Personal use only

"It will not be a restaurant. It will never be a restaurant. It could not be a restaurant."
Those were the words of Michael J. Gladnick, an engineer working for Richard Hayne. Mr. Hayne is proposing to convert a stable on the former Thouron property into a freestanding 5,000-square-foot dining room and kitchen, and Mr. Gladnick presented the plan to the West Marlborough planning commission and supervisors on April 5.
"A freestanding dining room is not a typical situation," acknowledged Mr. Gladnick, but in response to pointed questions from the planning commission he stressed repeatedly that the dining room would be for Mr. Hayne's personal use only. He said it wouldn't be used daily: Mr. and Mrs. Hayne might have 36 people to dinner one evening, and then it would be unused for a month.
Mr. Hayne wants to get it built in time for a June wedding that he is hosting for an Urban Outfitters executive. Both the planning commission and the supervisors signed off on the project.
Mr. Hayne would not have needed permission for the dining room if it were attached to another building, but because it will be separate, the Chester County Health Department required him to seek special permission for its sewage system.
(Mr. Hayne, you'll recall, is the billionaire founder of the Urban Outfitters retail empire and has amassed a compound of properties near Springdell that he is redeveloping.)
In other Springdell news, township engineer Al Giannantonio dropped a few tantalizing hints that a new plan for Mr. Hayne's greenhouse complex on the former Tony Young property will be submitted for review in the near future. I'll keep you posted.