Delaware County PA Construction Permits: Municipal UCC, County Planning, Conservation District, and the Legacy Industrial Corridor

Pennsylvania / Delaware County · Field reference for Philadelphia's western suburbs and the Lower Delaware corridor

Delaware County — "Delco" — is the dense suburban county on Philadelphia's southwestern flank, extending from the Delaware River industrial corridor at Chester and Marcus Hook inland through Media, Upper Darby, Haverford, and the Main Line. Along with Chester and Bucks, it rounds out the ring of Pennsylvania counties adjacent to Philadelphia. Permitting follows the familiar Pennsylvania pattern: municipal UCC enforcement under Act 45, municipal zoning and SLDO under the MPC, advisory county planning, and Conservation District-delegated stormwater review.

What distinguishes Delco from Chester and Bucks is the density of legacy heavy industry along the Delaware River (Sun Oil / Sunoco, Marcus Hook petrochemical, Kimberly-Clark, former shipbuilding), the high-density transit-connected suburban townships, and the Philadelphia International Airport footprint extending into Tinicum Township (Delco's easternmost).

Municipal UCC enforcement

Delaware County has 49 municipalities — townships, boroughs, and one city (Chester). Each operates as its own UCC enforcement authority under Act 45. Opt-in municipalities employ building code officials; opt-out municipalities route to PA L&I or certified third-party agencies.

Zoning, SLDO, and site plan review are municipal under the MPC. The Delaware County Planning Department provides advisory review only.

Delaware County Planning Department

The Delaware County Planning Department provides:

• Advisory SALDO review referred by municipalities.
• Administration of the county Comprehensive Plan.
• GIS, mapping, and transit coordination services.
• Programs including open space, parks, and multimodal transportation planning (Chester Creek Trail, etc.).

Delaware County Conservation District

The Delaware County Conservation District (DCCD) administers PADEP's E&S Control Plan review and PAG-02 NPDES coverage for projects disturbing 5,000 sf or more. DCCD performs construction inspections, reviews Chapter 102 post-construction stormwater plans, and coordinates with PADEP on Individual NPDES review.

See our PA NPDES essay.

The Delaware River Industrial Corridor

Southeastern Delaware County — Chester, Marcus Hook, Trainer, Ridley, Lower Chichester — contains one of the East Coast's densest legacy-industrial corridors:

• Marcus Hook Industrial Complex (former Sunoco refinery, now LPG terminal and petrochemical).
• Kimberly-Clark Chester operations.
• Chester waterfront — former shipbuilding, steel, electric-generation, and chemical sites.
• Trainer — former Eddystone Hog Island era industrial / military manufacturing.

Legacy contamination is pervasive; brownfield redevelopment dominates the corridor. Project sequencing integrates:

• Phase I / II ESA — see our CERCLA BFPP essay.
• PA Act 2 Land Recycling — see our PA Act 2 essay.
• Vapor intrusion mitigation.
• HAZWOPER worker protection — see our HAZWOPER essay.
• Chapter 105 waterway encroachment for in-river work.
• Deed Notice restrictions and institutional controls.

Philadelphia International Airport vicinity

PHL's runways extend into Tinicum Township along the Delaware River. Construction in the PHL vicinity considers:

• FAA Part 77 imaginary surfaces — see our FAA 7460 essay.
• PHL noise contours — affecting residential compatibility in parts of Tinicum, Sharon Hill, and Lester.
• Tinicum National Wildlife Refuge (John Heinz) — federal land, Section 7 ESA implications for adjacent projects.
• PHL Master Plan projects — FAA AIP-funded, triggering NEPA and Section 106.

Main Line and central-Delco suburbs

Central and western Delco — Upper Darby, Haverford, Radnor, Newtown Square, Media (the county seat) — are dense residential-commercial suburbs with:

• Historic districts and local historic ordinances in several municipalities.
• Transit-adjacent development around SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale Line, Media/Elwyn Line, and Regional Rail stations.
• Aging commercial corridors (Route 1, Route 3, Route 320, Route 30) seeing redevelopment.

City of Chester

The City of Chester, county seat's southeastern industrial city, has its own permit track. Chester faces:

• State receivership (Act 47 distressed municipality status, periodic).
• Substantial brownfield redevelopment opportunity.
• Historic district (Old Eddystone, Chester Central).
• Waterfront redevelopment coordinated with state and federal grants.

Permit lifecycle (typical brownfield redevelopment)

1. Pre-acquisition: Phase I ESA, municipality identification.
2. Pre-application: zoning analysis, Act 537 sewage verification, Act 2 cleanup standard selection, LSRP/consultant engagement.
3. Municipal zoning approval / conditional use.
4. SALDO to municipality with DCPD advisory review.
5. Phase II ESA and RAW development.
6. PADEP Act 2 engagement and Notice of Intent to Remediate.
7. DCCD E&S and NPDES review.
8. PADEP Chapter 105 if in-stream or floodplain impacts.
9. Remediation implementation (HAZWOPER-compliant).
10. Municipal building permit applications.
11. Construction with vapor mitigation and institutional controls.
12. Act 2 Statement of Liability Relief at cleanup completion.
13. Certificate of Occupancy.

What this means on site

Three practical rules for Delaware County:

• Municipality first — 49 municipalities, each with its own zoning and permit authority.
• Brownfield is the norm on the river — Delaware River corridor redevelopment integrates Act 2, HAZWOPER, vapor mitigation, and Chapter 105 with construction permits.
• PHL vicinity overlays — FAA Part 77, noise, and wildlife refuge adjacency affect eastern county parcels.

Delaware County completes the three Philadelphia-suburban counties (Chester, Bucks, Delco) under the same PA municipal-UCC / MPC / Conservation District framework but with the distinctive Delaware River industrial corridor driving much of the county's redevelopment pipeline.

Primary sources for this essay: PA UCC (Act 45 of 1999); PA MPC (Act 247 of 1968, as amended); PA Act 2 Land Recycling Program; PA Sewage Facilities Act (Act 537 of 1966); PA Clean Streams Law and Chapter 102 / Chapter 105; individual municipal zoning and SLDO ordinances; Delaware County Comprehensive Plan; Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) regional plans. Delaware County Planning Department and Delaware County Conservation District are the county-level resources.