Chester County Press 5-13-2015 Edition

Page 1

Chester CountyPRESS

Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas Volume 149, No. 19

INSIDE Spring/Summer 2015

Newark Life

Magazine

www.chestercounty.com

60 Cents

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Neighbors square off against U-CF School mushroom company in Franklin Board approves proposed budget By John Chambless Staff Writer

Inside : • GrassRoots celebrates 40 years • Chapel Chapel Street Junction keeps traditional music alive • A new beginning for the Stone Balloon

A Chester County Press Publication

Newark Life magazine

Emerald Ash Borer is a serious threat to region’s trees.....................1B

About 50 neighbors of a proposed expansion of the Gourmet’s Delight mushroom company on the border of London Grove Township and Franklin Township are fighting a proposed expansion that they say will affect their quality of life. Gourmet’s Delight sits on the township line on Garden Station Road. In 2003, the company asked Franklin Township officials if they could build a mushroom house on the Benmark Farm property, which is in Franklin Township, contiguous with their existing operation in London Grove. The Zoning Officer at the time agreed, saying that mushroom growing was allowed, according to township zoning rules. Then the disagreements began. In March 2005, Gourmet’s Delight asked neighbors if they would agree to overturn the deed restriction on the Benmark Farm property that forbid mushroom houses. No neighbors agreed to eliminate the restriction. At the time, the company said they would use the property as a “buffer,” with public walking trails and no buildings.

By John Chambless Staff Writer

Photo by Paul Overton

This April 2015 photo shows the ‘yucky goo’ found in the Indian Run Stream.

In September of that year, Richard Pia, the owner of Gourmet’s Delight, bought the Benmark Farm. In December of 2008, the company asked the township if they could build a composting-only operation, with no mushroom growing. In February 2009, the township ruled that composting is not allowed in the district. By state law, Gourmet’s Delight had 30 days from the zoning officer’s decision to appeal to the zoning board. The company did not appeal. In May 2014, Gourmet’s Delight appealed the 2009 decision. In July 2014, the township restated their position, saying that composting is not allowed

at the site. In August 2014, Gourmet’s Delight submited a plan for a major composting operation in Franklin Township. Through their attorney, Joe Riper, they also filed an ACRE challenge with the state Attorney General, saying they were seeking a mushroom growing and composting facility on the site. The ACRE law is intended to protect farmers from having municipalities pass restrictive laws against them. Gourmet’s Delight appealed to the Franklin Zoning Hearind Board in October of 2014, outlining their updated plan. In their appeal, they claimed that none of the township Continued on Page 10A

By a vote of five to four, the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board approved a proposed final budget on Monday night. The board considered three scenarios for funding the 201516 budget, and after lengthy debate, arrived at a modified version of one of them. In the end, the choice was a 2.01 weighted average millage increase, or about $126 more per year for an average homeowner in Chester County. The average Chester County taxpayer currently has an average taxable assessed value of about $260,000 and pays about $7,950 in school taxes. In Delaware County, the average taxpayer will pay an additional $163.50 (a 2.8 percent increase). The proposed millage rate will be 26.92 mills in Chester County (a 1.82 percent increase), and 22.83 mills in Delaware County (a 2.84 percent increase). The final adoption of the budget and the levying of real estate taxes will take place at the board’s meeting on June 15. There is still room for the numbers to change in the next month. The spending plan in the district totals $79,294,443.

Robert Cochran, the district’s director of business and operations, presented a list of “what’s new” in the proposed final budget. The board had requested the list at last week’s meeting. The list includes technology upgrades for Unionville High School and Patton Middle School, an expansion of the pilot program that increases student access to Chromebooks ($159,580), earmarked funding for the wellness committee ($70,000), new bus purchases ($300,628), renovations at Hillendale Elementary and Patton Middle School, and a large proposed expenditure for special education ($250,000 to $300,000). The number of entry level students with special needs has more than doubled since 2014-15, and now accounts for about 10 percent of the school budget, Cochran said. At the end of the presentation, board member Robert Sage proposed adding a line item for $50,000 to reward top teachers in the district and help attract the strongest candidates. The board was generally favorable to the idea, but during public comment at the end of the meeting, several teachers told the board that they felt the expenditure Continued on Page 3A

Incumbent judge Seavey challenged by Morley in district judge race By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer

A beautiful day at Willowdale..............1C Pianist joined by friends for evening of music......................5A

INDEX Calendar of Events........3B Opinion..........................7A Obituaries.......................8A Police Blotter.................3C Classified.......................7B

Incumbent District Judge Matthew Seavey and challenger Nicole Morley have both cross-filed and are seeking the nomination from Republicans and Democrats in the Primary Election on Tuesday, May 19. For the last six years, Seavey has been serving as the judge of Magisterial District Court 15-4-04, which includes West Grove and Avondale boroughs, London Grove, Franklin, London Britain, New Garden, and West Marlborough townships. This district court has handled approximately 30,000

cases since Seavey became a district judge in 2009. “We’re now one of the busiest courts in Chester County,” Seavey explained in an interview in late April. “Since I took over, we’re now the fifthbusiest court in the county.” Morley, who earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the University of Pennsylvania, has a distinguished record as a lawyer since she earned a law degree from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. She worked as a prosecutor with the state attorney’s office in Cook County, Chicago for eight years, putting murderers, drug dealers, and

other violent criminals behind bars. When she moved back home to Chester County, Morley served as an Assistant District Attorney in Chester County for two years before going on to manage a small law practice for the past nine years. Her work there included helping seniors and families by appealing their tax assessments that are used to calculate the annual tax burden. Her experiences as a professional attorney helped her earn the endorsement of the Republican Party. “I’ve always liked that district courts are community-based,” said Morley. “The

District Judge Matthew Seavey

Nicole Morley

community means a lot to me. If elected, I will close my private practice and serve as a full-time District Judge.” Until his election as

Magisterial District Judge in 2009, Seavey was a Pennsylvania state constable. He worked closely with the

Chester County Court of Common Pleas Primary election on May 19 Four legal professionals -- three attorneys and one district magisterial judge -- have declared their candidacies to fill an open seat on the Chester County Court of Common Pleas for a ten-year term, beginning in 2016. A primary election will be held on May 19, with a general election to follow on Nov. 3. In its pre-primary election coverage, the Chester County Press is including profiles of Parkesburg attorney John S. Carnes, Jr., who is filing as a Democrat; Chester County Magisterial Judge Daniel J. Maisano, who is cross-filing; as well as brief profiles of candidates Julia Malloy-Good and Allison Bell Royer, who are also cross-filing.

‘I treat people the way I want to be treated’

© 2007 The Chester County Press

Candidate wants to create a courtroom of mutual respect

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

A 17-year-old man -- let’s call him David -- sat before Magisterial District Judge Daniel Maisano several years ago. He was a familiar face to Maisano, and his appearances in the courtroom were beginning to rack up a list of offenses: disorderly conduct, truancy and underage drinking. “I looked at this young man and said to him, ‘You can either be on your way to a good life by the time you’re 18, or you can be in handcuffs on your way to Chester County

John Carnes, Jr. grew up in the City of Philadelphia. When he was 12 years old, he found himself as one of five siblings moving from the city streets with his parents to a 180-acre farm in West Fallowfield Township. Such a drastic change in scenery can have a stifling effect on a young person, but for the young Carnes, it was baptism by fire. He lived in a farmhouse that had very little heat, and in order to keep warm during winter nights, he slept beneath

Magisterial District Judge Daniel J. Maisano

Prison,’” Maisano said. Five years later, Maisano was at his law offices, when he was Continued on Page 6B

Continued on Page 7B

Choices for May 19 judicial election By Uncle Irvin

four inches of blankets. He performed manual labor on the farm; milking cows, bailing

Rarely, if ever, in my 40 years of observing Chester County politics has a municipal primary had so many judicial contests in Chester County. Common Pleas contests One open seat. The Chester County Democratic Committee has endorsed Julia Malloy-Good, a practicing attorney who has been rated as “qualified” by the Chester County Bar Association. She has cross-filed. The Chester County Republican Committee has endorsed Allison Bell Royer, a practicing attorney who did not submit credentials to the Chester County Bar Association this year. Royer, however, submitted credentials for a recent Common

Continued on Page 6B

Continued on Page 2A

John Carnes


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.