West Chester council approves lease language with SEPTA, signals preference for 15-year term

The West Chester Borough Council voted unanimously to approve sending amended lease language to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) that clarifies SEPTA’s ability to terminate or amend the lease if regular commuter rail service is established on the West Chester branch line, and to express the council’s preference that a previously exercised one-year renewal be replaced by a 15-year lease beginning July 1, 2025.

Councilmembers debated where to place a sentence that would require any future commuter-service arrangement to be conducted “in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws, rules, and regulations.” A staff member reading the proposed change said, “SEPTA will retain superior right to terminate or amend this lease in the event that it desires to establish regular commuter rail service by SEPTA or a SEPTA approved third party commuter service operator in the form of a shuttle on the West Chester branch line between West Chester and Wawa.” The council agreed to place the compliance language in the paragraph that reads as the directive to the parties rather than in the explanatory paragraph.

At the meeting council members confirmed that they had already exercised notice to SEPTA to trigger a one-year renewal effective July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, to avoid a gap in occupancy. Council discussion made clear the borough will nonetheless ask SEPTA, if the amended lease is acceptable, to terminate that one-year extension and instead enter a 15-year lease that would commence on July 1, 2025. A staff member said the borough could send the amended language to SEPTA as soon as the following day and work with SEPTA counsel to negotiate the longer term.

Jason Lovett, identified in the meeting as chair of the rail committee, thanked the council and stakeholders for brokering the agreement. Several residents and committee representatives expressed support for the language and for completing the agreement.

The council voted by roll call; the transcript records the following votes: Miss Dorsey — yes; Mister Flynn — yes; Miss Vaccaro — yes; Mister McGinnis — yes; Mister Travis — yes; Miss Simone — yes; Mister McCoy — yes. The motion carried unanimously.

Background: The added language modifies Section 3.2 of the lease to state SEPTA’s ability to terminate or amend the lease if SEPTA or a SEPTA-approved operator establishes commuter service on the branch. Council members and staff described the amendment as intended to allow both tourist and commuter operations to coexist if and when commuter service is reinstated on the line, subject to applicable law.

Council members directed the borough solicitor to prepare the amended lease language for transmission to SEPTA and to proceed with the back-and-forth negotiations to pursue a 15-year agreement, while noting the borough had already exercised the one-year renewal to avoid a lapse in the lease.