It's Like "La Ronda" is in Jail.....
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I went to see La Ronda today. (Every photo taken was from outside the gates and on the street.) I hadn't been buy in a long while. First thing I noticed? A lot of houses for sale on Mt. Pleasant near La Ronda - or to me it seemed to be a lot. I almost got side swiped by an asshat in a silver Porsche who thought he was driving a slot car on a curve - he was more than half in my lane and zooming - and if he can't keep a car meant to hang tight on curves in it's lane, well, that is a menace who doesn't deserve a Porsche no matter what he thinks he can afford...but I digress. So I drove onto Roscommon Road an parked. Me and a zoom lense stood outside the gate along with another photographer and snapped away. La Ronda has a sadness now. And the no trespassing signs, while necessary along with the padlocked gates reminds me of a prison. La Ronda is in jail. Will someone Free La Ronda? Honestly, I wish La Ronda would remain, but those people are hell bent on tearing her down. And while the idea of a foundation is nice, will Bruce Reed really raise the money? I hope he does because otherwise it's just too little too late and a lot of BS smokecreen self-serving political publicity.(The benevolent dictator and all that, ya know?) Why didn't Lower Merion do anything by now? La Ronda has been in flux off and on for what? Three decades? Why is historic preservation reactionary and not truly proactive? And why do we have to have so much development in our communities? Anyone interested now in Lower Merion in appending the Municipalities Code of PA with the ability to enact temporary development moratoriums? ( See HB 904, 2007 session) When I brought that up several times at various public meetings obver time in Lower Merion, the same pro-development commissioners waxing poetic over La Ronda now, basically scoffed at the idea. (And you all wonder why I am sick of going to meetings?) So who has egg on their faces now? Not I said the Carla bug. If they had supported Daylin Leach's efforts on this back then there would be yet another handy tool in the tool box. But noooooo...they always know better - you know kind of like they knew better on Blockbuster in Ardmore next to Ardmore Worst Shopping Center? You know how Blockbuster has that jailhouse aesthetic because it doesn't face the street? Whatever, just a mere mortal and a female, what do I know in the face of such "experts"? I do feel at this point, the new owners are not best served by their anonymity. By now we all have heard a particular name bandied about off line and out of articles. Why can't the media or township hunt this down I wonder? Anyway, enjoy the photos. And note that as opposed to some, I did not trespass. I took my photos from the street and did post- raw shot crops and close ups to get some of the detail I was after. The one thing I did not get a photo of is the woodchuck looking thing that lives in the middle of the lawn that runs along Roscommon Road. I also took some miscellaneous shots of Waverly Heights along Waverly Road in Galdwyne. Man are they creating an institutional zone. Bookmark/Search this post with: |
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Regardless of how one views La Ronda (I would love to see it preserved even though I have problems with Forced Historic Certification in regards to property rights), the legal problem Lower Merion has is that it went about certifying La Ronda as Class 2, someone bought it and decided to tear it down, and now the township wants to reclassify it Class 1 so the owner can't tear it down.
The owner bought it knowing it was Class 2 and he/she could legally tear it down as Class 2. The township made a point of classifying La Ronda Class 2. I see the township as being at fault and they are the ones to blame for not previously classifying La Ronda Class 1.
From the research I did, if La Ronda was already Class 1 when the owner bought it, then the owner could not tear it down. That part of the ordinance is valid from the case law I read.
However, the legal problem is reclassifying a property that the township already historically certified as Class 2 and now wants to make Class 1 after someone bought it and the township found out the owner wants to demolish.
That won't stand up in court. The only argument the township could make it that it meant to make La Ronda Class 1 but made a mistake, but the owner will counter he/she bought it knowing it was Class 2 and the township is only now seeking Class 1 because the owner is doing what is his/her right to do under Class 2.
The federal government is prohibited from passing ex post facto laws by Article I, section 9 of the U.S. Constitution and the states are prohibited from the same by clause 1 of section 10.
Thus, the township has no legal standing and Liz Rogan, as usual, is talking gibberish.
And yes, once again we see a commissioner yet again not obeying his/her oath of office to "support, obey and defend" the Constitution.
As James Madison stated in Federalist No. 44:
Bills of attainder, ex-post facto laws, and laws impairing the obligation of contracts are contrary to the first principles of the social compact, and to every principle of sound legislation.... [T]he sober people of America are weary of the fluctuating policy which has directed the public councils. They have seen with regret and indignation that sudden changes and legislative interferences, in cases affecting personal rights, become jobs in the hands of enterprising and influential speculators, and snares to the more industrious and less informed parts of the community. They have seen, too, that one legislative interference is but the first link of a long chain of repetitions, every subsequent interference being naturally produced by the effects of the preceding. They very rightly infer, therefore, that some thorough reform is wanting, which will banish speculations on public measure, inspire a general prudence and industry, and give a regular course to the business of society.
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Brotherhood of Thieves ~ As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.
I agree with that. These photos are gorgeous and it looks like the house is a real treasure. But those that own it have the legal right to tear it down, and reclassifying it in order to get them to stop would not be just.
However, this brings up and interesting point. If the township does ever wish to reclassify a building to a higher protected status, when is the fair time for it to be done? There is always going to be an owner of a property, and it will always be unfair to impose new limits on what he or she may do with the property.
LexoTime5 - you and poilteia are both right...and I wish I had answers...but alas I can't get anyone to answer my own burning question which ties to what you said: why is it that historic preservation around here always seems more REACTIVE than PROACTIVE?
I believe in historic preservation. But I think the system is broken, but how do we fix it?
PS thank you very much for the compliments on the photos....
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L'homme est né libre, et partout il est dans les fers/Man is born free, yet he is everywhere in chains.–Jean Jacques Rosseau. The Social Contract, 1762
Say, here's an idle question that I do not mean to be loaded:
I've Google mapped La Ronda and I see it's in a fairly unaccessable neck of town. Not well trafficed, shall we say. If a place such as this comes under class 1 historical protection, who benefits? What people get to come see and/or tour a class 1 site? I could understand the benefit better if the historical site was a public building, or in use as a museum, or in a public part of town. By bestowing a class 1 historical designation, is the township providing any sort of benefit to the township residents whatsoever, be it aesthetic, pedagogical, etc.?
Good question...maybe someone should ask the LM Hysterical Society...and say, look at their new slate of folks that will be coming up as directors. I wonder, is that a conflict if the Prez of the LM BOC is on as a Director to be?
Officers, Directors and Committee Assignments
Effective April 2009
Officers:
President - Gerald A. Francis
Vice President - Ross L. Mitchell
Treasurer - John B. Hagner
Corresponding Secretary - Stephen P. Selinger
Recording Secretary - Barbara McElroy
Immediate Past President - Edmund L. GoldsboroughDirectors:
Class of 2010 - Max Buten, Alison Graham, Leon Levine
Class of 2011 - Andrew Amsterdam, Denise H. Francis, Bruce D. Reed
Class of 2012 - Dennis Montagna, Joanne Murray, Anna O'Hor
I wonder, would our historic preservation efforts be more effective if certain lines and boundaries weren't so, shall we say, blurred?
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L'homme est né libre, et partout il est dans les fers/Man is born free, yet he is everywhere in chains.–Jean Jacques Rosseau. The Social Contract, 1762
Ok as per flickr, this photo set has had 1077 views since posted - and that was just Saturday...wow - that is crazy.
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L'homme est né libre, et partout il est dans les fers/Man is born free, yet he is everywhere in chains.–Jean Jacques Rosseau. The Social Contract, 1762
Like I posted before. Your views about La Ronda are certainly not unpopular.
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Brotherhood of Thieves ~ As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.
La Ronda, thanks for the memories
Published: Wednesday, June 24, 2009
By Susan Greenspon, Editor
More than 25 years ago I was among the many curious area residents who descended on La Ronda one winter afternoon to tour it during an open house. The 51-room mansion and its outbuildings were for sale, and no part of the 14-plus-acre Bryn Mawr estate was off limits.
The first reaction upon entering the cavernous main hall of the 14,000-square-foot Spanish-style mansion was “How the heck do you heat this place?”
Oh, how bourgeois. If you could afford to live here, you could afford to heat it, one of the friends in our group answered.
We quickly got caught up in the wonder of La Ronda, marveling at such exquisite details as its stone floors, massive fireplaces, staircases, ornate doorways and windowsills and its fairy-tale turret room with windows overlooking the grounds and bare trees on this chilly day.
We truly were inside a magical castle and the castle was right here on the Main Line.
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L'homme est né libre, et partout il est dans les fers/Man is born free, yet he is everywhere in chains.–Jean Jacques Rosseau. The Social Contract, 1762
RELATED:
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L'homme est né libre, et partout il est dans les fers/Man is born free, yet he is everywhere in chains.–Jean Jacques Rosseau. The Social Contract, 1762
PS this is what inspired me to go take photos from outside the gates- Cheryl Allison's wonderful article:
Main Line Times > News
La Ronda’s fate now lies in limbo
Published: Wednesday, June 24, 2009
By Cheryl Allison
I have to say that I do not disagree with Liz Rogan here, so don't fall over from the shock. I am not saying I like this after the fact stuff, but Lower Merion does need to test it's ordinances once in a while. I want our historic resources protected, and I want preservation to stop being reactive first, proactive last. In other states and communities property owners seem to be able to balance preservation with property rights, so I would like that balance to be achieved here as well, wouldn't you?
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L'homme est né libre, et partout il est dans les fers/Man is born free, yet he is everywhere in chains.–Jean Jacques Rosseau. The Social Contract, 1762
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L'homme est né libre, et partout il est dans les fers/Man is born free, yet he is everywhere in chains.–Jean Jacques Rosseau. The Social Contract, 1762