WEST CHESTER, PA — East Bradford Township supervisors will reconsider a package of code changes Oct. 1 that would tighten solicitation licensing, expand curb-maintenance obligations, revise stormwater standards, prohibit overnight parking in township parks, and change zoning rules for storage sheds on certain vacant residential lots. The township has re-advertised the proposal after it was previously scheduled for a Sept. 10 hearing.
The new legal notice schedules a public hearing for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 1 at the East Bradford Township Building, 676 Copeland School Road, West Chester. Supervisors may act on the ordinance during their regular public meeting immediately afterward.
One of the most extensive changes would affect people seeking township licenses for peddling or soliciting. Applicants would have to provide information including their full name, date of birth, addresses, telephone number, identification, employer or principal, the nature and schedule of their proposed activity and, when applicable, vehicle and driver’s-license information.
The proposed rules would also require a current photograph, employer authorization accepting liability for the applicant’s acts while in the township, disclosure of non-traffic criminal convictions or local-law violations and an FBI clearance certificate dated within 12 months of the application. Applicants would also have to document other legally required licenses or permits, acknowledge the township regulations and provide required information for assistants, who would need separate licenses.
Property owners with sidewalks open to pedestrian use would face an expanded maintenance obligation covering adjoining curbs. The proposed ordinance establishes specific conditions under which sidewalks or curbs would not be considered in good repair, including certain elevation differences, cracks, and deteriorating concrete that creates a slipping or tripping condition.
The stormwater provisions would require roadway runoff to be captured and conveyed to stormwater facilities through curbing, inlets, manholes, and piping. Properly designed drainage channels could substitute for wedge curbing under specified slope, soil, and engineering conditions, but roadway runoff could not be designed to leave the road or right-of-way and flow over private residential property.
The ordinance would also prohibit overnight parking in township parks and open spaces unless authorized through a special permit under Chapter 22.
Zoning changes would allow storage sheds on certain vacant lots in the R-1, R-2, R-3, and R-4 residential districts. A qualifying vacant lot would have to be contiguous to a lot containing a principal structure and under the same ownership, with the shed used solely to store maintenance equipment for the vacant property.
The same framework would apply in the R-3 and R-4 districts. The sheds would remain subject to applicable accessory-structure setbacks and could have a maximum footprint of 500 square feet.
If enacted, the ordinance would take effect immediately.
The township’s Sept. 16 legal notice can be reviewed at https://www.eastbradford.org/188/Proposed-Ordinances-Legal-Notices, at the township building, the Daily Local News office in Exton, and the Chester County Law Library in West Chester.
Support the local news that supports Chester County. MyChesCo delivers reliable, fact-based reporting and essential community resources—free for everyone. If you value that, click here to become a patron today.