Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Residents lambaste plan to ‘revitalize’ Toughkenamon
After municipality releases revitalization plan, some citizens express development concerns
NEW GARDEN » The township is seeking input from residents on a newly released streetscape and transportation revitalization draft plan for the community of Toughkenamon.
“To date, the top three goals identified are improvements to Newark Road and Baltimore Pike intersection, which will at a minimum include sidewalks, street lights and greening of the intersection,” said Tony Scheivert, former township manager, who resigned from the role last month.
An unincorporated village, Toughkenamon is home to a post office and spans Old Baltimore Pike southward down Newark Road.
“We just want to see that the plan being made includes the vi
sion of the residents here,” said Steven Bertrando, an entrepreneur and property owner who has lived in Toughkenamon for 65 years.
New Garden has sought to bring changes to Toughkenamon since the creation of its 2005 comprehensive plan. Little happened for more than a decade until the township revisited and expanded upon revitalizing the village in its 2018 comprehensive plan.
“Through township resident outreach and surveys, revitalization of Toughkenamon was ranked as a top priority in New Garden Township,” Scheivert stated.
Scheivert said other priority improvements include Newark Road and Main Street Streetscape Improvements, to include the Newark Road railroad crossing, sidewalks, cross walks, greening, streetlights and pedestrian facilities.
After the adoption of the municipality’s 2018 comprehensive plan, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission awarded New Garden a Transportation & Community Development Initiative grant to fund development of the Toughkenamon revitalization plan.
“There is interest on a regional level to support the revitalization of Toughkenamon,” said Scheivert. “Thankfully, we live in a time and place where there is grant funding opportunities for these types of transportation and community development projects.”
The township then formed a committee to oversee the creation of a streetscape and transportation improvement plan for the village of Toughkenamon, funded by the grant. New Garden released a draft plan in February for public feedback.
“In addition to the appointedcommittee members, we had representation from Chester County Planning Commission, Transportation Management Association of Chester County (TMACC),
PennDOT, DVRPC and our professional engineers and planners through McMahon Associates and Thomas Comitta Associates at six committee meetings over the last year,” Scheivert said. “Three public workshops and three public meetings with the Board of Supervisors have been held, as well as interviews with local stakeholders.”
Twenty-nine years ago, Suzanne Snajdr moved to New Garden in 1991 and has lived in the village of Toughkenamon ever since.
“The village had fallen into disrepair, however, over the last 20 years I have seen it renewing and revitalizing itself in its own way,” said Snajdr, who is a Toughkenamon Streetscape and Transportation Improvement Plan committee member. “We really don’t want to be the next ‘mini-Kennett.’ If we wanted that environment, we would live there. We would rather the township take care of areas that need it like Willow Street, the Newark Road and Baltimore Pike intersection, and the Newark Road railroad crossing fully implemented.”
Approximately 50 percent of residents who call Toughkenamon home are Hispanic individuals and families.
Sn aj dr said there was some engagement with Hispanic high school students at The Garage in Kennett Square. “However, as for the residents of the village, they were not engaged,” she stated of township outreach to the village’s Hispanic residents.
The township has posted information on the plan online, including on its website and Facebook page. New Garden also hung up informational posters at a few localbusinesses in forming residents of upcoming municipal meetings to discuss its plan to revitalize Toughkenamon.
“Many of the people in the village are older, and are either computer-illiterate or spend very little time on the computer,” Snajdr said.
Many residents in Tough kenam on have lived in the village all their lives.
“The land-owning residents in this small open village either have been here for generations or have moved here as they like the quiet relaxed openness of Toughkenamon village,” Snajdr said. “Most of us that have moved here have been here for 20 or more years. We love our village. Yes, it would be nice to have a few things changed to make it nicer. The curbs and the sewer grates could use an update. The existing sidewalk on Main Street could be fixed.”
Additionally, she said actionshould be taken to reduce drivers cutting through town to avoid congestion on Old Baltimore Pike. She said another area of immediate concern is Willow Street which she described as in “terrible condition.”
Snajdr added, “But this plan is too much and is not the way we want our village. It seems to be designed for developers .”
Coinciding with the Tough ken am on streets cap es improvements identified, New Garden will need to make zoning and ordinance amendments to allow for a new commercial core and mixed use district, amend R-3 village district restrictions and incorporate design guidelines, according to Scheivert.
On that note, Snajdr said the existing houses and streets of Toughkenamon were not created with sidewalks in mind.
“The houses are very close to the road,” she said. “Putting in the five foot sidewalks will place them quite close to the existing front porch es and remove what little front yard we have. This village has operated without sidewalks for all these years; the village residents do not see adding sidewalks as an ‘improvement.’ Adding them would detract from our houses and yards, making it feel more like a city with the sidewalks up close to the houses, than the small village it is.”
Overall, according to Snajdr, the plan calls for the following major changes in Toughkenamon:
Rezone part of the village core into a focused retail and restaurant hub;
Rezone the village core and zoning restrictions to attract developers to create new housing options for the community including additional apartments and multifamily units;
Add sidewalks to interior village streets so that Toughkenamon is “walkable;”
Add designated parking areas on interior village streets;
Build a playground for children.
As for the proposed playground, featuring a basketball court, Snajdr said it seemed “wholly inadequate” for children above the age of five.
“Soccer is the game of choice, not basketball,” Snajdr said. “There is also the concern of maintenance and monitoring the playground. Previously, a playground was abused by the older kids, fell into disrepair, and was eventually removed.”
She said New Garden would only need to add additional street parking if the township adds additional housing units to the community.
“The residents are not interested in such a crowded village, nor having their streets lined with cars,” Snajdr said.
Sidewalks are also a point of contention.
“The residents are also opposed to the sidewalks,” Snajdr said. “They would supposedly be the ones to benefit from them.”
“The Streetscape and Transportation Improvement Plan is a concept plan; a vision for the future, and will not happen all at once,” Scheivert said .“The first priority, the intersection improvement sat Newark Road and Baltimore Pike is a fully funded project through PennDOT and is a priority. The township is in the final phases of engineering and anticipates the intersection improvements will begin in 2023.”
He continued, “The goal is that Toughkenamon will be a village where people can safely get around with or without motorized transportation, while enjoying green and pedestrian friendly accommodations that calm speeding and cut through traffic. There is a large population of residents that walk to work, or children to school buses, that do not have a safe route to do so. We envision small community businesses and offices that will be valuableto the residents of Tough ken am on and New Garden as a whole, and that residents of the village will be able to safely walk, bike or drive to them.”
“The plan indicates that residents want these changes,” Snajdr told the Daily Local News .“The residents are opposed to most elements of this plan. At the surface this sounds like a great plan and is well written. However, this plan was not developed with the residents in mind. It is designed to make the village more attractive to developers.”
Snajdr added that she joined the planning process later than others and was only recently acknowledged as a committee member prior to the draft report’s release to the public.