Officials keep eye toward walkability

Kennett just took a step toward making walkable mixeduse developments within its borders a reality.

KENNETT TOWNSHIP » Kennett Township just took a small step toward making walkable mixed-use developments within its borders a reality.

A proposed new development has prompted the township to create and activate a committee that would review such proposals.

The township has in its business park zoning regulations an option for a “traditional neighborhood development” (TND) that mixes residential, shopping, workplaces, and recreational areas in a way that promotes walking among all of them. The idea is seen as a return to traditional patterns of living before driving everywhere became the norm.

In order to be ready to review any TND-style developments, the township supervisors voted unanimously at their Wednesday night meeting to establish an architectural review committee that would review such applications before they go on to the planning commission.

The committee will include local architect Ed Rahme, James Guthrie and Marla Palmer of the planning commission, Zoning Officer Diane Hicks, and Tom Comitta, the township’s landscape architect consultant.

The township appointed the committee, which is required by the zoning ordinance, because Mike Pia is proposing a mixed-use development called Parkside on Walnut Road that would be an example of the traditional neighborhood design use. Township Manager Lisa Moore said the development would include about 100 units.

The shorter-than-usual meeting took up a few other relatively routine matters. The supervisors voted to adopt the 2015 International Building Code. The code, updated every few years, provides a base standard for most jurisdictions in the United States and a number of other countries. Moore noted that if the township does not adopt the updated code, developers and others could challenge decisions made by the building codes official.

The supervisors approved a lot-line change on two parcels totaling 16 acres on Hillendale Road.

Nate Echeverria, the joint economic development director for Kennett Square and Kennett Township, reported on his activities and said there would be an economic development community workshop on Sept. 13 at the American Legion Hall in Kennett Square.