By Karen Cresta, Staff Writer, The Times
East Marlborough supervisors chair Richard Hannum recognizes Eagle Scout Zach Powell during the May 7 meeting.
EAST MARLBOROUGH – The township meeting was held on Monday, May 7, and the agenda items took over three hours to discuss – as the supervisors spent time mulling over preliminary plans – for a Quick Lane auto center with a retail space and a Citadel Federal Credit Unit branch sited along the US-1 corridor in the Longwood area of the township.
Currently a few abandoned and boarded up homes sit on the future site of the Quick Lane auto service center that would be owned and operated by Garnet Ford. The auto center will be for light car maintenance and oil changes for its patrons and will include a car wash. The attached retail space is being proposed as a Mattress Warehouse. The future site is located on the north side of Route 1, adjacent to Wawa, between Pennock Avenue and Orchard Avenue.
The Quick Lane’s branded orange striping was a topic of debate and the supervisors asked that it be removed from the back of the building so the neighbors behind it would not see the bright color. A fence will also be installed in the back. The supervisors also requested more brick and less windows where the building faces US-1.
The project still needs PennDOT’s final approval based on the proposed widening plans for US-1 and permits need to be granted but the supervisors approved the preliminary plan with these and other conditions. The applicants hope to be back next month to satisfy the conditions.
Across US-1, in a vacant lot next to Walgreens, and where a Burger King/convenience store once stood, is the proposed Citadel Federal Credit Unit branch site. A TD Bank branch was approved four years ago and will be modeled after it. Discussions with the board and developer included sidewalk placement and escrow monies for a possible bridge structure over a nearby creek. The supervisors agreed to grant the final plan approval, conditional on the amount of escrow that still needs to be calculated – taking into consideration the change from four years ago.
During public comment, Unionville resident John Greenwood addressed the board about being “verbally assaulted” by an unnamed supervisor at a Safety Committee meeting a few weeks prior.
Greenwood began by saying, “I was verbally assaulted by a supervisor last month when he jumped up out of his chair and started screaming at me and pointing his finger…Is this acceptable behavior from our elected official?”
Supervisor John Sarro responded to Greenwood, “That supervisor was me. You have been verbally abusing me for four years. Every Safety Committee meeting, it’s the same thing, you yelling at me.”
Sarro stated that Greenwood is never happy with the answers regarding traffic and speeding in the village of Unionville, even after the Safety Committee took measures to reduce speeding from 28 to 8 percent. He said there were other township projects and issues elsewhere that needed to be addressed as well. He also stated that a lot has been done in the last three years and he spent a tremendous amount of time and his own money on this issue.
Greenwood said he disagreed and only voiced his opinion without ever raising his voice. He also added that the committee never moves forward and regresses and it needed to be restructured.
Chairman Richard Hannum said he would look at the structure of the committee and defended Sarro by stating, “I believe in Mr. Sarro’s leadership of that committee. He has done a lot and his time is valuable.”
The supervisors recognized Eagle Scout Zach Powell as Hannum read a letter congratulating him for his work on collecting 1,015 pounds of food for the Kennett Food Cupboard. Powell solicited for donations during an event at the VFW hall in Kennett Square. As a result of his efforts and success, Powell earned his Eagle Scout. Hannum stated that he was a “credit to the community” and “improved the lives of the less fortunate.”
For more information, please visit the township website at www.eastmarlborough.org.
