By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

More than 100 New Garden Township residents crammed into the township’s meeting hall on Feb. 26 to voice their opinions – and for some, their displeasure – at the third public engagement meeting that elicited input about the municipality’s long-term zoning and planning concepts.

The Draft Zoning Map & Districts Open House, moderated by township Manager Christopher Himes, invited staff from Michael Baker International – a leader in engineering, planning and consulting services -- to provide an update on the work the company is doing to clearly define the concepts and proposed changes to the township’s ten zoning districts: innovation; mixed use corridor; village gateway; village center; residential flex, medium density and low density; airport; enterprise; and parks and open space. 

“The reason for these public hearings is to get feedback and hopefully educate the public as to why we’re [exploring our zoning districts] and get them to understand what zoning means,” said supervisor Steve Allaband. “The reality is that New Garden was very late in adopting a zoning ordinance, so there were already multiple uses scattered around the township. We’re trying to look at compatible uses and grow economic development to level the tax base.”

Samantha McLean, a senior community planner with Michael Baker International who is serving as the project manager on the New Garden zoning project, told the audience that the key goals in the coming months of the zoning map project will be to set rules and regulations that allow the township to develop in a way that meets the objectives of the township’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan; that incorporate best practices to address issues in the township’s existing zoning ordinance; and keep in compliance with the Pennsylvania Municipalities Management Code. 

Getting there, she said, will necessitate the restructuring of a vastly outdated current zoning ordinance, which was developed in 1997. Because of the township’s tardiness in updating it zoning laws, it has had to place reliance on conditional use and variance hearings to get approval for certain projects, as well as lean on its Zoning Hearing Board to approve exceptions to variances. In addition, McLean said that the township lacks zoning regulations for “middle housing” units, such as a townhouse or a duplex. 

“Right now, your zoning districts don’t permit that, and the township wants to see a variety of housing types to meet the housing crisis, not only in the township but in the region,” McLean said. “We really want to make sure that the uses and the character that you want to see is permitted and regulated in the zoning process and does not require extra processes.” 

Of the ten distinctive zoning districts in New Garden Township, the one that has received increased attention by township stakeholders is the mixed-use corridors of Route 41 that stretches from Newark Road to the Delaware border, Old Baltimore Pike and Newark Road, north of the Route 41 intersection. McLean said these key tributaries have a great opportunity to create commercial, retail, residential and office development. 

Public input

A survey of some of those in attendance revealed a variety of concerns related to the township’s progress on mapping out its zoning districts. Michael Pia, whose family owns South Mill Champs - one of the largest mushroom producers in North America - said he attended the meeting to see how possible changes in the placement of residential districts would potentially impact the mushroom industry in the township. 

“We as an industry have been dealing with that for many years, not just in New Garden Township but throughout Chester County, as residential growth has increased and has been making it challenging for farms that have been here for a long time,” Pia said. “From my understanding, the township has a pretty keen sense of that, and they want to be able to protect agriculture because they recognize the importance of it, and I think the county recognizes it, as well.” 

In a related topic, Allaband discussed what is perhaps the most challenging hurdle facing the township as it reconfigures its land use: how to balance the long-term presence of the mushroom industry with the need to plan for residential growth, an offshoot of which has over the last year led to studies, discussions and arguments between both factions about the persistent odors that emanate from nearby mushroom composting facilities and their effect on the air quality at nearby developments.  

“There is conflict when you have intensive agriculture near residential housing,” he said. “With the intensity that we have here in the township, there should be a buffer. We’re hopeful that through some of the air quality studies – through the American Mushroom Institute – that they will identify something to remediate and make things better.” 

While some of those in attendance were there to see how the proposed zoning map would impact where they live and how the township may be reconfigured, others levied criticism over what they believed are the township’s true intentions – to determine the final zoning map without the assistance of the residents.

“This is a major change in our environment and community. Shouldn’t this be put to a vote by the residents of the community?” one resident asked Himes. “Why would five, six, seven people make a decision that should [be decided by] all of the community?”

One husband-and-wife couple said they moved to Landenberg a year and a half ago, after admiring its rural landscape on visits they made to see family in the area.

“This is a place that we would like to be in a forever home,” he said. “Preserving the characteristics that we moved out here for - and spent a lot of money to acquire - is important. This feels like a done deal, and I think what we’re seeing the public react to is not having the transparency of being told, ‘Here is what you had and here is the way your feedback was incorporated to where we take the census of where the community wants to be.’

“If the community want to go toward high density, I am willing to accept that as an outcome as long as it transparent and clear that this is the vote and the voice of the community.”

“I think that what they’re showing is vague,” she said, referring to the proposed district map. “I don’t like that they’re not showing what is changing between current zones and proposed future zones. It looks like a lot of green space, the rural area and the farmland have been cut down significantly, to be replaced with housing they are planning in order to help the housing crisis.

“Everyone knows that this is not the case, because this is to get more people in the township and receive more taxes and lead to more traffic and more crime”

Allaband said that the township’s development of creating a final zoning district map is not only a delicate process but a changeable one.

 “You create [effective zoning districts] through proper density, proper design standards and proper setbacks – all of the things that I think are built into a lot of this,” he said. “What I’ve learned through the years is that when you change the zoning ordinance, you’re going to end up making other tweaks to it later. They are living, breathing documents.”

The updated zoning map is the result of a year’s collaboration between Michael Baker International with the township’s task force, as well as from community input. Himes said that the process to determine the final zoning map is about 50 percent complete, and the next public outreach meeting – the fourth in a series -- is scheduled to take place in May.

The updated zoning ordinance and map is expected to be adopted by the Board of Supervisors this summer, in accordance with the requirements of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code. 

To learn more about the New Garden Township Zoning update project, including zoning maps, videos of prior meetings and public responses to the first two public input meetings, visit https://new-garden-township-zoning-update-baker.hub.arcgis.com. For questions or comments, email [email protected]. 

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].