The zoning board granted Merrick's plea and continued the case until 7:30 p.m. May 24.
NVF company, based in Yorklyn, Del., manufactures copper-clad circuit boards and plastic materials. It has asked for a special exception to borough zoning to combine all the chemical waste at its plant at Mulberry and Lafayette Streets in one building. Company officials have said they need to consolidate the waste to comply with new, stricter state Department of Environmental Resources codes.
Neighborhood residents who came to the meeting were vocal and sounded unhappy, especially when one, John McCarthy, of Meredith Street, asked for a list of the hazardous and flammable chemicals to be stored in the new enclosed area.
The company is required by DER to keep a list of hazardous chemicals at the site.
Anthony D'Onofrio, zoning board attorney, said the board did not have the power to release the list because it had not been given as evidence in a case yet. He said the residents could ask Merrick for the list, but Merrick said he would have to consult with NVF officials.
In other business, the Zoning Hearing Board granted, 2-0, a proposal by St. Patrick's Church to use a trailer for remedial education, provided the trailer is moved slightly from its current placement on a playground across Mulberry
Alley from the church.
The church and school, at 218 Meredith St., asked for a variance from zoning codes to permit the trailer's use for remedial education and its placement within yards required between the playground and adjoining lots. Educational uses are not allowed on the tract, which is zoned for commercial use, but the school was constructed long before zoning rules were enacted.
The two-room trailer will be used by the Chester County Intermediate Unit for math, language and speech tutoring. Currently, language and speech instruction is given in a school hallway, and math is taught three times a week in a mobile van.
John Bakken, director of non-public school services at the Intermediate Unit, said the trailer would provide more room and better service at a low cost.
Walter Paynter, of the 200 block of Lafayette Street, said the trailer was too close to his property and too tall. He asked if it could be lowered.
"I feel like a frog in a well in my back yard now, looking 15 feet up to the top of the trailer," he said.
Joanne Spencer, a Borough Council member who lives on the same block, said she agreed with Paynter.
The zoning board ruled that the 10-foot by 24-foot trailer must be rotated 90 degrees, so neighbors will view the back of it, not the side where students would enter. Also, the board said, the wheels must be removed, allowing the trailer to be mounted on a lower foundation.
In addition, the trailer must be placed 5 feet from any property lines. Chairman Pete Lee did not vote because he was absent from the meeting.
The trailer's appearance was already discussed at a meeting of the borough's Architectural Review Board, which governs buildings in the downtown Main Street area.
Francis "Gus" Barber, borough zoning officer, said the review board had decided the trailer should be painted beige with dark red trim, and that lattice-work with flowering vines should be erected between the trailer and the neighbors' property.
The trailer was also the subject of a debate March 17 by members of the borough's Planning Commission, which voted 5-0 to approve the educational use but then voted 2-3 against the actual trailer. Several members objected to its physical appearance.
Bakken said Tuesday night that skirting, permanent steps and electricity would be installed.
