Sometimes one must wonder about a government's priorities. It doesn't matter whose government or what level of government. Sometimes those priorities simply don't make sense. Consider three topics of conversation during last week's Board of Supervisors' meeting in Chadds Ford Township: Atwater Road, Beaver Dam Road and the gas pumps at Leader's Sunoco Station at Route 1 and Creek Road.

It began simply enough with township resident Ed Wandersee asking whether there were any new developments regarding the possibility of paving and improving the condition of the 1,000 feet of Beaver Dam Road that cuts through the township as it comes in from and then back to Delaware.

Supervisors' Vice Chairman George Thorpe said there has been no change and that that stretch of road remains the biggest safety issue in the township. Mr. Thorpe even referred to a Chadds Ford Post editorial stating the need for the roadway to be improved.

And though the road is in need of major repair for safety's sake, we disagree that it's the biggest safety issue. Rather, we have to agree with another township resident, Lana Sheer when she said that the potential for school children to be hurt while waiting for school buses at the bottom of Atwater Road, where it intersects with Webb Road, is for more serious. As reported several times, much of the traffic congestion on Atwater Road comes from construction vehicles involved in building new homes on the street.

When Ms. Sheer brought up the topic last week, she was met with a property rights response to her concerns. Mr. Thorpe and road master Joe Barakat both said the township could not and should interfere with a homeowner's rights to subdivide his or her property, and that the township government has no interest in getting involved in such matters.

Mr. Thorpe even said that Ms. Sheer would not have been able to build her current home if people didn't have the right to subdivide their property.

The comments were interesting since just a few years ago the same currently sitting supervisors unanimously approved the Baltimore Pike Overlay District that effectively subtracts acreage from a parcel being considered for subdivision if certain sensitive features – such as steep slopes or streams – are on the property. And the amount of land subtracted from the parcel may lead to the property owner being unable to subdivide. All the while the owner still has to pay taxes on all the property.

And while the supervisors seemed immune to considering the potential safety issues associated with Atwater and Webb roads, they cared very much about the colors used for gas pumps at Leader's Sunoco.

The Historical Architecture Review Board gave its recommendation for the colors of the new pumps, but the supervisors rejected the approval.

Let's get this straight. Supervisors believe they are justified in getting involved in a gas station owner's decision on the color scheme of his gas pumps, they can treat 1,000 feet of road with no homes on it as a major safety issue, they can whittle away property rights with one ordinance, but then claim they can't do anything to help improve safety for school children. Is that what's it's come to? It surely seems that way.

It is improper to invoke property rights as an excuse for not doing anything about the safety issue at Atwater and Webb roads when there was little to no concern for those rights before.