Plan for huge apartment complex advances

KENNETT TOWNSHIP » After a three-year battle, it appears a massive, 175-unit apartment complex in Kennett Township will become a reality.

A major design change sent it back to square one, but a proposed large apartment development in Kennett Township is once again moving forward. Three years ago, a proposal by Ravello Land Development to create a 175unit apartment building between Anson B. Nixon Park and Miller’s Hill Road was approved as a conditional use and early the next year its final land development plan was approved. But a substantial revision to the design started the process over again. And last week, at their second monthly meeting, the supervisors unanimously approved a new conditional use approval for the developers, technically called Merion Kennett Square Developer LLC today. The project is still informally referred to as “Ravello.”

The new design retains the proposed 175 units on a 14.592-acre tract. David J. Sander, the township solicitor, said the main reason for the revision was the developer’s change from one building to three four-story buildings. After a July 18 hearing on the proposal, the township and developers agreed on a list of conditions, Sander said. Those conditions mostly addressed the distance of various features from neighboring properties, as well as conditions regarding tree plantings, earthwork, and types of lighting used. Final conditions addressed creating a crosswalk so people could walk across Walnut Road from the development to the park, and making sure there was also access to future sidewalks on Miller’s Hill Road.

In other business, township Manager Lisa Moore said the township’s new no-solicitation list was up and running. Township residents can sign up via the township website to bar solicitors from coming to their houses. A representative of the Longwood Fire Company asked the public to avoid driving over flooded roads in an effort to save time. The recent rains had caused a sharp increase in the number of water rescues needed because people weren’t bothering to find another route, he said. The supervisors also voted to take the necessary preliminary steps to adopt the latest version of the international building code mandated by the state. Without the latest version approved, Moore said, developers could challenge the township’s authority to impose regulations.