Rt. 52 Bikeway construction phase complete; landscaping to wrap up in the spring
By Rick Marts, Correspondent, The Times
Kennett Township supervisors (from left to right) Robert Hammaker, Dr. Richard Leff, and Scudder Stevens and Township Manager Lisa Moore listen to a presentation on the status of the Rt. 52 Bikeway
KENNETT — Wednesday evening was a busy one for enacting new ordinances in the township. The three new pieces of legislation involved the fire code, swimming pool standards, and parking restrictions for Penns Manor residential housing. All new laws go into effect in five days.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Scudder Stevens told those in attendance at the monthly public meeting that the township’s fire Marshall and building inspector had requested the BOS to replace the existing fire code with the International Fire Code. Rich Hicks, the township’s building inspector, said the new code “will help us enforce standards.”
For the most part, the former fire code is simply being replaced by the International Fire Code.
An exception, however, relates to enforcement. The International code is being revised to include, “Any person who violates or permits a violation of this Code shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before a Magisterial District Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution.”
The second new law enacted was Ordinance 220, which applies to new, privately-owned, non-commercial swimming pools in the township. Key provisions in the new law relate to a required set-back distance from the property line for locating a new pool, a requirement that fencing around the pool be located a specified distance inside the property line, and specifications for fencing and gate height to prevent small children from gaining access to the pool.
The purpose of requiring the fence to be inside the property line is to prevent items in an adjacent property from being piled against the fence, thus enabling children to climb over the fence and gain access to the pool.
The BOS also enacted Ordinance 222 that governs parking on the township-owned streets in the Penns Manor residential housing development. On the basis of a traffic study done by the township and the narrow width of the development’s streets, the new law forbids parking on those streets. Stevens said that adequate parking exists in designated areas in front of the homes and in other areas.
During the meeting’s public comment period, John Haedrich of the township’s planning commission, and Tom Nale, a former township supervisor, updated the BOS on the status of the Rt. 52 Bikeway. Haedrich said, “This decade-long project is aimed at connecting Wilmington and Longwood Gardens with a continuous bikeway running adjacent to Rt. 52, Kennett Pike.”
Haedrich said he was pleased to report that the construction phase of the project is within days of being completed and that a short and doable “punch list” of final to-dos has been prepared after an on-foot inspection of the entire route of the bikeway.
However, Haedrich also informed the BOS that the final phase of the project—landscaping the route—is to be funded by a separate grant and will not be completed until spring 2015. He also said that traffic disruption will not be as significant as it was during the construction phase.
Tom Nale noted that Township Manager Lisa Moore has been a key figure during this project as she patiently and efficiently dealt with the voluminous paperwork required by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and other jurisdictions.
During her Manager’s Report, Moore noted that the township had received the $850,000 grant needed to construct a sidewalk along Cypress and State Streets connecting Kennett Borough and the New Garden shopping center. The total cost of the project is more than $1,000,000, with the 20% difference between the total and the state grant being paid by Kennett (two-thirds) and New Garden (one-third) townships.
Moore’s diligent work on coordinating the various pieces of this project was lauded by Stevens.
Moore’s report also noted that on August 8 a new gate will be installed at the township’s maintenance building and garage. She said the gate will be open from dawn until dusk to allow residents access to the maintenance facility’s areas for dumping recyclable yard waste.
