Subdivision

Final approval for a subdivision of two acres known as the Collins property in the North Hills section of West Goshen was recommended by the township Planning Commission on Wednesday night. The plans as presented by engineer Robert Harsch call for two lots on the site near Owens and Collins Roads. Preliminary plans submitted by Ed Culbertson for an office building on a two-acre industrial lot at South Bolmar and Snyder Streets were also recommended for approval by the commission.

The Pennsbury Township supervisors reviewed plans for a 2-lot, 3-acre subdivision on the east side of Route 52 west of Hickory Hill Road and east of Burrows Run Road on the Kennett Township border. F. Key Murray of Mendenhall presented the plan and owns a separate parcel in Kennett Township, which is adjacent to the property being subdivided. The supervisors suggested that Murray and the other property owners agree to pay maintenance costs for a driveway shared by the three properties.

The Kennett Township Board of Supervisors has delayed action on the proposed Meadow View subdivision west of Kaolin Road until seven conditions set by the township planning commission have been met. The plan calls for the construction of 14 houses on 8.4 acres owned by Harry J. Plankinton Jr. of Kennett. The planning commission approved the proposed subdivision last week even though it said four of the lots were unsuitable for construction because of the amount of water retained in the soil.

The Upper Dublin planning committee has recommended that the Board of Commissioners approve an 84-lot subdivision on Dreshertown Road in Dresher. Called Dublin Hunt II, the 60.3-acre subdivision is part of Dublin Hunt, a 162-unit subdivision under construction. Toll Brothers Inc. is developing the project. Instead of contributing toward a project - recently nixed by the township - that would have widened Dresheretown Road, the commission recommended that the developers widen the portion of the road abutting the development.

The Coatesville Planning Commission has voted to recommend approval of a subdivision so that Farmland Industries Inc. can build a Turkey Hill Mini Mart on land currently owned by the city. Coatesville City Council wants to sell 17.3 acres bordered by Brandywine Creek and Routes 82 and 340 to Farmland Industries, Everett E. Kimes, Coatesville code administrator, said on Wednesday. The council has labeled the subdivision a high priority. If granted the subdivision, Farmland Industries intends to build the Turkey Hill Mini Mart on a 1-acre lot at the corner of Routes 82 and 340. The subdivision would divide the property into two one-acre lots and one 17.3-acre lot located on a flood plain bordering Brandywine Creek.

The Sharon Hill Borough Council is expected to vote this week on a proposed subdivision in the 800 block of Woodland Avenue. During a Borough Council caucus meeting Thursday night, Councilman John Scully said the council would vote on the proposed subdivision at its regular meeting this Thursday. If the Borough Council approves the proposed subdivision, applicant Bill Luttrell would build twin houses on two one-quarter acre lots between two single-family houses at 827 and 835 Woodland Ave. Scully said the Borough Planning Commission has recommended that the council approve the subdivision.

Final plans for a subdivision at 725 Clifton Ave. in Collingdale have been approved by the Borough Planning Commission at a meeting last week. The lot, which is slightly under a half-acre, is to be divided into three parcels. The owner of the property, E. Jack Ippoliti, intends to add the largest of the three parcels to the Paul M. Payne Co. site next door. At Wednesday's meeting, Planning Commission Chairman John G. Hayes said that Ippoliti owns the company. Building inspector Martin R. Shiller said Payne workers would use the area, which measures 29,283 square feet, for parking.

The Wallace Township Planning Commission has reviewed preliminary plans for a residential subdivision of 58 acres of farmland. The property owner, John Yost of Narvon, Lancaster County, wants to divide his dairy farm into five lots and sell them for residential use. The property is off Fairview and Little Conestoga Roads. At their monthly meeting Wednesday night, commission members said the plan needed to be revised for public safety reasons. They said the plan showed four driveways onto Fairview and one onto Little Conestoga.

James M. Roberts plans to subdivide his 15-acre tract on Valley Road into one 12-acre lot containing the existing house and six lots of about a half- acre each, on which single-family houses would be built. The Valley Planning Commission tabled preliminary plans for the subdivision Tuesday night to allow review by the township engineer. Roberts plans to build one-story homes on six lots opposite Steel Avenue, fronting on Valley Road. In other business, the commissioners voted unanimously to recommend conditional approval of a request by Lewis Rokins Jr. for a two-lot subdivision of two acres at the northwest corner of Valley Station and Manor Roads.

After recommending approval of a subdivision, the East Brandywine Township Planning Commission fielded more objections to the plans, from a nearby property owner. Peter and Fausta Caso, of Corner Ketch-Lyndell Road, on Wednesday got the commission's long-awaited approval for a subdivision of three lots, to be served by a common drive. The plans have received a stream of criticism and objections since the outset from neighbor William Lambert. Lambert, in repeated appearances before both the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors, had opposed the Casos' request for a waiver of the required 50-foot width for any driveway.

For two centuries, give or take a few years, an enormous stone barn has occupied a patch of land now at the end of a winding Main Line driveway on Waterloo Road in Easttown Township. In the township's historic archives, it is known as the Kennedy Barn. For residents in the area, it's Mrs. Rossi's barn; for years, it was part of the estate of Rose Rossi, one of the cofounders of ANRO Inc., a printing company. But lately, it has been the central figure in the Battle of the Barn, pitting longtime Main Line residents against a builder of some of the region's largest and most luxurious residences.

Aqua America Inc., Bryn Mawr, said today that it paid $126,000 to buy a water system serving the Dancing Bear subdivision in Medina County, Texas, near San Antonio. The development's population is expected to grow from 200 people to 2,000 as it builds out.     - Andrew Maykuth

Washington Township grew out of Gloucester County's apple orchards and farm fields - yielding, like so many South Jersey communities, a bounty of subdivisions and shopping centers. Is it the quaint little place that comes to mind when you hear the words holiday house tour? What if it isn't? For more than two decades, the WedgWood Women's Club has proudly flung open the doors of this town's private residences for an annual Christmas tour. Its 21st edition takes place Monday, with about 2,000 visitors expected to stop at six dwellings decked out in fine seasonal style.

Since its beginnings in 1986, Gloucester County's Habitat for Humanity chapter has built or renovated one house at a time. This year chapter volunteers have upped the ante. "Our goal is to build a subdivision," Allan Connors, the chapter executive director, said of the group's largest project in its history. The chapter has built five other houses in Clayton, but the latest project, Connors said, is much more "ambitious. " The Len Blowe Court development off Filbert Street in Clayton, named after a former chapter volunteer, is a 4.5-acre site that eventually will have 12 houses, all to be built by chapter volunteers over the next three years.

On this sun-splashed evening, Jane Quinn and Tina Zolfaghari are visiting on the sidewalk. Quinn's daughter toddles ahead and three boys - the Velez children - swish past on bikes. Down the path, Larry Huber walks his yellow Lab, and the Humes return from a hand-in-hand, after-dinner stroll, stopping to greet the Xanders. Here is a scene out of small-town America. Yet the Quinns, Zolfagharis and others live on Lindley Lane in Ridglea, a three-year-old suburban outpost in South Coventry.

The 20th century had several agonizing lessons in store for small-town Pennsylvania: that downtowns thriving for 100 years can be deserted in 10. That cherished neighborhoods can quite quickly dissolve. That geography is indeed destiny - and destiny these days prefers to do her shopping at the mall, where there is never a shortage of parking. Media, Pa., the governmental seat of Delaware County, apparently missed the memo on this. With a thriving restaurant scene, a racially diverse population, trolley cars on State Street, and a softball-coaching mayor, Media today is vibrant and homey to such an extent that cynical visitors may leave disbelieving.

The township has urged the Pinelands Commission to allow completion of Georgia O'Keefe Way in the Sanctuary, a development caught in the middle of a legal battle between the commission and developers. Mayor Gus Tamburro and township manager Ed Sasdelli last month toured the 665-acre development, on the fringe of Wharton State Forest at the southern end of the township. Sasdelli wrote the letter to support residents of the upscale development, where homes are valued at $350,000 to $1 million.

The Northern pine snake lobby and the developers squared off in Superior Court yesterday, and if Judge John Sweeney's remarks were any indication, it was a bad day for the snakes. "Tomorrow, frogs will be found, and then maybe it will be butterflies," Sweeney said as he heard arguments from attorneys for the Pinelands Commission and for an upscale Evesham subdivision. "How far does this have to go before we say it's over?" Sweeney asked. "Why should you be able to hold up a whole section [of the development]

Sandy Student was recuperating from a heart attack in March when he was "galvanized" by an issue that involved Evans Elementary School on Route 73 near Brick Road in Marlton. Student's son Sam, 9, is a third grader at the school. What concerned Student were plans to build a large drugstore next to the school in an area where the heavy flow of traffic already has parents nervous. What really galled Student was that area residents had not been notified of the plans. Student, 48, said that is just one of the problems facing Evesham Township, an area so large that it is sometimes difficult for residents to present a unified front against plans that threaten their quality of life.

Ten years ago, few in this part of north central Chester County were thrilled to see the 200-acre Twin Hills dairy farm turned into 250 homes. Now some are finding it ironic that the residents of that development are scrambling to protect their piece of the good life from the impact of 2,100 new homes either under construction or in the pipeline. The Twin Hills Homeowners Association has filed a petition with West Pikeland officials to close the road that would act as one of the main thoroughfares from the new developments, saying it would increase traffic through their community tenfold.