Still in Danger!

We are sorry to inform all our faithful readers that Scrooge has also made a stop in Gladwyne - on Righters Mill Road. When we last covered 254 Righters Mill Road, the Lower Merion Township Board of Commissioners had denied the developer a Certificate of Appropriateness based upon the fact they felt the developer did not follow the standards as laid out by the Secretary of the Interior - something that can't be ignored when you are discussing developing within a historic district. 254 Righters Mill Road is in the Merion Square district which is recognized not only locally, but on a state and national level as well.

We are very upset that this developer has to be this way. We are very sad for all our friends and supporters in Gladwyne. Should the taxpayers be seriously annoyed at this developer because this developer is causing your tax dollars to be spent so he can try to win his case in court and develop?

Below is an update we received on this saga. We also want to remind you that Odd Fellows and the Methodist Church on this Road are also at risk as per Lower Merion Conservancy's 2007 Watch List

Here is the update:

Here’s the latest:

.....the developer of this property is appealing at the county level the decision of the BOC to deny the Cert. of Approval that HARB recommended. It’s not on the docket yet so this is months away.....If he wins, he’s going to go ahead with the trainwreck plan and ruin our neighborhood forever.....If he loses...who knows what will happen. The house might just lay fallow and rot away ....Last week, Commissioner Mark Taylor met with our neighborhood group to bring us up to date. [The Developer] has also tossed out the option of subdividing and building 2 separate houses in the back and fixing up the front house…of course he’s talking major sq footage for each new house.

We all think the best use of the space (and most profitable) is to subdivide into 2 lots....the big house in front (7,800+ sf) and a new slightly smaller one (6,000) in back, especially in this housing market.

We would consider the 3-lot subdivision only if these two new homes fit into a 1600 sf footprint (meaning he’d have to make up his square footage with basements, dormers, living space over garages, etc.) to make the mass seem smaller. We also want the condition that the front house is the first to get the Certificate of Occupancy. In case he runs out of money, at least the historic asset will be saved. Also we request as much buffering as possible....

Here are photos of other things possibly at risk in this neighborhood: