truck problem” in the area?

It should be pointed out that the truck problem will not change, with or without a new Rutter’s convenience store, because more than 70 percent of all U.S. freight is moved by trucks.

The commercial and residential developments in the area are impacting the truck traffic that is being seen in the Oxford area today.

Developments really started to pile up in the late 1960s. That is evidenced by the building of the Route 1 bypass, which was installed because the population was increasing at that time. According to U.S. Census data the population of Chester County in 1970 was 278,311. The population in 1980 was 316,660, or an increase of 13.8 percent, over just one decade.

The Kennett-Oxford Bypass was installed in two main sections in the mid- to late-1960s. The second section started in 1968 and was completed in 1970.

In a previous interview Kimble explained, “Our farm has been a farm since the early 1800s. Someone has farmed this since that time and now I rent the property out to another farmer. My story is not much different than most farmers in this area. We have all lost pieces of our farms when the Route 1 bypass was constructed. I don’t think people realize how much farmers have been pushed around because of the development that has taken place.” 

The Route 1 bypass, could have been the beginning of the end for many farmers. Farms were divided by the bypass making it inconvenient, if not impossible, to continue to farm. Remaining pieces of farms were sold and developed.

Fast forward to 2025 and it is quite obvious how developments have continued to expand.

For instance, one municipality, Lower Oxford Township, which borders Oxford Borough, has numerous developments planned for the future.

Lower Oxford, Secretary/Treasurer, Deborah Kinney stated in December of 2024, “Developments in Lower Oxford Township for new single-family residences as of this date are BK Campbell Enterprises - Pine View Estates, located between Conner Road and Baltimore Pike with 184 units. There are 83 permits issued for homes that have use & occupancy permits issued and are occupied. Two permits for homes have been issued that are currently under construction (total 85 units). BK Campbell Enterprises - Reedville Village located at Reedville Road and Conner Road has 154 units. Site work is currently under construction with no permits for homes issued to date.”

In Lower Oxford Township, some of those housing developments are further along. There are signs of residential growth on the other side of Oxford Borough, too. If you are leaving West Nottingham Township, by way of Old Baltimore Pike, you see a development to the left spreading toward the bypass. That was the Featherman farm. If you turn left on Forge Road, developments dot the area all the way to where Forge Road intersects with Hopewell Road. 

Farms have been sold and replaced by developments in every direction in the Oxford Area School District. The sale of all those farms that were replaced by developments has certainly helped bring in more traffic, including truck traffic.

The possible addition of a Rutter’s convenience store will be debated again on October 13. Will this project bring more trucks into the community or will they just give the truckers already passing through a place to stop for a respite from their long day of work?

Ashley Donnelly, from M &G Realty, spoke to team members at Rutter’s who said, “Our customers will primarily be made up of local residents and regular commuter traffic, who stop at our store for the convenience. With the location being directly adjacent to Route 1, we don’t anticipate a measurable increase in local road traffic.”

Another factor to consider is the economic impact of Rutter’s. Will Rutter’s bring more employment to the area? Will it increase the tax base for West Nottingham Township?

“Across our company, we employ over 3,000 people, with locations like Nottingham averaging around 50 employees. We hire team members for retail and food services, as well as store managers for all of our locations. Our hourly wage currently starts at $18 per hour,” a spokesperson for Rutter’s explained.

She added, “A store manager’s salary starts upwards of $100,000 and eligible employee benefits include health benefits, a 401K match, tuition assistance and much more.”

The fact that Rutter’s would be selling alcohol at their store does concern some people, even though a local restaurant allows the public to drink wine and beer. Donnelly said that the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board license requires a minimum of 30 seats, which Rutter’s plans to provide. The final design is not yet completed.

The current plan shows that out of the 100 acres Rutter’s plans to build on about 10 acres.

The number of parking spaces designated for commercial drivers hasn’t yet been finalized.

Donnelly said, “We will not have trucks idling. State law restricts that and we will also post signs to that effect. We also don’t permit overnight parking on our lots. Our goal is to provide a safe place for commercial driver to use our facilities, get food and drink, and take their legally required breaks during their trips.”

Federal law requires truck drivers to take mandatory rest under the Hours of Service (HOS) regulations, including a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving, an 11-hour driving limit within a 14-hour on-duty window, and a 10-hour off-duty period to reset the 14-hour clock. 

Drivers must also complete a 34-hour restart after reaching 60 or 70 hours on duty in a 7- or 8-day period to reset their weekly driving hours. These rules, enforced by the FMCSA using Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs), aim to reduce fatigue and prevent accidents.

When asked about the closeness to residences, Donnelly explained, the planned development area would be about 550 feet from the property line of residences along one road and about 1,000 feet from the nearest residence along the other road.

The planned store size is 13,467 square feet which is close to size of the CVS store.

Will Rutter’s be bringing more truck traffic to the area, and if so, how much? Only time will tell, but more answers may start to come when the Zoning Hearing Board meeting continues on October 13.