Home Builders Association of Chester and Delaware Counties

HBA Newswatch

May 9, 2008

UPPER CHI TABLES HARVIN PROPOSAL
By Paul Nasella, Times Correspondent
UPPER CHICHESTER — Upper Chichester Planning Commission tabled a proposal from Harvin Properties LLC to build a 32-townhome development at Bethel Avenue and Fisher Drive because of zoning concerns.
The delay is to give the planning commission and Harvin Properties adequate time to address a letter from Charles Remaley, township housing inspector and zoning enforcement officer, to township Manager Judy Lizza, as well as engineering concerns.
Harvin Properties of Glen Mills, proposed the development of a 33-lot subdivision consisting of 32 townhomes and one single-family home.
Known as Harvin Estates, each townhome is projected to be 1,600-1,800 square feet and will be listed between $225,000 and $265,000.
More...

JILL PORTER: TOLL ON REAL ESTATE: TOWNHOUSES GOING ON THE AUCTION BLOCK
By Jill Porter
Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Columnist
The troubled real-estate market has taken its toll on the city's noble experiment in public-private housing that made neighbors of rich and poor in East Falls.
Eleven townhouses at Hilltop at Falls Ridge, privately built luxury units adjacent to a subsidized development built by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, are being auctioned next month.
Units that ranged in price from the mid $300,000s to the low $700,000s will be auctioned for minimum bids of $125,000 to $250,000, respectively.
I was saddened when I saw it.
But developer John Westrum and PHA head Carl Greene spoke optimistically about the auction, citing it as an "innovative marketing technique," rather than evidence of failure.
More...

PBA DISCUSSES CHESAPEAKE BAY CLEANUP EFFORTS WITH LEGISLATORS
PBA, along with the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, and the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, continues to promote the "Pennsylvania Fair Share for Clean Water Plan" in meetings with state legislators. The plan is an initiative designed to assist the state’s Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts by providing funding for sewage treatment plant upgrades, increasing support for agricultural conservation practices and county conservation district programs and making necessary changes to the state’s nutrient credit trading program. PBA has consistently argued that reform of the trading program is critical not only for Pennsylvania to meet its bay cleanup obligations, but also to make certain that sufficient future sewage capacity is available for new growth and development. PBA and its coalition partners have been providing input to Rep. Scott Perry, R-Cumberland, on House Bill 2441, expected to be introduced within the next several weeks, that is expected to include most of the components of the plan. For more information on the components of the plan and the status of Perry’s proposed legislation, please contact Grant Gulibon at (800) 692-7339, ext. 3013.

PBA TO PROVIDE INPUT ABOUT PENNSYLVANIA'S NEEDS FOR SUSTAINABLE WATER
Gov. Ed Rendell’s Sustainable Water Infrastructure Task Force held its first meeting on April 14. The task force, created under a February 2008 executive order, is to provide a report by Oct. 1 that analyzes statewide issues related to long-term infrastructure financing and offers recommendations for the resolution of these issues. While it was hoped that the task force would specifically address funding issues related to the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy, it is expected to do so only within a statewide context, and the task force’s recommendations will not be considered until the 2009-10 budget year. PBA members and staff will provide input to the task force through membership in work groups created to gather data for its use. The task force held its most recent meeting in Harrisburg on May 9, at which time it received testimony on the topics of financial resources, funding needs, and “innovative” (non-structural) infrastructure improvement measures. In addition, the task force will be holding a series of regional meetings across the state to gather public input. Three meetings are scheduled to be held in the Chesapeake Bay watershed: Dubois (May 22), Wilkes-Barre (May 27) and York (May 29). The others will be held in Pottstown (May 15), Pittsburgh (May 19), Oil City (May 21), and Bethlehem (May 28).

STATE SUPREME COURT AGREES TO HEAR APPEAL OF RESIDENTIAL FIRE-SPRINKLER ORDINANCE
The State Supreme Court announced this week that it will hear arguments in the appeal of a decision regarding a municipal ordinance to require fire-sprinklers in all homes built in Schuylkill Township, Chester County. PBA has supported consumers' right to have fire sprinklers installed in new homes if desired, but not under a mandate that exceeds the state's Uniform Construction Code.

 

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