The Township has many openings on our various advisory committees. Are you interested in getting involved? Click Here for more information on the vacancies and to submit your application.
Single-Use Plastics Ordinance
The Uwchlan Township Board of Supervisors voted to approve Ordinance 2022-06 restricting the use of plastic bags, single-use plastic straws and polystyrene food containers. The ordinance can be found by clicking here and goes into effect March 16th, 2023.
2023 Township Budget
The Township Board of Supervisors approved the 2023 Township Budget at their December 12th meeting. A copy of the budget can be found by Clicking Here.
Changes Coming to Yardwaste Pickup
Beginning January 8th, 2023, yard waste will be collected on your regular trash pickup day during the designated yard waste collection weeks highlighted below. Click Here for additional information on Township trash, recycling, and yard waste collection. Christmas trees will be included in yard waste pickup in January and February, starting the week of January 9th. Christmas trees can also be put out as the bulk item for the week.
Heart of Uwchlan Update
The Heart of Uwchlan team and Pennsylvania Master Naturalists sowed native plant seeds in jugs for winter stratification in mid-December. Seedlings from the jugs are opened in the spring, seedlings from the jugs will be used in the Heart of Uwchlan gardens, the Rhondda Pollinator garden, and made available for Uwchlan EAC events to share with gardeners in the area for their own gardens. More jugs will be sown in January. Seeds sown included swamp milkweed, butterfly weed, purple coneflower, blue vervain, several kinds of goldenrod and asters, wild bergamot, and other native plants that are valuable for pollinators.
See the plant lists and other helpful information, including how to do winter sowing in plastic jugs, on the Uwchlan Township website (Click Here)
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Left: Katharina Henderson, Kathy Tracy, and Caitlin Miller show the over 40 jugs sown so far. Also helping was Marty Meadows and Toni Gorkin. Right: Katharina Henderson and Caitlin Miller filling jugs.
Uwchlan Township EAC Adopts Highway
The Environmental Advisory Council has adopted a one-mile stretch of Route 100 as part of PennDOTs' Adopt-A-Highway litter clean-up program. The stretch starts at Gordon drive and goes to Sheree Blvd. The Adopt-A-Highway program requires that we perform at least two clean-ups per year. Volunteers for clean-up events would be gratefully welcome. Keep an eye on the Uwchlan Township EAC website page for a schedule of litter clean-up events this Spring.
Proper Placement of Mailboxes
Uwchlan Township takes every precaution to avoid damaging mailboxes during snow removal operations. Below are mailbox placement guidelines to help reduce the chance your mailbox is damaged this winter:
Mailboxes should be located 2’ from the edge of the pavement to provide adequate clearance at a non-curbed roadway.
The mailbox face should be located 8” behind the curb face at a curbed roadway.
Mailboxes should be installed on the side of your driveway, away from approaching traffic. This will lessen the likelihood of a plow strike and minimize the shoveling needed to clear the area around the mailbox.
Basketball Nets/Goals
If you have a portable basketball hoop on a public street, please remove it from the ROW during winter, as they can interfere with snow plowing operations. Basketball nets/goals should never be in the road for any reason.
The USPS requires that:
The mailbox be installed at least 42” above the roadway surface.
Mailbox posts not exceed 4” by 4” for wooden posts, and a 2” diameter for steel pipe posts. Larger posts are deemed “deadly fixed objects” and are not permitted within the right-of-way.
When the snow starts to fall, please remember to...
Remove vehicles from the roadway until the road is cleared. Cars parked on the streets during winter events may be ticketed and towed.
Wait until the roadway is cleared before shoveling your driveway, sidewalk, and mailbox area. If you must clear these areas sooner, please know Township trucks will likely throw snow back onto your property when plowing the road.
Do not shovel snow into the roadway. Pushing snow from your driveway or sidewalk into the road creates a safety hazard and could cause an accident.
Prepare your vehicle for winter driving. If you are too nervous about driving on snow and ice, don’t drive!
Winter Operations
Once the snow begins to fall, trucks are out to plow and salt the roadways, following specific routes that clear emergency routes and high priority roads first. For safety reasons, cul-de-sacs and other secondary roads are not plowed until all emergency routes, and high priority roads are passable. Our Public Works team will always do their very best to keep roadways as clear as possible, as quickly as possible, but we need your help.
Parking is prohibited on any township street during a snowstorm and until the road has been plowed for the entire width. This is critical on narrow streets and cul-de-sacs where maneuverability of the large plow trucks is essential. This is required by law, and violators may have their vehicles towed and be subject to a fine.
Place trash cans and recycling containers curbside, not in the street, for any reason! Our trucks plow curb-to-curb, and your receptacles will be hit if in the road. The township will not replace them.
Do not clear the end of your driveway until the road has been plowed from curb to curb. This will save you time and frustration! If your street has not been plowed curb-to-curb, it will be. Please give us time to do our jobs. It is not our intention to annoy you! Do not shovel or plow the snow from your driveway into the street. This can cause accidents, and it is illegal to do so. Any snow you put into the road will only end up back in your or your neighbor’s yard.
Help Us Clear the Roads After A Storm
If you are a resident of Uwchlan Township, please remember that all parked vehicles must be removed from any Township street during any of the following conditions.
After a snowfall of one or greater inches in depth.
As posted by the Uwchlan Township Road Department for cleaning.
During the time of a declared local emergency
During adverse weather conditions that require salting/cindering of roadways.
Shoveling Safety
Help the Township Name the new Excavator- Voting Extended!
Raymond H Carr, Innovator, Developer and Vintage Car Enthusiast
Written by Ruth Osborn and Teddi Wright Uwchlan Township Historical Commission
Perhaps you might have heard about Ray Carr’s motor marathon trip in 1997 when he drove his 1939 Ford from Peking to Paris. But did you know about Carr’s strategic focus in the development of Chester County real estate during an earlier time? In a recent interview with Patti and Ray Carr, Jr, his son shared memories of a father-son relationship that spanned decades.*
Ray Carr (1924-2015) was a developer who purchased his first property in Uwchlan Township in 1968 on Gordon Drive. He then purchased additional, adjacent property that extended from Welsh Pool Road to Rt.100, intending to build a hospital in partnership with his brother, a surgeon. After discovering that state approval was required to build a hospital, Ray, in partnership with David Knauer, a realtor, decided to develop Pickering Creek Industrial Park. Lots were sold to the National Foam and Road Machinery Company among other businesses. Prior to this, the only modern development in Uwchlan Township was Marchwood, which was started by Fred Schutz and taken over by Bernie Hankin.
The collaboration between Carr and Knauer was designated as “Knauer and Carr Cignature Hospitality” which built the Holiday Inn on Route 100.** Uwchlan at that time was a dry township, so a township referendum was needed to change that status for the inn restaurant to serve alcohol. There were flyers delivered to residents both for and against the change, but ultimately the referendum passed. State liquor licenses were then based on population, and Uwchlan was awarded 3 liquor licenses: 1 hotel license and 2 bar licenses. The hotel license went to the Holiday Inn and one bar license went to Lasorda’s Marchwood Tavern. Since there was one bar license remaining, the Cignature group decided to restore the Vickers home (which was on the already- purchased 270 acre tract) and use that license there.
Ray Sr. began to research the history of the Vickers property prior to converting it into a restaurant. John Vickers was born in 1780 and built his house in Lionville in 1823. As a potter, he worked in redware. He was a Quaker and an abolitionist, following in the footsteps of his father, Thomas Vickers of Caln, who was an original member of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, which was formed in 1777 in Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin was the first president of this society. John Vickers never called a runaway slave a ‘slave’, always a ‘fugitive’. He would house 6-7 at a time, usually hiding them in a cold pottery kiln. He had 3 kilns at the approximate locations of the current, rebuilt ones, and he always kept one cold specifically to hide the fugitive slaves.The fugitives would arrive in the middle of the night and the Vickers women would rise to cook them a meal. John Vickers would use a farm wagon filled with hay to transport the fugitives- the hay was used to ‘protect’ the pottery. He hid and moved slaves from 1823 until the end of the Civil War, and he was never caught and never lost one. His signature on letters was ‘Thy Friend Pot’.
At the time that the Cignature group purchased Vickers, the building was in disrepair and uninhabitable. Ray Sr. did all of the original interior design work based on his research while converting the Vickers house into a restaurant. The dining attraction included an “in house” potter, which emphasized the historical aspect of the Vickers Tavern***. Carr brought Arturo Burigatto from Philadelphia to be the maître-de, with the agreement that if Arturo managed it for 5 years then the restaurant would become his. When it first opened in 1971-72, there was no fine dining in the area so people came long distances to eat there. Patrons included Richard M. Nixon, whose mother was a great-great granddaughter of Martha Vickers Milhouse, one of John Vickers’ sisters.
The Cignature group went on to restore the Duling-Kurtz House and the Kennedy-Supplee House as fine dining restaurants, in addition to other developments, although none of these were in Uwchlan Township. In 1988, they built the Hampton Inn on Route 100 North.
*Ray Carr Jr. was working for his father during the time period discussed here (late 1960s-early 1970s) and lived in Marchwood Apartments from 1969 -1970. These are his recollections about certain Uwchlan Township developments and Vickers Tavern. Thank you to Ray Carr Jr. and his wife, Patti, for this information and archival photos acquired on March 11, 2022. They currently live in Wallace Township, Chester County.
**The Holiday Inn on Rt. 100 was built in 1970, and at that time it was the fastest build of a Holiday Inn in history.
***Vickers Tavern is currently being renovated and will reopen as White Dog Café sometime in 2023. Photo credits:
Top left, Ray Carr and 1939 Ford convertible near the Iran-Pakistan border, Carr, R.H. & Carr, P.A., Ray Carr’s Postcards, Peking to Paris, Cignature Press 1999.
A well-maintained vehicle could be the difference between avoiding a crash or skidding off the road. Motorists should regularly check to ensure that:
Fluid levels are full.
Your wipers don’t streak.
Your heater and defroster are working properly.
Your vehicle’s radio is working so you can receive weather and traffic reports.
All lights are working.
Tires are properly inflated and have sufficient tread depth.
Additionally, if you live in an area prone to heavy snow, you may want to use dedicated snow tires or carry a set of tire chains. You should also have a mechanic check the brakes, battery, hoses, and belts.
Source: PADOT
Biological Indicators of Water Quality
by Corinne Trice
Examining the quality of a stream or waterway can be done in many ways and with different levels of technicality. However, you don’t necessarily need high-end, precision sensors, or a warehouse full of expensive equipment to know how healthy a stream in your own backyard might be. A glimpse into the biodiversity of the critters that inhabit a freshwater ecosystem can reveal abundant information about the quality of the water and the overall status of the stream.
Streams in Chester County and across the globe are teeming with life. Some of that life is seen clear as day, while some hides under rocks or might even be too small to see with the naked eye. Groups of organisms that we can see and use as indicators of water quality include amphibians, macroinvertebrates, and fishes. While not true for every ecosystem, generally if you find a stream to be inhabited by many different types of species, chances are it’s in fairly good health. Certain groups of animals can tell you more than others based on their living requirements and tolerances. For example, salamanders and other amphibians are unique in that they have the novel ability to breathe through their skin. This is known a cutaneous respiration. While cutaneous respiration allows them to thrive in specialized environments, it also makes them very susceptible to absorbing toxins through their skin. It would not be uncommon to find an absence of salamanders or even deceased ones in heavily polluted streams or immediately following a toxic spill event. On another note, certain species of mayflies have specific tolerances for dissolved oxygen. They can only be found in pristine streams where persistently high levels of dissolved oxygen readily flows over their feather-like gills. Individual indicators such as these provide a glimpse into the overall quality of the stream.
When water quality professionals examine biological indicators, often the community as a whole is assessed. Different species are assigned certain categories or weights based on their tolerances, or special living parameters. Many metrics are measured to determine a score that correlates with a certain degree of water quality. But you don’t need fancy metrics or calculations to learn about your stream’s health. Anyone with a few good identification books and an interest to explore can research the biodiversity in a nearby stream. So next time you are out and about on a hike, or walking your dog by a stream, take a second and flip over a rock or peer into a clear shallow pool. You may be surprised by what you discover.
Content provided by Tom Oranzi at Chester County Conservation District. Contact CCCD at 610-925-4920 ex 100.
Important Dates
Township meetings have returned to in-person at the Uwchlan Township building. Hybrid options are available for both the Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission meetings; login information can be found on the Township website at www.Uwchlan.com.
Click the image above to view the Township Calendar and times/dates for all upcoming Township meetings and other events.
