SUMMER 2014
PAGE
Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church Anniversary ……………………………..… 1, 2
Electronic Signs ……………………………………………………………………………………. 3
Greenville Village Study …………………………………………………………………………. 3
Wagoner’s Row ………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
Kennett Township Kennett Pike Bikeway Project ………….…………………………… 4
Barley Mill Plaza Update …………………………………………………………………………. 5
Methodist Country House Bus Stop ………………………………………………………….. 5
Route 52 and Route 82 Intersection …………………………………………………………. 6
Route 52 and Route 100 Intersection ……………………………………………………….. 6
New Water and Gas Lines Project …………………………………………………………….. 6
Your Volunteer KPA Directors …………………………………………………………………… 7
Median Landscape Sponsors …………………………………………………………………….. 7
Support the Kennett Pike Association ……………………………………………………….. 8
Lower Brandywine Today Lower Brandywine Log Church 1774
The Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church at the corner of Kennett Pike and Old Kennett Road is one of the oldest in
America. The church was organized on October 15, 1720 – 56 years before the American Revolution when the Lenape
Indians occupied the banks of the Brandywine Creek, which they called Wauwaset.
This church has another historical distinction. The annals of the New Castle Presbytery indicate that it was at a meeting at
Lower Brandywine in April 1828 that hard liquor gave way to tea as the traditional beverage to be offered at their meetings.
Since then, some people have regretted the change!
Lower Brandywine was formed from the Birmingham Meeting of Friends for the benefit of their Presbyterian friends.
Birmingham Township was officially renamed Chadds Ford in 1996. There were eight members in the first church, which was made of slabbed logs on a triangular piece of ground of 81 perches (1 perch = 30 1/4 sq. yards or about ½ acre) at the foot of Bald Hill on what is now the Haskell property along Route 100.
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The price paid for the land was five shillings (about 15 cents) A yearly rent of one peppercorn was to be paid by the trustees if demanded. The seller was Ralph Pyle, who reserved the right for himself and his heirs to build and use a pew six feet square in the meeting house and to be buried in the adjoining cemetery. The second pastor of the church was the Rev. Robert Laing who served as the pastor during the spring and summer of 1723. His ministry is best summarized in a booklet published in 1876 by the Rev. George E. Jones who wrote: "Robert
Laing comes into notoriety at this period in our research. Luckless fellow, his name escapes no historian's eye and they all assign him, in part, to Lower Brandywine. The records for August 1723 contain the following minute: 'The Presbytery being informed that Mr. Laing hath been guilty of profaning the Lord's Day by washing himself in a Creek and he confessing the same, the Presbytery after maturely considering the nature of the offense, agree that Mr. Laing be now rebuked by the moderator, and that he be suspended from preaching until our next meeting.’
" ' Mr. Laing did not take the rebuke kindly, but being very unsatisfactory and offensive in his carriage they deposed him from the office of the ministry, with liberty to appeal at the next meeting of Presbytery. The case was sent to the Synod, and that body, on the ground that he was ill at the time and seeking a water cure, judged the sentence too severe but still rebuked him. His relation to Lower Brandywine closes with an order from Presbytery to the congregation to pay Mr. Laing's subscription'.” Things have been calm at
Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church ever since!
The original church remained active until 1773. At that time a split occurred because the members that lived on the west side of the Brandywine wanted to build a new structure on their side. The next year, Jeremiah M. Smith and his wife, Martha, deeded property totaling an acre and 114 perches on the west side of the Brandywine
River at the present location --- the corner of Kennett Pike and Old Kennett Road. In August, 1774, the second church was erected. It was build of black oak trees and accommodated the congregation of about 40 members.
This Old Log Church was constructed on a plot enclosed in the present old graveyard near the southwest entrance of today’s building, just inside the stone wall, and measured 30 by 35 feet.
After 85 years in the Old Log Church, on faith alone, a new large brick building was begun. The cornerstone was laid on September 1, 1859. This third and last church building was dedicated on November 8, 1860. The 20 members helped in its construction at a cost of $5,000, and it was designed to hold 400 people. During this time the church did not have a pastor. The timbers of the Old Log Church were used for the horse sheds in the back of the edifice. The beautiful stained glass windows on both sides of the sanctuary and the rear wall of the chancel were added in the 1890's. The windows in the rear of the sanctuary were installed in 1970 and those in the narthex were dedicated in 1900. A pipe organ was installed and the steeple built in 1929.
Several additions and expansions have been done over the last 50 years helping Lower Brandywine Presbyterian
Church become an active, warm and friendly house of worship. They are making plans for their 300 th anniversary in 2020. The Kennett Pike Association meets at the church and has a small office there. Thank you Lower
Brandywine and we look forward to your milestone birthday in 6 years time!
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Earlier this year New Castle County Councilman Joe Reda proposed a change to the New Castle County ordinance that would allow electronic signs to change more frequently --- from once every 12 hours to once every 15 minutes. Electronic signs have been growing in numbers along our nations roadways at an alarming rate and most people find them a distraction from driving and an unwelcome assault on our senses and scenic views. The powerful sign industry is on an organized campaign across the country to change ordinances to allow such signs to change, not just every 15 minutes, but every 15 seconds! The community was rightfully concerned about this change proposed by Councilman Reda. The Kennett Pike Association, other civic groups, and a number of county citizens testified in opposition to the ordinance change at the Planning Board hearing. No one spoke in favor of the change. Councilman Reda withdrew his proposal and will consider reintroducing it at a later date.
Under a federal grant, Delaware Greenways has launched a Greenville Village Study. The purpose of the study is to develop standards for future development in Greenville based on input from the community on what they would like to see in terms of community character, attributes and future direction. The Kennett Pike Association and other civic groups have joined this important effort. DelDOT and the New Castle County Department of Land Use have also joined as partners.
The first public meeting was held on May 8, 2014 at A. I. DuPont High School when small group workshops were conducted and valuable input and insights were received from area residents. Thoughtful ideas were shared about open space preservation, traffic, building standards, commercial activities, and community character. This and other future input will form the basis of a visionary land use plan and design guideline concepts.
The final phase of this work, set for early in 2015, will be policy recommendations which will be presented to the state and county governments for implementation. Your ideas and wishes are being sought --- please share them with us so your voice can be heard.
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The 20-acre property on the southeast corner of Buck Road and Route 100 is proposed for some development. The present estate house and tenant house will be preserved on some 8-acres of land. The other 12-acre parcel has been proposed to be rezoned from Suburban Estate (SE) to Suburban (S) to allow the construction of 12 cape-style clustered homes in a 55+ community. The 3,000+ square foot homes will be set back 125 feet from Route 100 and screened with landscaping. There was some opposition to the rezoning but many in the community supported the project and the need for such housing. The Kennett Pike Association remained neutral on the rezoning but is a party to some important deed restrictions negotiated with the developer. Some months ago the New Castle County
Board of Adjustment approved the variances needed to proceed, and recently the New Castle County Council approved the rezoning.
The Kennett Bikeway project is aimed at beautifying the part of Kennett Pike that lies within its boundaries --- a
1.6 mile stretch from Hickory Hill Road to Route 1. The scope of the project includes widening the roadway shoulders to 5-feet, a bike and walkway path, and improved landscaping along this stretch of the Brandywine
Valley National Scenic Byway. Longer term, the plans include adding similar pathways along Route 1 from
Hamorton to Longwood gardens. The work started in March and the expected completion is this summer.
The Pennsylvania portion of the National Scenic Byway is managed by representatives of Pennsbury, Pocopson,
Kennett, Chadds Ford and East Bradford. John Haedrich of Kennett Township reports that the work to protect and beautify Kennett Pike in Pennsylvania was partly inspired by the work done in Delaware. “The vision went from just keeping Greenville nice to becoming a national scenic byway, from Rodney Square up to the Delaware state line on Route 52, as well as Route 100. When we at the township began to see what they were doing, we knew that we should be the next link in that connection.” Kennett Township applied for, and received a $925,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration for the project, with 80% of the funds coming from the federal government and 20% coming from the Township. For the landscaping work, Kennett received $50,000 from the
Pennsylvania Marcellus Fund with $50,000 also being contributed by the Township.
Soon after the planning got underway, Longwood Gardens became part of the team efforts. The project members are working with Tom Comitta, a Chester county landscape planner. The landscaping work will get underway this fall. Kennett Township Supervisor Tom Nale said of the project: “I can truly see someone getting on a train, say, in
Philadelphia or Washington DC, arriving in Wilmington, and bicycling up Route 52 all the way to Longwood
Gardens, and back again.” Thank you Kennett Township!
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Six years ago Stoltz Real Estate Partners submitted plans to New Castle County to further develop three properties: the old Columbia Gas property at Kennett Pike and Route 100, the Greenville Shopping Center, and Barley Mill Plaza. Area residents objected to the scale and character of the plans and formed an organization called Citizens For Responsible Growth (CRG) to fight the developments. After several years of debate, Chris Coons --- then New Castle County Executive --- announced a compromise which significantly downsized the plans at all three locations. CRG negotiated additional restrictions which further protected the community including limiting building heights at Greenville Center, and restricting fast food restaurants and convenience stores at both Greenville Center and Barley Mill Plaza. The revised plans were approved by the county for Greenville Center, and the revised plans were not approved for the old Columbia Gas property. At Barley Mill Plaza, the revised plans were approved but were then appealed by a group called
Save Our County on the basis that a traffic impact study should have been done before any rezoning was granted. After a long delay Delaware’s Chancery Court earlier this year found in favor of the County that a traffic impact study could be undertaken after the rezoning was approved, but reversed the rezoning on the basis that one County Councilman --- Bob Weiner --- voted in favor of the rezoning stating he was confused about his right to see traffic data, and therefore his vote was arbitrary. The Delaware Supreme Court upheld this finding in a subsequent ruling.
So where does this leave us at Barley Mill Plaza? Back to square one really. Stoltz must now decide if they wish to resubmit their downsized plans, resubmit their original much larger plans (which included 7-story buildings), submit new plans, or do nothing. There is a risk to the community that the ultimate plans approved at Barley Mill Plaza will be worse for the community than the revised plans announced by Coons and supported by most of the community. There has been no word yet on their intentions.
Methodist Country House wanted to construct a bus stop in front of their property on Kennett Pike for the benefit of their employees, residents and others. They reached out to the Kennett Pike Association for input on what the community would like to see in terms of design and materials. Based on that input, they approved plans for the small covered stop that are context sensitive and a good fit with the character of the surrounding area. Thank you Methodist Country House!
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The work to improve the intersection at Kennett Pike and Route 82, started last summer, is finally drawing to an end. The corners have been redesigned to improve turning, the shoulders have been expanded, water runoff has been improved, and the turning lanes have been redesigned. New stop lights are being installed. It is hoped by DelDOT and the community that these changes will improve both traffic flow and safety at this dangerous intersection. DelDOT sought input from the community on the design changes, and for the most part the wishes of the community were incorporated. The only community request not accepted was the lowering of the speed limit from 50 mph to 35 mph. Coming out of Greenville, the speed limit increases from
35 mph to 50 mph about 100 yards before this intersection. The community would like to see the speed limit held at 35 mph until traffic is through this intersection. The Kennett Pike Association will continue to press for this common-sense change.
Another project started last summer, the work at the intersection of Kennett Pike and Route 100 in front of the Christiana care facility is now nearing completion. New ADA-compliant walkways have been installed, and channelization islands have been modified to improve the access. Unfortunately, some of the landscaping in the islands was destroyed by DelDOT’s contractor --- A-Del --- and DelDOt has to date not required them to restore the plants destroyed. The Kennett Pike Association has spent $1,600 to restore the plantings and is seeking reimbursement from DelDOT. Still to come are new crosswalks which will be stamped concrete made to look like bricks. DelDOT sought input from the Kennett Pike Association on the design pattern for the crosswalks in Greenville.
A project is expected to get underway this summer to install new gas and water lines from Kennett Pike at
Route 141 down Route 141 and OId Barley Mill Road, crossing the Brandywine to the DuPont Experimental
Station. DelMarva Power will work with DuPont to conduct community information sessions, and the Kennett
Pike Association will work with them to ensure that everything is put back the way they found it.
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YOUR KENNETT PIKE ASSOCIATION VOLUNTEER DIRECTORS
Glenn Barnhill Patty Hobbs
Glenn Barnhill, Jr. George Hobbs
Richard Beck
Robert Crandell
Christine Homer
Ellie Maroney
Joanne Bahr Cushman Bill Rowe
Kate DuPont Tom Scott
Mark Fortunato Maynard Turk
John Danzeisen, President
PLEASE THANK YOUR 11 MEDIAN SPONSORS
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NEWSLETTER
Please support the KPA in its work, and become a member, with a tax deductible payment
Name ………………………………………………………………………………….
Street ………………………………………………………………………………….
City and State ……………………………………….. Zip Code ………………….
Amount Enclosed ….$60 Family ….$150 Company, Civic or Neighborhood Association
Send To: The Kennett Pike Association P. O. Box 3592 Greenville, DE 19807
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