Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 157, No. 32
Wednesday, August 9, 2023
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Chester County preparing to replace highway signage By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer Chester County forms a generous chunk of southeastern Pennsylvania, whose infrastructure – extending from its grandest tourist attractions to its historic towns and districts – is a blueprint both of acknowledgement, achievement, preservation, adaptability and constant change. Now, for the first time in decades, the well-placed signage that helps people get to these places is about to get in step with the places
INSIDE
they promote. In a presentation to the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors on Aug. 2, Chester County Tourism Executive Director Susan Hamley provided an overview of the county’s plans to begin a wayfinding signage initiative that will introduce newly-designed signage throughout major corridors and transportation corridors. The impetus to develop new signage, Hamley said, stems from the fact that all current signage is out of compliance with PennDOT
regulations. “They were first created in the 1980s, and there is nothing about them that works anymore,” she said. “They are fading, they are falling down and there is no reflective lettering. They have too many characters. They are on the wrong side of the road, and too many are covered by bushes and trees and too close to the ground.” Hamley said that there are also many intersections in the county where several Image courtesy of Chester County Tourism of the signs appear, which A design concept for upgrading wayfinding signage throughout the county is curContinued on Page 2A
rently being developed by Chester County Tourism.
Penn Township supervisors discuss Roseview subdivision escrow release Board also addresses proposed new design for McDonald’s drive-thru By Marcella Peyre-Ferry Contributing Writer
The Penn Township Board of Supervisors rejected a request for an escrow release on the Roseview subdivision at the township meeting on Kennett Symphony Aug. 1. unveils new season...1B Multiple Roseview residents and representatives of the Homeowners Association were present at the meeting to oppose the request to release $64,000 of the $121,000 total escrow, leaving about $57,000 remaining in the account. Typically, money is peri-
94th annual Old Fiddler’s Picnic...3B
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plans, and it is not clear that the fencing and monuments have been installed or not. There have been curbing repairs done many months ago, and lighting was installed recently. The residents told the board that they believe the total remaining in escrow at this time is close to the cost to address longtime storm water management issues and other problems. They fear that if the $64,000 was released, there would not be enough to money left to complete the project. The board indicated they
would like to see a list of items remaining to be done at Roseview and physically check to see that they have been completed before any other escrow monies are released. The board gave conditional preliminary plan approval for modifications to the drive-in design at the McDonald’s restaurant in the Jenners Commons Shopping Center. The new plan creates two side by side drive-thru lanes, each with its own ordering station. The new lane placement will eliminate five
parking spaces and relocate the handicapped parking spaces. This is part of a nationwide improvement plan for McDonald’s and is expected to reduce backups and waiting times. The board had questions about deliveries, and pedestrian traffic through the drive-thru lanes. Board member Laura Sperratore asked that markings be included to create a pedestrian crossing point. The board gave conditional preliminary plan approval. Final plan approval is still required.
Kennett Square Borough, township police share National Night Out event By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer On a crisp Aug. 1 evening in the Kennett Square Borough parking lot on South Broad Street in Kennett Square, the uniformed men and women of local police and fire departments stood side by side with hundreds of area residents in celebration of an annual event that has become permanently etched on our nation’s calendar. National Night Out, sponsored by Belfor Property Restoration and Wawa, served not only as an annual connector between protectors and their public, but as a collaboration between the Kennett Square Borough and Kennett Township
police departments, the first since they last partnered on National Night Out before the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020. The two departments and their officers were joined by the
Longwood and Kennett fire companies and representatives from the Po-Mar-Lin Fire Company, State Police Avondale, Bittersdorf’s, Inc. Towing and Recovery, the Continued on Page 3A
Photos by Richard L. Gaw
Goodie packages provided by the Kennett Township Police Department was just one of many highlights at the National Night Out event held on Aug. 1 in Kennett Square.
This youngster enjoyed a new gift of headwear, courtesy of the Longwood Fire Company.
An editorial from the Chester County Press
‘The banning of books is an issue that can fundamentally change a school district’ By Gabbie Burton Contributing Writer
© 2007 The Chester County Press
odically released to a developer from an escrow account as completion of infrastructure in the development is documented. The amount remaining in the escrow account should be enough to cover the cost of any remaining construction in case developer should fail to complete the project. This release of escrow request for Roseview included completion of curbing, split rail fence with wire, lighting, lot pins and monuments and as-built plans. At this point, the township has not received the as-built
During my senior year at Oxford Area High School, I took photographs of school staff holding copies of their favorite books that have historically faced bans. Those photographs were later turned into westernstyle “Wanted” posters that the teachers hung in their classrooms to cele-
brate Banned Books Week. Nearly four years later, while researching this story as a contributing writer for the Chester County Press, I heard a current Oxford student reference those same posters while speaking against proposed book banning measures in the district at the April 25 school board meeting. At the time, I never thought those posters would hold
any greater significance beyond a celebration of great literature, and I certainly never thought I’d be working to find out why. First, it should be noted that the school board does not agree with the sentiment that they are “banning books.” The board is reviewing Policy 6300, which is the material selections policy for the district’s libraries. Policy 6300 was
readopted at the Feb. 21, 2023 school board meeting in a unanimous vote before being listed as under review for policy revisions at the March 21 meeting. While revisions are normal and part of routine, it is what has occurred since that has community members, students and staff concerned. At the board’s work session meeting on April 11,
a member of the public brought a list of books that they deemed inappropriate. Some of the titles on that list were available at the district’s libraries but others were not. The titles on that list will not be shared here in an effort to deter any further actions against them, but content of the books included LGBTQ+ and gender issues, trauma, Continued on Page 2A