Everywhere we turn on the Main Line, there seems to be something else again being torn down...or you see the telltale orange fencing, or a huge McUgly Box is sprouting from the earth, and come on, what is natural about that foundation level that is so HUGE it makes the Mc Mansion LOOM over the entire neighborhood as if it is going to take off? Amazing, isn't it? Us fantabulous Main Liners wax poetic about historic preservation, neighborhood preservation, and for what end? Seriously, what do we get out of it? Maybe all of us groups from Ardmore through to Berwyn and beyond should form some sort of super coalition? And lest we all forget (and would the politicians and wannabes prefer it?), it's an election year...locally...are we going to hold anyone accountable at all? And we're not just talking the Lower Merion elections...there is Radnor and Haverford Twps too, right? And more?

For every bad plan citizens stop, five more seem to be right behind it. It is disheartening...so where is that moratorium on development PA? And isn't ironic that the very things everyone would like to eradicate (historic homes, quaint Main Street Shopping districts, hitory, etc), other areas close to PA fight like heck to preserve? When these twonship officials go on their road trips to check out mixed use, etc., maybe they should take tours of areas where preservation is WORKING. What comes to mind? Lewes Delaware, Cape May NJ, Baltimore, Old Town Alexandria, Delaware, OH,VT, MA, CT etc...business districts like Media....or should we just throw in the towel and say "Ok big boys and girls, make us look like Norristown and Philthadelphia"?

Here is an e-mail received from a resident of Cricket Avenue, you should all read it:

"After all of these months and many hours of listening to the applicant’s testimony, the basic questions regarding this proposed project are still very much at issue. I would like to recap the major issues regarding the neighborhood’s position.

Can this project even honestly be considered affordable housing in the first place? Condominiums priced at $320,000 are not considered affordable housing in most communities, and certainly not in south Ardmore. The fact that these properties can be sold at market value within a few years makes them even less so. It is very clear that the developers are abusing the spirit of true affordable housing in a community to simply increase the density of the project to unfairly maximize their profits. When someone like our commissioner, Maryam Phillips, who has been an ardent and tireless supporter of affordable housing in Ardmore for more than a decade, opposes an affordable housing project in south Ardmore, the project has some very serious flaws.

Lets say hypothetically that we can actually stretch the definition of affordable housing to include this project- There is still the issue that this project falls within 1,000 feet of other subsidized housing projects. We can splinter that definition 100 different ways, at the end of the day, the townships intent was that all of these projects fall under those guidelines. We know this because the commissioners sent the Township Solicitor to verify that claim on their behalf and the Township’s Director of Building and Planning has also done so. The Township, along with the neighborhood and entire community, has come out against this project. The only supporter from the Ardmore Initiative is a real estate agent who stands to significantly gain financially from the sale of this real estate.

What would the impact of this project be to the neighborhood, the community and the township?

Tearing down a classic, late 19th century Queen Anne Victorian duplex, very characteristic for the neighborhood, housing about 4 people and replacing it with a large, densely-built three-story structure, completely out of scale for the neighborhood, housing 70 plus residents, will have a significantly detrimental impact to the character, traffic, congestion, water run-off and overall general quality of life in and around Ardmore. That is nearly 20 times the number of people living in that same space currently! And that situation is likely to deteriorate even further by opening the door for these developers to do much the same along other sections of Cricket and Ardmore Avenues.

Complicating matters even further, Cricket Ave. is a narrow road with bus traffic and parking only along one side of the street. Parking is already a significant issue for this neighborhood. Who could better define the traffic implications to Cricket Avenue? The applicant’s paid legal “expert” who counts cars for 15 minutes two separate days at 4pm and 6:45pm (off peak, non-the less) and doesn’t know which side of the street allows parking, or the people who have lived on the street for decades and have had to cope with the rush-hour traffic and significant parking issues that already exist? The law would probably say the former; logic would definitely pick the latter. The legal profession is the only one I know that hirers “experts” to distort the truth under the guise of looking for it.

The notion that you can multiply the population on a double lot by 20 without a devastating impact to traffic, parking and overall quality of life to residents is absolutely ludicrous. And the idea that people buying $300,000 to $500,000 luxury condos will not have multiple cars is ridiculous. Where will the 50 plus extra cars be parked on a street already short of parking space? And where would their guests park? The liability to the township would significantly increase. With all those people and cars, and more likely on the way, accidents would surely escalate, particularly with buses trying to make it down that narrow street. It would be disastrous.

We do not believe that the applicants have made their case and everyone, from the neighbors, to the community to the entire township, vehemently oppose this project. The residents of Ardmore are unanimous. This project would completely and unfairly destroy the neighborhoods quality of life and our treasured, centuries-old neighborhood for nothing more than the unfair exploitation...."

Here is Cheryl Allison's article just prior to Thursday's meeting:
All sides will have their say in the Cricket Ave. debate
By Cheryl Allison

A third full night of testimony last week did not close the books on Ardmore's affordable condo case.Instead, the legal issues surrounding plans for the acre of ground at 130 Cricket Ave. seemed only to grow more complex.

When developers Craig Snider and Mark Weiss of SW Land Associates submitted revised plans for a 37-unit condominium building at Thursday night's meeting, Lower Merion Township's zoning board announced it would take testimony, but reserve another night for opponents to cross-examine witnesses.

Neither the township's building and planning staff nor neighbors who object to the plans had had an opportunity to review the plans, board member Robert Fox pointed out. He instructed Snider and Weiss to return with their consultants for another session.

That hearing date is Sept. 6. The board will meet beginning at 7 p.m. at the Merion Fire Co. of Ardmore building at 35 Greenfield Ave.

The reason for the revised plans is a new complication in the condo proposal.

Snider and Weiss are seeking to develop their building under a zoning code provision that allows increased density for apartment housing projects in which at least half the units are subsidized to make them affordable for low to moderate-income buyers. Parking requirements are reduced to one space per unit.

And isn't it so nice that former commissioner Jim Ettelson is so involved in the community now that he "retired" from the Lower Merion Township Board of Commissioners? Isn't it just ducky that he now puts on his work hat to work the other side of the table?

And our friends to the west, the Save Ithan Coalition? They haven't had an easy time of it either...there is the O'Neill plan, the Farley plan, and now the Scardino plan? Geez for such a small area, there sure are a lot of developers buzzing about, eh? here's an e-mail they sent out recently that all should read:

"Save Ithan has been at work. With the continuing complaints of "no
direction" from developers and township officials, all ignoring the
input we have provided since February, the Steering Committee
developed another plan.

This plan is to create an "Overlay District" for the Village of Ithan,
something that the township has discussed for some 17 years. A very
rough plan, produced by SIC, will be produced at the September 4th
Radnor Planning Commission Hearing.

It is a sketch, presented for public discussion and is on the agenda.
This plan, together with zoning regulations should provide the basis
for the township to draw up a proper Overlay that emphasises the
environmental concerns and village aspects for Ithan that residents
have expressed over the past seven months.

After the Community has had a chance to comment at this public
meeting, SIC will hold another public meeting by the end of September
to fine tune the overlay and request that the township and its
commissioners take steps to move this issue forward. It will ask for
quick action, not another 17 years of wasted time. And, if you think
that Ithan Creek is only a problem in our 3rd district, the run off of
water from Ithan and storm water management doesn't stop at the voting
line.

However, another significant issue, one that SIC had been told would
be held up for a later time is now put on a fast track to develop over
6 acres behind O'Neill's gas station. The Scardino property, filled
with flood plains, streams, and wet lands is to be decided upon as the
first item on the agenda for the Planning Commission on September 4th.
A time when the fewest members of the community can participate. The
final agenda was just released today, August 28th and a decision will
be made by our Commissioners September 4th.

SIC had been reassured that Mr. Scardino was holding off on his
proposal to allow further study and community input, but now feels he
must have this decision which greatly affects Radnor in this difficult
week. No member of SIC or Radnor Monthly Meeting has yet seen his
revision of the very problematic earlier plan for development.

So, please plan to attend. This may be the most important meeting of the year.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007 7 P.M.

Agenda

1. Minutes of the August 6, 2007 Planning Commission
Meeting.

2. S.D. # 2007-S-04 of Frank Scardino to subdivide
existing 6.62 acre parcel into three (3) lots at 200 Ithan
Creek Road.

3. Discussion of the Ithan Overlay District.

Also, within a day or two, a Yahoo list serve will be established for
all members of SIC. It will allow for a daily digest of comments (no,
you won't get tons of spam) and the posting of information as soon as
it becomes available. You will get an invitation to join the Yahoo SIC
group and if you accept, you will automatically receive information as
it becomes available, and be able to post your comments, and ask
questions.

Please take time to join and, most importantly, attend the meeting at
the Radnor Township temporary building.

Thank you,

Leif Skoogfors
On behalf of the Save Ithan Steering Committee"

Here is Sam Strike's article about the recent Radnor meeting:

Visions vary on future of Ithan Village
By Sam Strike

Moderate-density mixed use, a conservation district and improved pedestrian access are among the options.

The agenda for this month’s Planning Committee of Radnor Township was short, but the subject important: development and planning in the Village of Ithan, a three-acre strip of land along Conestoga Road.

The township staff and community volunteers would like to make it a neighborhood conservation district through new zoning and subdivision regulations tailored to that environmentally sensitive and traffic-logged area.

Doing so “can offer protection, but also incentives,” said Wayne resident Beverlee Barnes, who works in historic preservation for Delaware County.

....To be sure, it wouldn’t be a “historic” district like North and South Wayne, and while a zoning and subdivision overlay district there would not be quite like the one recently approved for Wayne’s business district, it would address some of the same issues: things like use, scale and connectivity.

Unlike in downtown Wayne’s plan, environmental concerns would rank high on the list of priorities in Ithan, through which Ithan Creek runs.

Currently, the village is a small island of C-1 zoning, which includes local retail and restaurant usage, but no residential (although there are three “nonconforming” residential properties there now).

One debate in the future of this area includes whether or not to allow more residential there.

One Planning Commission member said Tuesday that he didn’t see why there should be any there; however, Radnor Township planner Matthew Baumann said he believed that moderate-density mixed use (both residential and commercial) there could be beneficial to the township.

There are no easy answers people. Look at all the BAD PLANS that have been approved. Have all of them even broken ground? Or are they just lying fallow creating blight in charming residential and commercial areas? Hey, we're not doing all the work for y'all - go drive around. Compare what has started to what has been approved and ask yourself a pertinent question: is the development/real estate biz still so red hot?

We say it's not so hot. We say some folks carrying costs may be a wee bit high about now and that others should pay attention.

And local government in Lower Merion and elsewhere should pay attention too...because what happens when a lot of these developers let their approved projects sit on hold and the properties they acquired sit on hold? People already there suffer from blight, which means their property values are affected, right? How is that a good thing?

And lest we forget Bryn Mawr, home of TRID, we have been getting intel from there as well...and for those who wonder why SAC ain't skippy delightful over TRID, why dont you sit down and read the act? Does it or does it not allow provisions for eminent domain? It does. So it doesn't matter if Lower Merion took a pledge against eminent domain in Ardmore, we're talking railroads here...and they haven't taken a pledge against eminent domain. If no one wants eminent domain to be used, what is so darn difficult about getting an agreement in place from the railroad and making it public? Can we trust SEPTA when it comes to our communities when discussing TRID? It's a conversation that should be had, don't you all agree?

Here's an excerpt of the e-mail SAC got recently:

"As part of the "work up" for the proposed zoning changes for Bryn Mawr - ERA (Economics Research Associates) was hired to put together a merchandising plan to help "guide" the drafting to "implement" the goals of the master plan.
Their report is is a 24 page document and is posted at the township's website.
It refers to two zones - the Blue zone is the core downtown bryn mawr.

The Green zone is referred to as "the area outside of the commercial core" - and it is depicted on the maps as going from the First Trust Bank all the way down past Booth Lane. It is described as something with large active spaces, with little to no activity such that the consultant recommends that it should "continue to develop along its current trend" - such as retail services -dry cleaners, tailors; food markets, hardware stores AND "LARGE FORMAT STORES (Grocery stores)"

The report specifically says infill development is what is necessary.

Page 20 says an additional addendum report for infill development in the Green zone is needed.....And this report is supposed to be one of the bases being relied upon to tell us all that the area can not just support more retail - but all of the mixed use density that will come with the height/scale/massing of buildings which will accompany this stuff. To say nothing of TRID."

Hmmm...this is what we found: http://www.lowermerion.org/ecdev/BMRetail20070320_files/frame.htm

Midge McCauley - is she worth it? Because after all the money spent on her in Ardmore, well, we still are the "salon district" aren't we? Do citizens really have control, any control over our own destiny?

Or is it still money talks, the rest if us walks? And speaking of walking, it is so nice the way Bryn Mawr hospital has blown up so many of the pedestrian sidewalks near the hospital...especially nice? In front of the old Bryn Mawr Elementary School. And five points? What is the skinny on that problematic intersection? If you want pizza from Pacilios will the front door open directly into traffic? Or will the small businesses there just move away from hospital world? And what of the historic buildings that house the Bryn Mawr Hospital Thrift Shops? Will they survive, or will there be another historic accident? A lot of those buildings we heard were historic station buildings?

Oh, one last thing? Did y'all read Tom Murray's editorial this week?

Here it is:

Some officials are not up to the 'Challenge'

I usually don't like to write about the newspaper business. I was told by a wise old editor years ago that when it comes to professions, journalist ranks up there with lawyers and politicians.His advice was to never write about what we do because readers will have little sympathy if you tell them how bad you are treated or they will turn a deaf ear if you tell them how great you are.

Hopefully your response will be neither and you'll read the following because although this editorial is about the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association (PNA), it affects you as taxpayers from Bala Cynwyd to Malvern.

So what has my stomach turning as I'm about the break the Golden Rule?

It's about a contest to exercise the Right to Know Law that was recently announced by the PNA. Apparently, it has ruffled the feathers of local government agencies that think it's a waste of time and taxpayers'money.

First a little background: Last month, the PNA launched its PA Open Records Challenge 2007, which PNA officials said was an effort to encourage citizens of the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to better understand the workings of their government and gain a firsthand appreciation of how the Right to Know Law works in practice.

The challenge for citizens, as well as students in journalism classes around the state, was to request one public record from an agency of their choice. PNA officials said it was intentionally crafted to give participants a wide range of options in making their open record request.

So what do you think about the challenge?

For many Main Liners - many of whom we hear from in their letters to the editor week after week - this challenge would be an excellent idea.

We have had our share of disagreements between boards and citizens, and there are many people on the Main Line, especially it seems in Radnor Township, that have learned how to go about the process of requesting information from a government agency.

When I first heard about the challenge, it sounded like a winwin situation for everyone. I thought it was a great way for the PNA to spread the word about what should be available to journalists and the public, and I thought that government agencies would be happy to go along with the challenge to show that they aren't hiding anything.