Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 152, No. 26
INSIDE Southern Chester County
is facing an affordable housing crisis
The number of people who’ve faced homelessness has more than doubled in recent years, and the problem could get worse Freedom Fest special section
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Landmark store to reopen in July
By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer
The Alejandro Escovedo Band will headline at Mushroom Festival concert...4A
Get ready for Fourth!...1B
60 Cents
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
fine
Over the last three years, the number of people in southern Chester County who have faced homelessness has more than doubled as the costs for housing in the area have soared while incomes for individuals and families who are struggling financially have remained flat. A two-bedroom apartment in Kennett Square now commands $1,200 a month―or more―on the open market, leaving people with low incomes or fixed incomes with few options as they struggle to meet their basic needs. According to Melanie Weiler, the executive director of the Kennett Area Community Service (KACS), more and more people are having a difficult time finding and maintaining affordable housing in southern Chester County. It’s an illustration of the principles of supply and demand at work: the demand
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
for affordable housing outpaces the supply in the area, so prices inevitably rise on the limited supply. Families looking to purchase affordably priced homes in the community can’t find what they are looking for, so they turn to rental properties, which puts more pressure on that market. A significant number of properties that previously offered affordable rental options to local residents have been taken off the market—some have been transformed into more expensive rental units. At the same time that rents have skyrocketed, incomes have not increased at nearly
the same rate, especially for low-wage earners. The elderly and the disabled are particularly vulnerable in the current climate. In 2015, Weiler said, KACS re-housed 35 households. The next year, that number jumped to 55 households. And in 2017, KACS assisted more than 100 households who needed help getting re-housed. So far in 2018, the pace has continued, so there is little evidence that the problem is getting any better yet. “We are in an affordable housing crisis in southern Chester County, and most
New ways of looking at nature...1B
INDEX Opinion........................7A Obituaries...................2B Calendar of Events.....3B
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The New Garden Township Board of Supervisors voted at its June 18 meeting to tack an additional 30 days on to the transaction period for the purchase of the Saint Anthony in the Hills property in the township, in order to provide time to conduct further environmental testing on the property. At its Feb. 20 meeting, the board approved the township’s acquisition of the 137.5-acre property for an undisclosed price, contingent upon the details that were expected to be ironed out during a 90-day agreement of sale. The cost of the purchase will be
paid through Open Space funding. The acreage is located in the area just southwest of the intersection of GapNewport Pike (Route 41) and Limestone Road (Route 7), just north of Somerset Lake, and sits on the headwaters of the Broad Run Creek. It was owned and operated by the church as a sanctuary for innercity Wilmington children, as a lasting legacy to the vision of Father Roberto Balducelli, who served as the founder and caretaker of the facility until his death at the age of 99 on Aug. 9, 2013. In other township business, the board approved Resolution No. 795 that officially adopted the
As Fourth nears, new state fireworks law boosting local sales
Continued on Page 3A
Township land acquisition delayed one month By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
The historic Landenberg Store is scheduled to reopen in July, and will be operated by chef Mark Spena. The Chester County Press will have a complete story in its July 4 edition.
amendment to the township’s Comprehensive Plan update. Jennifer Leister Reitz, a senior planner with Thomas Comitta Associates and project manager for the plan, said the amended plan received additional comments from the Chester County Planning Commission, and incorporates the plans they provided. The 10-year plan reflects the township’s priority projects, which include pursuing funding and design construction along the Route 41 corridor, and making intersection improvements near Sunny Dell Road; developing an official township zoning map and ordinance amendments; updating the
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
Mark and Jacqueline Walls of Lower Oxford pick up a few fireworks at Spartan Fireworks in Nottingham. A bill passed last October allows Pennsylvanians to purchase higher-grade fireworks in state.
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Up and down the aisles of the 4,000-square-foot Spartan Fireworks in Nottingham last Thursday afternoon, the names and packaging of assortments, rockets, parachutes, mortars, shells and repeaters were a colorful reminder that our nation’s 234th birthday is just around the corner. On one aisle, there was a stack of Chicken on a Chain, and on another, Vengeance competed with One Bad Mother-in-Law for prestige, but whatever the name or the product, the passage of a new bill that allows Pennsylvanians to purchase higher-grade fireworks in Continued on Page 6A their state is expected to
quickly clear the shelves at Chester County’s leading fireworks supplier. “Our numbers for Memorial Day were three times what they were last year,” said Scott Moran, who has co-owned Spartan Fireworks for the past 12 years with his sister, Diane Robertson. “Beginning two weeks before the Fourth of July, it started getting busy. This weekend will be a busy weekend, and what we do then will probably double next week, and what we do next week, we will double it in the days leading to the Fourth of July.” House Bill 542, signed into law on Oct. 30, 2017, now gives Pennsylvanians the freedom to purchase and use Continued on Page 2A
Vandalism at UHS Bond refinancing could save the Oxford Area School belongs to Sanville By Irvin “Uncle Irvin” Lieberman and Judy Lieberman
even though the contract was not up for negotiation. The fact that teachers and the public had to confront the School Board with the facts about abhorrent student behavior has everything to do with Sanville protecting the high ratings at the high school and the district at the expense of the district’s taxpayers -- particularly the 85 percent of older residents who do not have children in the schools, including Uncle Irvin and his wife. Residents need to rise up and force the School Board and Sanville to realize that enough is enough.
The front-page article in last week’s Chester County Press about the rampant student vandalism at Unionville High School is the result of the Unionville-Chadds Ford administration’s policies, led by superintendent John Sanville, of polishing the image of elitism at Unionville schools over substance. Sanville, sadly, had little to say at the June 18 School Board meeting. Last year, Sanville put his existing contract up for auction after he received an offer from another school district, extracting more money (Uncle Irvin’s column from the Unionville- is his opinion only, and Chadds Ford District, is not a news story.)
District up to $500,000
By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer The Oxford School Board unanimously approved the refinancing of up to $10.5 million in bonds at its meeting on June 19. By refinancing the bonds, the school district could save as much as $500,000 as it repays the debt-service on bonds that were used to fund completed construction and renovation projects. The bonds being refinanced are from 2007, and the district had variable rates on those bonds. The bonds are being refinanced at a fixed rate. Additionally, the district is planning to pay off the principal at a faster rate, which should also result in savings to the district. The goal is to lock in at the fixed rates within
the next ten days. While the limit was set at $10.5 million, the school district anticipates refinancing about $8.5 million in bonds. The school board approved the annual salary for superintendent David Woods for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, in accordance with the superintendent’s contract that was dated July 1, 2016. In her report to the school board, Dr. Margaret Billings-Jones, the district’s assistant superintendent, said that they surveyed the 325 members of the 2018 graduating class of Oxford Area High School. Overall 46 percent of the graduating seniors anticipate attending four-year universities. Another 23 percent of the students are planning to go to two-year programs, while
9 percent of the students said that they were going to attend trade schools. Six percent of the students are joining the military, and 11 percent will be entering the workforce. There are 6 students who graduated from Oxford in 2018 who will continue to receive special education services until the age of 21. The school board recognized the service of a number of professional staff and service and support employees who are leaving the district. The professional staff members who were recognized included Diane Healy (18 years), Donna Kelly (18 years), Karen Rebar (9 years) and Elizabeth Rush (10 years). The service and support employees who were recognized included Continued on Page 6A