KENNETT SQUARE, PA — Kennett Square Borough Council has restarted the rezoning process for the former National Vulcanized Fiber property, voting 4-2 on Sept. 9 to advertise a zoning amendment that could clear a regulatory path for roughly 300 homes while the PCB-contaminated site remains under federal environmental review.
The vote advances the existing July 10 draft ordinance covering the former industrial property at 400 West Mulberry Street. It does not adopt the ordinance, approve Rockhopper Properties’ redevelopment proposal or authorize construction.
The action reverses council’s position from the spring, when it declined to advance the zoning change while awaiting completion of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s review of contamination at the property.
The redevelopment footprint covers approximately 24 acres, including roughly 22 acres associated with the former National Vulcanized Fiber manufacturing complex and an adjacent two-acre parcel associated with the local ballfield.
Rockhopper, working with Lennar, envisions approximately 300 homes, including roughly 246 market-rate, for-sale townhomes and 48 to 49 affordable rental apartments.
The zoning amendment would modify the property’s Office and Industrial district to permit attached single-family homes, multifamily housing and neighborhood-scale commercial uses through conditional-use approval.
Residential development would not become a by-right use. Individual development plans would remain subject to conditional-use review by Borough Council.
The draft also requires at least 15% of residential units developed on the property to qualify as workforce or affordable housing.
Permitted commercial uses would include offices, personal services, retail and sit-down restaurants. Drive-through commercial uses would remain prohibited.
The renewed zoning process follows an EPA milestone this summer. The agency published a proposed Risk-Based Disposal Approval in July addressing management of remaining PCB contamination at the former industrial property and closed its public-comment period Aug. 28.
The federal review is not finished.
Residents have sought enforceable controls addressing construction dust, PCB-specific air monitoring, wind tracking and environmental sampling at nearby schools and playgrounds. A Head Start center adjoins the property.
Advertising the zoning amendment allows the land-use review to proceed while the environmental process continues.
The ordinance now goes to the Chester County Planning Commission and Borough Planning Commission for statutory review. Borough Council must hold a public hearing before it can take a binding vote on adoption.
That final council vote could occur in November or December.
Even adoption of the zoning amendment would not authorize Rockhopper to begin construction. The project would remain subject to subsequent development approvals and environmental requirements, including the EPA’s final Risk-Based Disposal Approval and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Act 2 brownfield clearance.
The parallel reviews put two separate questions before regulators and borough officials: what development Kennett Square will permit on the former industrial property and what environmental safeguards will govern reuse of the PCB-contaminated site.
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