Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 158, No. 13
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
$1.50
Local air quality study yields facts, potential solutions and resident ire By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer An overflow audience of area residents, elected officials and state experts in the areas of health, agriculture and the environment gathered at the New Garden Township Building on March 21 for a two-and-ahalf-hour-long forum that combined data and ideas with several years of residents’ frustration, under the large umbrella of an air quality study that evalu-
INSIDE
ated the levels of Hydrogen Sulfide in New Garden and London Grove townships. The study, conducted by the Pa. Department of Health's (PADOH) Division of Environmental Health Epidemiology, evaluated levels of Hydrogen Sulfide in New Garden and London Grove townships from Aug. 2021 to Dec. 2022 that was collected by the Pa. Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Air Quality. The town hall meeting also
invited representatives from the Pa. Department of Agriculture (PADOA) and the Pa. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The study was requested by State Rep. Christina Sappey in response to her receiving complaints from several members in her constituency who have reported a glut of persistent health conditions from the Hydrogen Sulfide odors in Photo by Richard L. Gaw their neighborhoods, as well A capacity audience gathered at the New Garden Township Building on March 21 to Continued on Page 2A
hear the results of an air quality study conducted by State agencies.
Kennett supervisors give ‘OK’ to Parkside preliminary-final land development plan By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
The Kennett Township Board of Supervisors gave approval at their March 20 meeting to the preliminaryfinal land development plan for the Parkside real estate project in the township – Best named to U.S. that includes six conditions. Olympic Rowing Team for The project, which will Paris 2024...5A be developed by the North Walnut Holding Company, L.P., will be 16.15 acres in
size and located on Walnut Road just to the south of U.S. Route 1. The proposed development will include seven single-family dwelling units, 76 multi-family attached dwelling units, 100 apartment units, 11 detached garages and two parcels that will be developed for retail and commercial use. Of those 183 total dwelling units included in the planned development, 58 will be age-restricted. Access to the
site will be provided through two entrances located along North Walnut Road, and the site is also proposed to include a crosswalk from the development to the entrance across the road to Anson B. Nixon Park. The board’s sign-off on the development comes after a public hearing held on Jan. 17, when the supervisors granted conditional use approval to Parkside and to all 7 conditions relat-
Green thumbs, spaces, and food abound at Penn London Elementary School
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By Colleen Cochran Contributing Writer Penn London Elementary first graders are making sure their school is filled with
Courtesy photo
Penn London Elementary students are growing plants via hydroponic tower gardens throughout the school.
fresh air, beautiful scenery, and an abundance of bright, healthy foods. With the help of their teachers, they are growing plants via hydroponic tower gardens placed throughout the school. Hydroponics is a form of horticulture that involves growing plants using only water and water-based nutrient solutions. Because the plants get their nutrients within liquid, soil becomes unnecessary. Plants can thrive on a tower garden’s vertical column since the nutrient fluid circulates throughout the structure. Penn London first graders use the word “hydroponics” with ease, and they sound like seasoned scientists when they explain how their growing systems operate. In fact, on
March 21, the young students were called upon to give a presentation about their hydroponic growing systems at the Avon Grove School Board meeting. Superintendent of Schools M. Christopher Marchese, Ed.D., introduced the guests. Penn London Principal Kelly Harrison then gave an overview of how the hydroponics project came into being. She said the school had a goal to bring more nature indoors, and she first learned about the possibility of using hydroponic tower gardens to achieve that goal when she attended an administrative retreat in 2022 at Fluxspace, an educational consultant in Norristown, Pa. Funding for the project
ed to the approval of the development’s conditional use plan. Summarizing the details of the agreement, Diane Hicks, the township’s director of planning and zoning,
told the board that the plan has been thoroughly vetted by township staff, the township’s planning commission and township consultants. She added that Continued on Page 2A
FROM OUR LENS
Country pastoral
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
Moe, a miniature donkey at the Hope So Farm on Upland Road in Unionville, enjoyed a vegan lunch along with his companion, Milo, last week, on a day that gave a hint that warmer spring days are just ahead.
Continued on Page 3A
Red Clay Valley Cleanup carries on annual spring tradition despite rainstorm By Chris Barber Contributing Writer The annual Red Clay Valley Cleanup was a day late and a few volunteers short due to a postponement caused by a drenching rainstorm that was predicted for last Saturday. Nonetheless, plenty of people showed up on Sunday to scour the route of Kennett Square’s own creek – the Red Clay. Brandywine Red Clay Alliance executive director Jim Jordan said on Friday he was wavering on a post-
ponement, but in view of the prediction of the severity of the coming storm, he decided to move the cleanup to Sunday. “This was one of the most challenging cleanups we’ve ever had. Postponing it was a logistical nightmare, but safety is our main concern,” he said. When the count was all over on Monday, it yielded about 30 cubic yards of trash. While the cleanup ordinarily attracts about 800 volunteers, this year there were 350, with a number of
people trickling in to help over time. Brandywine Red Clay administrative assistant Betsy Stefferud, who was checking in volunteers, speculated that in addition to the postponement, the numbers could have been down because people were marking Palm Sunday at church. Reviewing the pickup, Jordan said he was surprised that there were so many tires retrieved – 118 of them. He also noticed that the number of small
whiskey bottles joined numerous beer cans and had more than doubled since last year. “People want their coffee in the morning and their drinks at night, but they don’t have to throw the containers on the road,” he said. Jordan added that the most unusual find was a group of four women’s purses dropped together. They were filled with credit cards and identification, and one had a passport in it. They were turned over to
the local police, he said. Intrepid members of one troop of Cub Scouts – Pack 136 – made their way into dense, wet, muddy brush and came out with what looked like blue car parts. Another pack found baseballs from the adjacent Little League field that had apparently not been retrieved after fouls and home runs. The volunteers came from all demographics: young and old, retired, men and women, organized groups Continued on Page 3A