EW Supervisors: No CVT Path Approval Before September

The East Whiteland Board of Supervisors agreed Wednesday night not to approve a path connecting the Deer Run Lane to Chester Valley Trail before September. The three-member panel said it needed to review logistical and legal issues before rendering a decision on the project, which has .

The legal questions will be answered by the next meeting, the board said. The township solicitor is reviewing hired by a family whose property would abut the path.

The board voted to have Lancaster-based ARRO Engineering perform a topographical survey of the site and put together a plan for the possible path. The engineering study, they said, will take months.

"As a practical matter, for those wondering what's going on, what this means [is] we're not committing that yes, we're doing something, or no, we're doing something. This is investigation at this stage," board chairperson Virginia McMichael said.

"We need to make sure there's no compelling reasons not to do the trail before we go any further," supervisor Bill Holmes said.

Buck Run Lane resident Ken Raysor said the entire neighborhood was on pins and needles awaiting a decision. He asked for a time frame of a return to normalcy.

"I used to drive through the neighborhood and wave 'Hi,' and get a wave back," Raysor said. "Now I'm not sure whether I'm going to get waved to or flipped off."

Responding to his request, supervisor John Mott introduced a motion that the board not approve the path before September. It was promptly passed by a vote of 3-0. McMichael said it would allow residents to not worry that they need to attend each meeting or that a decision will be made while they are on vacation.

A 10-year-old resident named Vanessa stepped to the microphone to ask if the township could simply take a vote or poll of the neighborhood to decide whether to install the path. McMichael said they couldn't do that, but that people should write letters and petitions to make their opinions known.