Residents pressed Concord Township supervisors on Nov. 5 about construction impacts tied to the Shops at Concord/Ridge Road development and related land work, describing property damage, missing tree replanting, early morning work before the township’s 7:00 AM noise/work restriction and potentially hazardous site grading.

Amy Snyres, who lives at 141 Governor Markham Drive adjacent to the project, said 42 deciduous trees were removed next to her house with no apparent replanting plan and that work crews have repeatedly arrived before 7:00 AM on multiple occasions (documenting times as early as 05:15, 06:15 and 06:40). "I've been living with it for 3 years," Snyres said, "it's been going on consistently... I'm the one out there videoing it."

Nate, the township engineer, and other staff said they have investigated complaints and that certain construction sequencing (for example, final stabilization and tree planting) occurs at the end of the project; he noted an NPDES permit issued by the county is still active and the project has not reached final closeout or as-built submission. On sediment and stormwater, resident Liam Shea raised a specific engineering concern: he said the extended detention basin on Lot 1 appears to have an as-built slope of 2:1 versus the BMP manual’s 3:1 recommendation, which he called a safety risk for children. "My concern is there are many young children in the area," Shea said, and said the outflow is currently capped during construction so sediment may be trapped and the basin could fill several feet with water.

Lucy McClure, representing a grassroots group (saveridge.org), said about 1,000 petition signatories oppose the development and asserted the project’s impacts extend into neighboring Chadds Ford Township; she also accused the developer of misrepresenting his project presence on social media and urged the supervisors to consider off-site impacts. Town counsel and staff said the developer is expected to seek zoning relief for a proposed gas station use before the zoning hearing board, which will delay planning commission and council action; counsel said the zoning hearing officer has issued a ruling that the gas-station use will require relief and the applicant’s attorney may move deadlines back to March 2026.

Other residents described mud and truck traffic, trash control issues, small or dead replacement trees, and asked the township to require builders to stake property boundaries and post permits visibly to reduce disputes. One resident raised an ethics concern about three executives from Pennoni Engineering contributing to a local political action committee and suggested disallowing bidders from contributing to local PACs; staff did not adopt a new policy during the meeting.

What’s next: Township staff committed to follow-up inspections, to review as-built and permit documentation with the county and conservation district, and to meet in the field with concerned residents. The board reiterated it has not yet received a complete plan package for council review and that many procedural steps remain (zoning hearing board, planning commission, county/state permit closeout).