Julia McDonald told the supervisors she had been asked by a group of Amish resident of the township to represent them. She said the Amish felt they were being discriminated against and intimidated. Current regulations permit any addition to a home to be no more than 50 percent of the original space. She asked the board to increase the present regulation from 50 to 75 percent or more. She asked Michal Jany, Don Johnson and Pete Draper to help correct a great misunderstanding about douty houses and how Amish live. A douty house is an addition to the house where the parents live after they turn over the farm to one of their children.
McDonald was speaking in particular about Dan Kauffman, who resides near Beaver Dam Road and Route 10. She said Kauffman wants to get his family in a house. “A 50 percent addition doesn’t fulfill his need for a douty house,’ she said. “Don Kauffman has a large family. He is trying to decide whether he wants to divide his land.’ She asked that they work together to address the issue.
Jany said it was addressed several years ago when farmers agreed to setting a policy for any addition to be 50 percent of the present home. She said township officials are looking towards amending the present regulations to permit additions of 75 percent or so many tenant homes on 20 acres.
Jany said, “Believe me, we are trying to do what we can to help.’ She pointed out that changes in the ordinance have to reviewed by the township planning commission and the Chester County Planning Commission before they go to approval. She said it takes time. “We want to keep farms in tact and not have them subdivided,’ she continued, “When considering changes to the ordinance we have to look at all of the problems we have faced in the past.’ Jany said we are reviewing and fine tuning the changes to have it ready for a vote next year.
Johnson, in a similar situation as that of Kauffman, said his family is living in the basement. He asked if something temporary could be done. He said he can’t live that way for a year.
Kauffman continued that the custom used to be the youngest took the farm. It is changing now. We still have three children with us. He said if he had foreseen the present circumstances he would have built a larger house.
Jany suggested a 50 percent addition to the present home with an addition later. A petition with signatures was presented.
In other business, a hearing was held to hear public comments on the cell tower ordinance. The ordinance was adopted. The supervisors declared that all ordinances or provisions which are inconsistent with the new ordinance are repealed. Definitions are now regarding specific height of towers, size of equipment buildings, maintenance and remove are included among the provisions. Copies of the ordinance are available at the township office.
Work on the Walnut Street Bridge will begin in the middle of October. The road will be closed for several weeks. Johnson said it costs $60,000 to oil and chip 11 miles of road. It costs about $37,000 to pave one mile of road. Honey Brook Township has 42 miles of roads.
Conditional final plan approval was granted for Shanahan Farm. The developer will donate $50 per unit to the police department. About 20 lots of 60,000 square feet each are in Honey Brook Township.
The zoning hearing board approved plans for Tel Hai Retirement Community with conditions. Applications for inclusion in the Ag Security area were received from a Gideon E. Stoltzfus, Gideon L. Stoltzfus, Daniel K. Kaufman, Steven R. Yoder, and Joseph Guiseppe. The applications will be referred to the township planning commission, the Chester County Planning Commission and the Ag Security Board.
Jeff Kerlin will work with Honey Brook Borough regarding their agreement with Yarnall Equipment. The issues are storm water management and a lack of a land development plan.
Large trash day will be Saturday, Oct. 20 from 7 to 11 a.m. A decision was reached to discontinue the current trash program at the end of 2001. Residents will have to get a private hauler.
The supervisors are planning to advertise for a new township secretary/treasurer. Ruby Whitman will retire at the end of the year after 20 years of serving Honey Brook Township. They will look into the possibility of hiring a township manager.
In August there were 350 calls to the Honey Brook Police Department for service. There were 60 traffic citations issued with two non-traffic citations. There were five traffic accidents investigated by the police. One adult was arrested for DUI, two adults for simple assault, and two for aggravated assault.