By Josh McKnight | The McKnight Team
Haverford Township is moving a full reorganization of its zoning ordinance toward adoption. The board of commissioners started the project in early 2025, and the rules being replaced have not had a complete update in more than three decades. A second reading and possible adoption vote is scheduled for Tuesday, October 13.
Haverford Township zoning governs what you are allowed to build, add, or convert on your own property. That makes this the quietest high stakes vote on the Delaware County calendar this fall.
How the Rewrite Actually Works
This is a two phase project, and the distinction matters. Phase one is reorganization and reformatting: cleaning up the structure of the existing ordinance, updating definitions and standards, and making the requirements readable for residents, businesses, and institutions. It is not meant to change what you can do with your property.
Phase two is where the policy moves. The township has said the substantive changes will follow, aimed at priorities pulled from the Haverford 2035 plan. Those include mixed use development, sustainability, neighborhood character, and updated commercial zoning standards.
So the October 13 vote is the plumbing, not the policy. Anyone showing up expecting to argue about density or commercial corridors will find that debate has been deliberately scheduled for later. The township is fixing the document before it changes the rules written inside it.
What the Rewrite Actually Does to Haverford Township Zoning
Thirty years is the number to sit with. The ordinance being reorganized was written for a township that priced very differently than the one you live in now.
Set that against what the numbers show right now. The typical Havertown home value is $538,274, up 4.8% over the past year, and homes go to pending in about eight days, per Zillow data through August 31, 2026. Delaware County as a whole sits at $366,541, with 68 homes on the market in Havertown.
Havertown runs roughly $171,733 above the county typical value. A code written three decades ago is doing the work of managing that gap. Reorganizing it first is the unglamorous, correct order of operations.
Why Phase One Deserves More Attention Than It Will Get
Reorganization sounds like housekeeping. It is not neutral. When definitions get updated and standards get restated, the meaning of a provision can shift without anyone intending it, and the version adopted in October becomes the baseline every later argument starts from.
Think about what that baseline controls for you. Whether a rear addition needs a variance. How an accessory structure gets measured. What counts as a permitted use on a lot that has operated one way for forty years. None of those questions feel urgent until the week you need an answer.
The people who will care most are the ones renovating in the next five years, and almost none of them are following a September zoning agenda. That is the usual pattern with land use. The hearings are open, sparsely attended, and decisive.
Both things can be true: the township is doing this the right way by separating structure from policy, and residents will still discover changes they did not know were coming. The full draft is posted publicly. If you own in Haverford and have a project in mind, read the sections that touch your lot before October 13, and tell a neighbor who is planning work to do the same.
What This Means for You
If you own in Haverford Township and are weighing an addition, a garage conversion, or an in law suite, get your questions answered against the current code now and again after adoption. If you are buying here, ask what the property is zoned and whether any part of its current use is nonconforming, because a reorganized ordinance is a good moment for that status to surface.
Zoning does not set your home value, but it sets the ceiling on what your property can become. That ceiling is part of what buyers pay for across the township, including the neighborhoods covered in our Havertown community guide, where eight day pending timelines leave very little room to research after the fact.
Thinking about buying or selling in Haverford Township? Let’s talk.
Frequently Asked Questions About Haverford Township Zoning
When does the new Haverford zoning ordinance take effect?
A second reading and possible adoption vote is scheduled for Tuesday, October 13, at 7 p.m. at the Haverford Township Building. If the board of commissioners adopts it that night, phase one takes effect as the township directs.
Will phase one change what I am allowed to build?
Phase one is a reorganization and reformatting of the existing ordinance, including updated definitions and standards. Substantive policy changes are planned for phase two, tied to the priorities in the Haverford 2035 plan.
Will the zoning rewrite affect Havertown home values?
Not directly. The typical Havertown home value is $538,274, up 4.8% over the past year, and that movement reflects demand and inventory. Zoning shapes what a property can become over time rather than what it sells for this month.
What happens after the October vote?
Phase two follows, addressing mixed use development, sustainability, neighborhood character, and commercial zoning standards. Those are the changes most likely to draw public debate, and they will move on their own timeline.
