Home Builders Association of Chester and Delaware Counties

HBA Newswatch

May 29, 2008

NEW HOMES IN THE SHURFINE PARKING LOT
Borough Council will consider an ordinance on Monday to provide residential zoning in the abandoned tract.
By Chris Barber
The land that has sat vacant for years at Mill Road and Cypress Street on the west end of town could, in a matter of months, become a large housing development. Kaolin Mushroom Co. President Mike Pia owns the eight-acre tract that used to house the ShurFine food store, its parking lot and some surrounding land. Recently he has been working with the Kennett Square Planning Commission to turn this abandoned tract into a site for two-family detached and single-family attached dwellings called Magnolia Place. Currently that land is zoned C-2, or secondary commercial.Out of these talks has emerged the proposed ordinance that would place a residential overlay on the land-in very simplified terms, an expansion of the land use that can occur there. On Monday night, June 2, the council will hold a public hearing to find out what the public thinks of the idea. Hearing minimal objections, it is likely that idea. Hearing minimal objections, it is likely that the members will advertise the ordinance and pass it shortly after that.
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BE WARY OF UNPERMITTED ADDITIONS
On Real Estate David Myers
Many homeowners make additions or other home improvements without getting permits from local authorities. Buyers can be held liable for the tab.
Dear MR. MYERS: We have made an offer to buy a home. The sellers' disclosure statement notes that the bedroom that they added last year was built without a permit from the city's building department. If we proceed with the purchase and the city later finds out about the unpermitted remodel, would we have to pay for any needed work to bring the addition up to code, or would the sellers have to pay, because they added the bedroom without getting the necessary permits?
ANSWER: You will have to pay. The sellers screwed up by failing to get a permit for the new bedroom, but their disclosure essentially transfers the burden for any future work to you.
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RUBY'S LOT REZONING SOUGHT
By Cheryl Allison
While negotiations continue and plans evolve for Lower Merion's Ardmore redevelopment project, another major player in the downtown is ready to make a move.Kimco Realty Corp., owner of the Suburban Square shopping center, has submitted a petition to the township to rezone a portion of its western parking lot, known as the Ruby's lot.
The lot is currently split-zoned, with about one-third of the parcel zoned commercial and the larger portion zoned R7, which permits multi-family residential development similar to nearby apartment buildings on Montgomery Avenue.
Kimco has asked to chance zoning to classify the entire parcel commercial, so that it can be developed under Ardmore's MUST (Mixed-Use Special Transit) district zoning.
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