CONCORD - More than a year after the first hearing, supervisors are slated to vote next month on zoning ordinances regarding the Concord Village Overlay District and Transfer of Development Rights. The proposals were reviewed recently during a meeting at Garnet Valley High School conducted by township consultant Tom Comitta.
The overlay district ordinance would define the boundaries and create a zoning overlay district for the portion of "historic Concord," fronting Baltimore Pike between Route 322 and Thornton Road, and along Concord Road.
The parcel includes buildings such as Concordville Fire Co., Concordville Inn, John's Produce Hut and Concord Friends Meeting. The amendment would permit development while preserving historic structures.
The tract, zoned commercial and residential, would allow new construction or reuse of existing structures in a variety of ways, including retail shops, offices, banks, restaurants or convenience stores, with associated parking, storage and signage.
Conditional-use approval would also allow stores to a maximum of 30,000 square feet and live-work units, defined as buildings with businesses on the ground floor and apartments on subsequent stories. The ordinance also outlines design guidelines, such as streetscapes, street lights, sidewalks and traffic calming.
"We applied similar strategies to the Concordville Town Center by asking them to raise the bar architecturally," said Comitta. "We should be able to apply the principles to other areas by making sure the scale and proportion are more like a town village."
The Transfer of Development Rights, originally written as part of the overlay district ordinance, would permanently preserve features such as prime farmland, critical environmental areas, historic resources and open space from development.
Similar provisions have been enacted in Manheim Township, Lancaster County, in an effort to preserve Amish farmland, and townships in Chester County.
Landowners whose property is slated for preservation, designated as "sending areas," would be permitted to sell the right to develop a minimum of 10 acres of their parcel to landowners in areas proposed for development, called "receiving areas."
Tracts in a sending area would be governed by a restrictive covenant or conservation easement permanently preventing any future development, although the parcels could be used for agriculture or forestry.
"There may not be one transfer in our lifetime or there may be 25," said Comitta. "It is completely voluntary."
The decision will be made at the board's May 1 meeting.
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