For more information email Ms. Giardina at dgiardina@wcupa.edu.

Normally, WCJIM doesn't provide free advertising for individual businesses unless they do something out of the ordinary. That is the case with M. S. Yearsley & Sons, the local hardware store that operated for nearly seventy years on E. Market Street. A recent article described plans to move the business following acquisition of their building by a developer. Happily, the move is complete and West Chester has a "walkable" hardware store once again.

The new store is located in the former Atlanta Bread Company building, located in the Cambridge Square shopping center on E. Gay Street (near Rita's Water Ice). According to a Yearsley spokesperson, the move entailed considerable work to adapt the building and to provide a bit of the old Yearsley building feel. That included integrating beams and structural hardware from the old building into the new, buying a complete set of new display cases to take advantage of the higher ceilings, and adding touches like the old company sign and one of the red fire buckets to the decor.

It looks like they will offer for sale just about everything that they used to have their hardware department. Besides screws, nails, tools, and plumbing supplies, they have a wide selection of gardening supplies just in time for the spring planting season. Farm and garden tractors are sold by a different division of Yearsley's and they will remain at the old address on E. Market Street, at least for the rest of this year.

Yearsley's will celebrate its "Grand Reopening" on May 19 and 20. And in the meantime, West Chester still has a full service hardware store that you can walk to.

At last Wednesday's meeting, Borough Council voted unanimously to approve the creation of a new residential zoning district in the East End of the Borough that promises to expedite plans by Habitat for Humanity of Chester County to construct as many as 17 affordable new homes. Meanwhile, another Habitat project in the same neighbohood is nearing completion.

The zoning amendment creates a category called "NC2 Block Class D." NC stands for "Neighborhood Conservation" and is intended primarily for residential use, unlike the "Industrial" or "Commercial Services" districts whose primary uses are evident from their names. In West Chester, NC1 contains homes on large parcels like those found at the north end of town, NC2 contains homes on smaller parcels, including the semi-detached homes that are common throughout the Borough, and NC3 contains apartment complexes. [NOTE: In every NC district, housing is the primary permitted use, but other uses are possible -- sometimes with permission from Borough Council and often because they existed in the neighborhood before the zoning category was created.]

"Block Class" designates a range of characteristics such as the distance between the building's ouer walls and the property lines, the amount of "green space" (i.e. land that is not covered by building, driveway or other structures) and the maximum height of the building. In other words, the permitted uses for all Block Classes in the same zoning district are the same, but the dimensions of properties and buildings differ.

The change approved by Council on Wednesday allows Habitat for Humanity to build on smaller lots. Chip Huston, Habitat's executive director, explained that the houses in the surrounding neighborhood all stand on lots that would be nonconforming under the existing zoning code because they are smaller than the minimum 2500 square feet. By creating Block Class D, Council enables Habitat to construct homes that are on the same scale as the rest of the neighborhood.

The site is located at the east end of Barnard Street across from the Davis Oil Company. The land consists of nine parcels formerly owned by Davis and used to store trucks and other equipment. According to a Habitat spokesperson, the land was tested by the PA Department of Environmental Protection and found to be "clean" with the exception of a few spots that tested high for lead. Davis treated those spots before transferring the land and DEP certified the land as fit for residential use. Because of this and the fact that the site has a relatively high water table (it is at the edge of the Goose Creek basin), the proposed houses will be built on concrete slabs instead of basements.

Meanwhile, Habitat's existing project at 427 W. Barnard Street is starting to look like a finished house. It replaces a house that stood vacant for more than a dozen years and provided a constant source of concern to neighbors. The new house is designed to fit into a neighborhood which contains a mixture of two and three-story single and semi-detached homes with front poches and alley access to parking in the rear. The new home was also shifted west to provide a five-foot buffer from its neighbor on the right.

The next step will be for Habitat to present its plans for the new development to the Planning Commission. That will require as many as three presentaitons before the Commission can make a recommendation to Council, which has the final say over what the organization builds. We can expect that process to proceed through the spring and early summer.

Speaking of Elm Street manager Geoff Brace, it appears that he has accepted a new community development position in the Lehigh Valley closer where he grew up. Brace was hired by the East End Neighborhood Association (EENA) just over a year ago to administer projects funded by the state's Elm Street program, whose goal is to revitalize residential neighborhoods. Since that time, the East End has become the focus of Habitat for Humanity plans for 18 houses, the neighborhood has received a $400,000 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), and the EENA has complied a priority list of projects including lighting improvements, streetscapes beautification, stormwater drainage upgrades, and coordinated clean-up efforts. While Brace's departure is not good news, he leaves behind a fully-functioning program and a lot of friends in the Borough.

Destination: East End: One of the signs of success in the East End is its selection by the Chester County Parks & Recreation Department as the site of the first in its annual series of "Town Tours and Village Walks." On Thursday, June 1, a coterie of experienced history walking tour guides (including WCJIM) will lead visitors from all over the county on tours throughout the East End. They will be assisted by Borough Councilmember Steve Bond (Rep, Ward 2) and noted local historian Penny Washington as they present sites that include Moses Hepburn's "Magnolia House Hotel" (which provided lodging to Frederick Douglass and other notable African-Americans in the 19th century), the Bethel A.M.E. Church (the second oldest church in continuous existence in the Borough), and several places associated with West Chester's railroad and industrial history including what was once the Borough's largest natural ice-making operation. All tours will begin and end at the Charles A. Melton Arts & Education Center located at 501 E. Miner Street (parking lot entrance on E. Market Street opposite the Buggy Car Wash), starting at 6pm.

Northwest Neighbors Enthusiastic: An earlier article described the formation of the Northwest Neighbors Association. One of the organizers, Ellen Zadoff, reported that about forty people attended the first meeting. She added, "that was a good turnout. We expect about thirty at the next meeting because some people who were just checking us out won't be back. But a lot of people seem really interested and I think they'll be back." NOTE: The NWNA will hold its next meeting this Wednesday, April 26, at 6:30PM in the West Chester Public Library at the corner of W. Lafayette and N. Church Streets.

Local Internet Action: Finally, four new web sites each try -- for their respective communities -- to do what WCJIM does for West Chester. The first one is rather apocalyptically called Save East Goshen whose goal is to focus attention to local government in that township. The second one is aimed at Democrats in the southern part of East Bradford Township. That rather odd distinction is the result of redistricting efforts in the 1990s which divided East Bradford between two legislative districts -- the 156th of Elinor Z. Taylor in the south and the 158th of Chris Ross in the northern part of the township.

If you are interested in the drama unfolding in Coatesville City Council his year, then you'll want to keep an eye on both Chesco News and Chesco Reporter. Despite their names, both sites are narrowly focused on Coatesville. One carries bylines and makes an honest effort to appear neutral, while the other seems to exist simply to insult critics of the new City Council which took office in January (sample headline: "Recycled Hogwash from the `Usual Suspects'"). It's unbalanced in more ways than one, but highly entertaining, if only to make one thankful that we live in West Chester rather than Coatesville.