VALLEY - Two township supervisors said this week their opposition to parts of Coatesville's proposed riverwalk would not have been so surprising had city officials included Valley in the planning process.

At their meeting Monday night, Coatesville City Council members learned Valley leaders had given conditional approval to the scenic waterfront park, formally named the Brandywine Creek Trail Project, a portion of which reaches outside the city into neighboring Valley.

But, among the restrictions Valley imposed: The riverwalk's winding pathway could not cross the East Glencrest Road bridge in the township.

Both changes require Coatesville making significant changes to its plans.

"It wasn't that we want to stop the riverwalk. That's not the case at all," said Patrice Proctor, chairwoman of Valley's board.

"When this whole thing began, we weren't included in this. We weren't directly involved," Proctor said. And when Valley officials eventually were briefed, she said, Coatesville officials said "This is what we got. It wasn't like, 'Let us work on this together because we want to come into your township.'"

Now, Coatesville finds itself scrambling as the October expira

tion date approaches on the $1.25 million in grants awarded by the county and state to fund the project. The city already was given an extension last year when the project was not ready to move forward.

"There is a communication gap (in Coatesville)," said Edward Hammond, another Valley supervisor. "Much of that lies within their own administrative offices and their (City Council)."

Also adding to Coatesville's urgency is the growing importance of the riverwalk to the development of the Flats property, west of Route 82 and north of West Lincoln Highway.

The park, which cuts through the Flats, has become the centerpiece for Iacobucci Homes' plans for residential and commercial development of the 26-acre property.

"I think the trail is a good idea for everybody. You just got to be able to work things out," Proctor said Thursday. "It seems like a lot of time (Coatesville waits) until the last minute for things, when grants are running out. ... And some people have not done all the homework they need to do."

Damalier Molina, Coatesville's director of urban planning and codes enforcement, is in charge of the riverwalk project.

He said on Friday he believes the project still can be completed by October. There already is an alternative design for the riverwalk he said would be satisfactory to Valley's conditional approval.

In that design, the park's path will not cross the bridge on East Glencrest Road, Molina said.

Molina is scheduled to present the new plan to Valley's supervisors at their July 15 meeting.

"We've made substantial progress," he said about the project as a whole. "It's just these little, minor impediments that have to be resolved."

Despite Proctor and Hammond's complaints about the city's poor communication with the township, that was not the reason for restrictions the township placed on the project.

They said the supervisors two primary objections to the previous riverwalk proposals related to safety concerns.

Hammond said Valley believes increasing pedestrian use of the East Glencrest bridge would be dangerous, especially as vehicular traffic on the span increases as hundreds of new homes are constructed on the Flat and in two other nearby residential developments.

Valley also objected to the city's plans to put the riverwalk's parking lot within the township, off East Glencrest Road. Hammond described the location as too isolated.

"We did not want to attract any type of drug traffic or (create) parking area for shenanigans to go on," he said.

Join the discussion at the Coatesville Roundtable, http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/blogs/dailylocal/coatesville/blog.html.

To contact staff writer R. Jonathan Tuleya, send an e-mail to jtuleya@dailylocal.com.