I don’t get these people. I really don’t get these people. First of all their borough council president dresses like a shlub. There is business casual and there’s dude -can’t- you -really -brush -your -hair -better- if -you’re -going -to -wear -it -long -and -iron -your -T-shirt -casual.
And then you have a couple of people you hear talking, especially when they’re discussing Sabine Park, who say things like (paraphrasing) “Well I’m not sure that I’m really actually going vote for this when the time comes, but this is what I would do if I was doing XYZ.”
Gosh all of Narberth Borough Council appears to be a little bit preggers here?
Sooooo there’s the factoid that it is a park. It is land that was deeded for a park over 100 years ago correct? so why are they even contemplating this in the first place? Are they completely oblivious to the fairly significant case law in Pennsylvania alone about selling parks for development? Isn’t their solicitor aware?
I mean it’s pretty simple isn’t it? If land is deeded and donated to municipality for a park then it is technically land that belongs to the residents and the residents don’t want it developed do they? That’s one thing that’s just something that is bugged me since the beginning. Yet there they are again discussing what kind of zoning would be better if they sell the land.
And they as of now have spent who knows how much money having it looked at by Penoni so that it can be appraised properly…..and then you have these borough council people who were saying well we’re just looking at all the options. What is it they don’t get that it’s a park?
Sigh….it gets better and I encourage everyone to watch the video because the shlub who is the borough council president is arguing for massive mixed use projects on part of the site and then also says how nobody wants any single-family homes any longer. I have to ask him what is it he is living in on the Narberth- Wynnewood border exactly, an apartment?
I just don’t get it but hey I don’t get the extremely unattractive development that has occurred in Narberth already. Like The Elm. Named for a tree and are there any sizable plants in sight? Or just developer specials? And look, it’s the same Legoland construction seen everywhere….even along I-95 in Philthadelphia.
But hey Narberth and development? Odd relationship? Remember Narberth Arbors?
Now you all remember when I wrote about Sabine Park recently I had one of the borough council people kind of come at me for talking about it, so what is it exactly they are doing just spending taxpayer money on appraisals for shits and giggles ?
Anyway I’m sad for Narberth. Here’s hoping more residents wake up.
Screen shot from the Radnor Design Review Board Meeting February 12, 2025
There is that phrase something along the lines of it’s better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission. That seems to be the case with the Agnes Irwin School in Radnor Township perhaps? So how do you do lighting without a plan given to the township in which you sit? Would regular folk get away with this? Am I missing rarified air somewhere?
It’s a funny thing with that school. They occasionally seem to have this perennial misplaced sense of entitlement. And every time you hear news of them it’s because they are mentioned in someone’s obituary, or for some shenanigans having to do with grand plans. I will get to the grand plans of the past that didn’t go so well in a bit. But first this new or current kerfuffle over their lighting.
I am not minimizing what neighbors of Agnes Irwin are obviously experiencing given the Radnor Design Review meeting I saw. (Here is the link to the entire meeting.)
I was gob smacked. It was about lighting. As in Fred and Ginger can tap dance inside neighbors’ houses given the brightness of the lights. As in blackout curtains don’t help. As in how do migrating birds not get confused bright. As in the school is lucky there have not been car accidents in neighborhoods they abut or along S. Ithan Ave bright. Sorry not sorry, that is some kind of bull twaddle going on don’t you think? Why is this ok? Because they are a Main Line private school? Heck I went to one and that dog don’t hunt.
Excerpt from the Radnor Design Review Board Meeting 2/12/25
According to Ray Matus, former Radnor police officer who is their Director of Safety and Security it was for security measures. Ok but Mr. Matus? You worked at Radnor Township for years, and your dad and uncles did too, right? I get it that you were law enforcement (highway patrol, remember him directing traffic during Villanova stuff), but still, wouldn’t you think you might have to talk to someone other than your former police chief about putting up lighting even for safety?
But you know what? In my opinion the SCHOOL and their capital projects people and facilities or property manager types should definitely know better, and where were they at this meeting? Did they think their security guy as a former Radnor Township employee would just smooth it over? If so, then I am surprised Irwins didn’t have their Dean of Students Grades 5 and 6 Middle School Teacher lady there because isn’t her hubby in fact Radnor’s Township Manager? (Just saying?)
So Irwins has a pretty big footprint over there in Rosemont/Bryn Mawr but I am guessing they are a bit hemmed in? I mean they own that Almondbury House, at 672 Conestoga Rd, Villanova, built in 1911 by Horace Trumbauer. That is a fabulous house, they acquired it in 2015. It’s historic, don’t know what the plans for it are or what it is being used for, offices etc would be my guess. That property is about 6 acres I think, maybe 5. That might be what they refer to as “the annex” here and there?
They also own a house on this flag lot kind of driveway off of Conestoga. That was the house that they asked about in the meeting where they asked Mr. Matus where he lived. I am actually very familiar with the house, I was in it in high school. The family that sold the house had a daughter my year at dare I say it….Shipley. Agnes Irwin bought it from the family. They have owned the house for years at this point. That is very common with private schools and colleges to buy houses adjacent to campuses for staff or heads of school etc. to live in. That property adds a little over an acre to Irwins’ footprint. It’s a sweet house. I always liked it. It was up next to a tennis court in the back if I recall correctly.
The lights are daylight but it’s midnight bright right now according to neighbors at that meeting. I believe the neighbors and more than one spoke. Also important to note, since only one was alluded to by Irwins at meeting. The neighbors over there, aren’t happy and a lot of others have not been happy in the past. Just ask the folks who live on S. Ithan Avenue. Sometimes in the past, I have gone past the school and houses that are neighbors have orange cone things by their driveways. As a matter of fact I am incredulous that Irwins got so much on street parking on S. Ithan because it makes the road feel quite narrow.
Back to the lights. Just yesterday a friend of mine actually commented to me in a phone conversation how bright and glaring the lights of the school are at night when driving on S. Ithan. So I can well imagine what the people on Browning Lane, etc see. My friend who doesn’t live in Radnor, just on the Main Line, referred to the lights as glare bombs.
Lighting is a real issue and it is also an art form when it comes to doing it properly. That means you aren’t just plunking them up. There is a thought process and a plan, right? So why didn’t Irwins consult the neighbors before they did anything? Wouldn’t that have been the nice neighborly thing to do? I went to Shipley which has done tons of building over the years, and as critical as I can be even of my alma mater, I can’t recall their lighting being offensive (and I have criticized an expansion plan or two.) . I also remember them submitting lighting plans along with other plans to Lower Merion Township, so I don’t understand why Irwins didn’t until this meeting? Or did Irwins assume Radnor relationships would just make it all like magic? I guess they missed the memo where being a good neighbor makes magic?
Now let’s dish lighting and Radnor Township. Remember the issues surrounding Villanova University? I seem to recall that neighbors were very up in arms and that RADNOR TOWNSHIP hired a lighting expert to review and do light and sound measurements? Where was that? Aldwyn Lane and elsewhere around, right? I remember this issue coming up more than once with their expansions. And Villanova as a result has lights that are not bright white glare bombs. They just like lots of crosses, right? Here I looked up some old articles concerning Villanova and lighting, most without pay walls:
Agnes Irwin seems to constantly lead with a bit of an elitist attitude in my humble opinion. The fact that this ended up in a Radnor meeting says to me that perhaps neighbors either weren’t being heard or the school didn’t care about what they were hearing from their neighbors? And does that even compute with what the school claims as their values? I think that is truly sad.
Where does being respectful of your neighbors fall in core values?
The neighbors need to start taking MORE photos. Of lights, traffic, the whole enchilada. Radnor Township needs to step up and get an independent lighting expert etc in this just like they did with Villanova. They can’t ignore residents with real property value worries and environmental and just every day living concerns over a private school. They didn’t ignore it with lighting issues with Villanova and it’s the same damn area. They need a proper lighting plan at Agnes Irwin. They need LOWER lights as in height, as well as different kinds of lights shielded properly (not bright glare bomb white how about a more yellow cast) that lights an area safely without making 3 AM seem like high NOON. What are those magic words? Lumens and foot candles? Again, proper downlighting? Not loving hands at home light shields perhaps? (Duh.)
How many lights do they need on things like the tennis courts which are surrounded by giant fences and are locked up tighter than Fort Knox. (It’s funny, when I was growing up ) remember the school letting some of the courts get used by folks in the area.)
Other suggestions? Proper fencing along perimeters and evergreen screening. Evergreen screening helps with light pollution. Light pollution is real and Agnes Irwin and Radnor Township can’t ignore it. For God’s sake, I bet science teachers there must talk about migrating birds and nature at some point, right? I remember it in elementary school/lower school years myself. Anyway umm hello, what does light pollution do to migrating birds?
No one objects to good security, it benefits a school campus and the surrounding area. But what is done shouldn’t ever be at the expense of neighbors.
Agnes Irwin needs to stop the BS. Especially since also at that meeting there was some mention of a potential turf field in their future? Haven’t they learned from turf fields yet? And this one to be would be where? There is a big grassy field near Browning Lane I think? Doesn’t that run to a creek and is it even big/wide/long enough? I am asking the question because I don’t know, I just have a memory of that field, and others over there from high school. And turf fields all require constant monetization to have any semblance of economic feasibility in addition to all the environmental issues, correct? They are super expensive, right? I also remember seeing a new thing on turf fields where they showed an old turf field graveyard. That stuff is not found in nature and does not break down. Besides, how many turf fields do we need in any area?
And there has been a LOT of negative press in the past over Irwins and fields/turf fields. As a matter of fact, some one I know owns the property on Sugartown Road in Easttown they once wanted to get part of for fields. And then there was the whole giant thing about them leasing Radnor Township owned fields in some park.
Agnes Irwin needs a refresher course in being community minded and a good neighbor. There is something to be said for good community relations. Enough with the misplaced sense of entitlement of it all. And yes I can have these opinions. And anyone who knows me will know my not liking issues with lights, turf fields, etc with regard to academic institutions is nothing new. And academic institutions with neighbor relations issues is also a particular pet peeve.
And a not so subtle love tap to the invisible interim commissioner in Ward 4 in Radnor. So Jim Reilley if you wanted to be a commissioner, dude then be one. It means being present in your ward. You are freaking INVISIBLE . For residents he is supposed to serve he has a page on Radnor’s exceptionally clunky website. I will also note he lives literally in that affected neighborhood. (So unless he exists under a rock he can’t deny this issue exists.)
Here is refreshing all of your memories on Agnes Irwin and their other community kerfuffles past:
By Bill Rettew | wrettew@dailylocal.com | Daily Local News UPDATED: February 14, 2025 at 12:08 PM EST
I would like to know WHERE in the Daily Local News article that Vista Today’s Ashley Pierce who works as paid full time staff (Communications and Membership Coordinator) at the Western Chester County Chamber of Commerce sees that the reporter actually said that West Whiteland blocked demolition and development of the decrepit Exton mall? Because someone with a communications position one would hope had a better grasp of just plain reading an article?
What happened last week was a public hearing for an ordinance amendment in West Whiteland pertaining to a West Whiteland Township zoning ordinance, correct?
Quite literally the recommended motion was to tweak the zoning, right? It was advertised etc properly, correct? Wasn’t it discussed at a meeting towards end of 2024? Aren’t municipalities allowed to tweak zoning? And again, where did West Whiteland say they were blocking a demolition or development? Where did the reporter in The Daily Local say that? Does Ashley Pierce have imaginary friends she plays with still too?
You know sometimes I think Vista Today and the various other publications under their umbrella are ok, but the thing is this; what are they actually writing and researching? Are they just a news aggregator? It’s confusing, right? When they first started they did have some original content but now not so much?
So they aim to make a positive impact? How is oddly interpolating what a local paper’s reporter wrote and not accurately representing what West Whiteland did a positive impact? Funny how a news aggregator is becoming the news but not necessarily perhaps how originally intended?
Here is a YouTube that Vista had in their piece:
And I found this video from a couple of months ago:
Now when this mall was in it’s heyday, I was on the Main Line. We went to King of Prussia or took the train into Philadelphia. I do remember coming out here for stores in a strip mall. It has been too long but it was I want to say it was when Exton Crossing was built because a friend of mine at the time had an older sister who when newly married was living in Exton Station which was new at the time and not completely built. I don’t remember what strip mall, honestly. I think maybe where the Kohl’s is today.
Anyway, I think Vista Today owes West Whiteland and the Daily Local reporter an apology. Maybe they should go for more original content versus sharing everything from everyone else all of the time?
Here are two recordings from the West Whiteland Zoom on this that were made the night of the contentious meeting:
And dayummmm, West Whiteland JUST put out a press release on this. After I share that I will post things I found pertaining to the Exton Mall in deeds etc. It’s not just one parcel. And do any of you see new ownership reflected yet? I didn’t so I guess it is still in process? Whatever, this is kind of mall drama and the sad thing is an ordinance change is not prohibiting development or a mall demolition is it? And a final note is simply to ask if it is well past time for the Building and Planning guy Weller to retire?
Yeah that photo….but wait there are more….West Chester Borough…newer apartment building with “amenities.” I have to ask if trash is counted as an amenity?
Pretty damn gross.
So what would you do?
I would call the Borough of West Chester and Chester County Health Department, if the latter is not too busy screwing over church soup kitchens, right?
Tenants deserve protection and again, pretty gross, right?
Tell me again the fairy tale of how fabulous all these hulking box after box apartments are good for communities, ok?
Malvern Borough King St – other side from Flying Pig – a lot has been empty for a few years, and now construction fencing is up and it looks like foundation digging?
It used to be before it was an empty lot, a row of buildings. The buildings at the time were historic to the borough, but they were in such bad shape. They had to come down. I do know that much because I remember when they were torn down, but then at one point pre-COVID it was a giant apartment tower thing proposed and then that idea went nowhere, but did it really?
So someone tells me that there’s another kind of apartment thing in the works. Shops below and like 30 apartments above, so it’s another one of these fairytales of live work play because you know you can afford to work minimum wage in the shop below and rent the overpriced department above, right?
I’m sorry did I sound sarcastic? I meant to sound sarcastic. If it was maybe small like a dozen units and stores I would say OK that will be at least in keeping with probably human scale in the Borough of Malvern.
Here’s hoping Malvern can get it together enough to stay on top of this. They have yet another new manager who came in at the end of 2024 and I hope she realizes Chester County is a different beast from Delaware County. She is a commissioner in Upper Chichester and used to be Manager in Darby Township.
Malvern Borough is one of those places where they try to keep things on the down low, nothing to see here. I am a particular fan at the moment of the Mayor of Malvern Borough who liked a post the other day that was literally bashing me on Facebook. That’s so very professional for a man I’ve never met. And the amusing thing is the post was just because, literally…a woman I had never even ever interacted with.
Yeah Mr. Mayor, I see you. Maybe it’s time to just retire completely?
30 apartments is going to be fairly tall. And Malvern Borough seems to forget the last time they got something they didn’t like called Eastside flats which really aren’t wearing very well are they?
Apparently the development has a lot of variances needed so right now they’re just digging a hole in the ground, which of course is very attractive with the bright orange construction fencing, which really isn’t too hard for kids to get into. I might add.
Oh, and the 30 apartments? 31 bedroom units and if you’ve seen most of the one bedroom apartments being built today, they are very urban style. In other words there’s not too terribly much room for you to even change your mind. Nothing is affordable because God forbid you have affordable units as an affordable housing. It helps create and keep a more transient society, which isn’t good for overall areas because people don’t know the history they don’t care about the history they come and they go depending on the rent increases. Ask people in the Summerhill development in West Whiteland for example, ok?
Of course this evening is the public hearing in East Whiteland that you can zoom or attend in person about the repurposed office building over on Swedesford. It is another live work, play fairytale and it’s 220 units.
You know it would be really nice if these municipalities especially when they are in the same school district would actually work together better on how many development units were coming. Between the municipalities and a couple of school districts you have to wonder when Great Valley School District in particular is going to end up like West Chester Area School District , or Downingtown…or huge. And in the case of Great Valley, it’s kind of like Tredyffrin. Where are they going to put more schools? Oh wait in Tredyffrin they repurposed one of these godforsaken obsolete office parks into plans for a school!
So all the people without reading comprehension are going to just say once again I am anti-development across the board. And that’s not it. I am anti-bad planning and I am anti-ugly developer profit driven cram plans.
Communities need to allow for some development to keep moving forward. The problem in Pennsylvania is it’s too much development because the municipalities planning code hasn’t been updated since 1969.
Full notice: EAST WHITELAND TOWNSHIP CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that at its regularly scheduled public meeting on January 21, 2025 at 6:30 P.M. at the East Whiteland Township Municipal Building located at 209 Conestoga Road, Frazer, PA, the Board of Supervisors of East Whiteland Township shall hold a public hearing and may take action to vote upon the application of 52 E. Swedesford Partners, LP for a conditional use pursuant to Section 200-39.D. of the Zoning Ordinance, Permitted uses for mixed use development, to develop the property at 52 E. Swedesford Road, identified as UPI No.42-4-260.4, (“Property”) as a multi-family 1-and 2-bedroom unit apartment complex, with a retail component and an office component in one of the proposed buildings, and passive recreation open space. The proposed development will consist of 220 residential units, a separate club house facility, a separate gym facility, separate garage facilities, approximately 12,000 s.f. of total retail space, approximately 12,000 s.f. of total office space, and passive recreation open space. The Property is located in the Office Business Park Zoning District and in the Corporate Overlay District. The requested conditional use approval includes amendment of the existing conditional use decision dated 7/13/16 issued in favor of Swedesford Square Apartments L/CAL Limited Partnership (then the equitable owner and now the current fee owner, with Atlantic Properties Trust as then fee owner) of the adjacent property, 54/56 Swedesford Road, identified as 42-4-260.4A and now known as the Arlo Apartment Homes. Copies of the application are available to the public electronically on the Township’s website or upon request and may be examined without charge. Arrangements can be made for copies for a charge not greater than the cost thereof to be obtained from the Township Municipal Building, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. If you desire electronic or physical copies of the application for inspection; require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the hearing; or would like further guidance on how to participate in the hearing – please contact the Township Director of Planning and Development at (610) 897-4265 or zbarner@eastwhiteland.org. Steven Brown Township Manager DLN 1/7, 1/14; 1a
Well, happy new year and East Whiteland continues its path to becoming King of Prussia west.
January 21, 2025 at 6:30 P.M. at the East Whiteland Township Municipal Building located at 209 Conestoga Road, Frazer, PA.
Well I know this has been brewing a while but wowza. I feel sorry for the neighbors. I don’t play pickleball, so it means nothing to me. I have friends who play and love it. However I do know that it is unusually noisy.
I did a little nosing around and found out this has been going on for a while (as in more than a year? Maybe two years almost?) AND if you listen to the entire meeting somewhere a neighbor says pickleball courts were built without permits? I did a screen record of the meeting because Easttown has their meeting on You Tube but unlisted so that makes me think they could disappear so….
I found the Upper Main Line Y response ineffective. I am told that the Brandywine Y (which I guess owns them now?) has or has had similar issues? I remember a big issue when they wanted to put pickleball in Lionville a year or so ago.
So things about the meeting that made me laugh out loud: kind of asking Eattown to pay for or pay towards noise mitigation with some special fencing? Umm I am still wondering HOW they built the courts without permits?
Back to the meeting. The residents were well spoken and polite. Many of the Upper Main Line YMCA (“UMLY”) supporters and patrons…less so.
One person, can’t recall her name, was as rude and dismissive as could be…and is the apparent chair of the Willistown Planning Commission? Well we all know how Willistown residents get so wonder how she would be feeling if it was next door to her ?
Some of the patrons of UMLY were pleasant-ish and polite, as I mentioned. But so many of the others? Asshats with a misplaced sense of entitlement. I did not hear any neighbor say take away the pickleball courts, only that the noise HAS to be dealt with. Some of the most immediate neighbors, like on Longcourse Lane (a great street, incidentally) are showing by my research as being in Tredyffrin. So accomplishing anything is harder because UMLY is in Easttown.
Here is where UMLY is on the zoning map. Notice the R-1 AKA Residential:
Here is the another attachment – a land use table- I found in e code 360 on zoning:
So again, not a zoning professional. Not an attorney. But I can read. And I have to ask if UMLY is playing a game they can win? And yes I suggested a land use lawyer to a friend to pass along to the residents. Ask the residents in Narberth and even Willistown who have used this man and they will tell you worth every penny.
I added the lighting component of the zoning code because that is also a consideration. Hypothetically, lights might be on later than needed in part to liability concerns. However, I also have to ask WHY those courts are not locked up at the close of every day and even seasonally when it’s too cold to play pickleball or tennis for example? I am asking because residents said at this meeting where pickleball was continuing AFTER operating hours at UMLY? And I will note at present in Radnor an elite private girls school is being rude to neighbors with super daylight bright lights at night shining into windows of neighbors. They lock their courts but say they have to keep lights on and they are not down shielded so I have been told you can wake up at 1 AM and it’s like noon. That is light pollution and that also has serious environmental impacts. It affects bird migration and other things.
Residents are entitled to a reasonable expectation of quiet enjoyment, and people might like playing pickleball at UMLY but the residents do indeed have to be considered. And they are not being considered. Neighbors have apparently been trying to deal with this for a couple of years? These neighbors are far nicer than UMLY deserves. Personally I would have given them six months.
UMLY needs to be told a cautionary tale: the tale of Dink City Pickleball that opened for a brief time at Valley Forge Military & College….and closed because the neighbors in Tredyffrin had enough of the noise rather quickly.
Dink City Pickleball was forced to close due to a violation of the township’s R1 (residential) zoning code. The business received a notice of violation in July 2023, giving them 30 days to appeal or cease operations. No appeal was filed, and the business announced that August 14, 2023 would be its last day.
Finding the holy grail – a place to play pickle – just got easier, Main Line.
Two enterprising locals just opened what they say is the largest pickleball facility in the northeast: Dink City Pickleball at Valley Forge Military Academy & College.
And unlike YMCAs, country clubs, and Malvern’s new Bounce Pickleball, you pay only for your reserved court time. No need for a membership….With the tagline “community at play,” Dink City is more than cushioned courts, painted lines and regulation nets.
“It’s all the social things around pickleball that we offer – that’s the differentiator,” Norton tells SAVVY.
Think food trucks, corn hole and music on weekends, plus lessons, clinics, leagues, tournaments, pro shop, private events and birthday parties….“I love getting out on the court and getting a good sweat on,” says Norton who’s played pickle for nine years. “But just as much as that, I like hanging out with friends and family afterwards, maybe having a beverage or a taco or something from a food truck. That enhances the experience for everybody.”
The courts have lights for evening play and will be available year-round. “There are some hard core pickle-ballers out there who will play in the cold,” Norton says. “It’s like paddle – once you get moving, you warm up a bit.”…The two decided to cash in on the craze but make it community-oriented rather than an exclusive club. A real estate broker connected them to Valley Forge Military, which has been seeking new revenue streams to offset falling enrollment. (Since 2010, VFMAC has sold 20 acres to Eastern College, five acres to Bentley Homes, and most recently, 23 acres to developer Rockwell Custom for a new senior living complex.)
“The quickest win,” the partners say, was repurposing the lightly-used tennis courts on Radnor Road in the Tredyffrin section of campus. They loved the “heart of Wayne” location – a stone’s throw from St. David’s Golf Club and close to multiple schools, campuses and country clubs.
And if all goes well, outdoor courts in Wayne could just be the beginning for Dink City. VFMAC is in early talks to turn its equestrian center into a sports complex that might include Dink’s first indoor courts. Craft and Norton are also looking at properties in and around Philly and Maryland – although they haven’t yet quit their day jobs.
Yeah and then a few weeks later, it was sayonara Dink City, again I refer to Savvy Main Line:
IN A PiCKLE IN RADNOR. Just two months after they cut the ribbon on a popular new 16-court pickleball facility at Valley Forge Military Academy, Dink City Pickleball is closing.
The trouble began with a “handful of complaints” about noise from neighbors, according to Tredyffrin Zoning Officer Erin McPherson. When she investigated, she found the commercial business was operating in violation of the township’s R1 (residential) zoning code. She sent a notice of violation on July 14, giving Dink City 30 days to appeal for zoning relief or cease operations. No appeal was filed, she says, and today Dink City announced that Monday Aug. 14 will be its last day.
“This is not the end,” wrote owners Bryson Craft and Robbie Norton in an email. “Dink City will be back better and stronger than ever.”
The partners – both young local fathers and pickleball enthusiasts – had leased four lightly used tennis courts from Valley Forge Military Academy and invested big $$ converting them into a state-of-the-art pickleball center with leagues, clinics, “Dink and Drinks” nights, summer camps and more. (See our story in the June SAVVY – link in profile and scroll down.)
“We tried to resolve the issue with the township but they wouldn’t accept our proposals,” co-owner Craft tells SAVVY.
Dink City will refund Open Play memberships and any account balances as of Aug. 15
Pickleball noise is a real problem. There is even a group on Facebook devoted to it – all areas of US and Canada:
IMPULSIVE/IMPACT SOUNDS: By definition, an impact sound is simply the solid collision between two objects, such as hammering, dropped objects, a door slamming shut, metal-to-metal impacts, etc. Impulse sound is defined as the product of a force and duration with which the force is applied. More specifically, impulse is the time integral of force from an initial time to the final time, the force being time dependent and equal to zero before the initial time and after the final time (ANSI S1.1–2013). – ……. The measurement of impulse noise is becoming increasingly common within the industrial hygiene field. Issues for measuring impulse noise issues include dynamic range, frequency range, anti-aliasing, microphone/preamplifier/power supply, sampling rates, etc.. Whether an SLM, dosimeter, or computer-based recording system is used, good impulse noise measurements are not trivial to make. The limits of the microphones may be reached. The influence of nonlinear acoustics can dramatically affect the measurements. – Taken from The Noise Manual, 6th Edition.
Like many pickleball players, when I hear (another) story about how noisy pickleball is, I simply roll my eyes and spew a few snarky remarks about how some people just can’t let others have any fun.
So, you can imagine my response when I discovered there was a Facebook Group called the “Pickleball Noise Relief Group.”
My eyes rolled back, my lips curled, and I prepared to write something blasting a bunch of Karens for wanting to shut down pickleball.However, after a few conversations with the group’s leader, Nalini Lasiewicz, and actually listening to what they had to say, I realized that automatically labeling them as a pickleball hate group that just wanted to ruin our sport was completely off base.
And my preconceived notions about people complaining about pickleball noise couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Basically, I was … I am wrong. And so are many of us who think that pickleball doesn’t actually have a noise problem.
Because for these people and many others who are too afraid to speak up, it’s a serious problem that’s causing them health and mental issues.
Pickleball players: it’s time we admit that there is a pickleball noise problem.
Meet Nalini Lasiewicz
Nalini Lasiewicz is a resident of a Los Angeles suburb who first got involved with pickleball noise issues during the COVID lockdown….Nalini says this exact scenario has played out countless times since she became an administrator of the Facebook Group created by Rob Mastroianni, a Cape Cod resident who had to sell his family home due to the noise becoming too much to deal with.
The group is dedicated to finding and supporting others across the country in similar situations. For many, it’s a platform that allows them to find ways to regain the peace they’ve lost in their neighborhoods.
Look, NO ONE IS SAYING NO PICKLEBALL. But UMLY needs to do right by the neighbors. And that doesn’t mean Easttown Township and taxpayers should be paying for noise mitigation. And If Tredyffrin shut it down at Valley Forge Military Academy and College, zoning is not so different from municipality to municipality given that the Municipalities Planning Code of the Commonwealth of PA guides it all, correct?
I have no horse in this race, but I have been watching pickleball issues out of curiosity for a while. So Easttown and Tredyffrin residents near UMLY, I hear you and I am not hearing anything other than wanting your environment back. You aren’t being unreasonable. But UMLY and Upper Main Line Y? They are. And still I ask…how did they build pickleball courts without permits if that is indeed true?
Easttown Township needs to deal with this and not play kick the can. Tredyffrin Township could step into help residents if the supervisors can stop contemplating their collective navels long enough, yes? Expectation of quiet enjoyment? It’s a real thing. So pickleballers? This is a real issue. It’s not the noise you all are hearing, it’s what the residents are hearing and that is NOT the same thing.
Pay attention to the Model Noise Ordinance video I embedded here. They talk about the expensive anti-noise fences/barriers. They are discussing how it doesn’t work….
Ok Christmas is not going to decorate itself around here. Have a good night.
The comment I am about to share has sent my teeth on edge and if you don’t want to listen to my rant, get off of this post now:
Chester County Ramblings my current neighborhood is not a dense borough, is not walkable, and has no restaurants/shops/galleries/etc. Regardless, I’m fine with development and don’t object to new neighbors. Not everyone is a NIMBY.
I don’t agree with everything you post but you are definitely “in the know” and I appreciate the updates.
As soon as my kids finish HS, I’ll be moving to a new place and WC Borough is on the list. I hope it has more apartments, nice buildings, restaurants, etc. by that time. It keeps getting better as it gets redeveloped. Maybe it will even have restored train service in a few years but I’m not holding my breath.
I’m curious as to why you choose to live in the suburbs of a major city when you frequently lament growth, development, and change? Wouldn’t some place like Forest County be a better fit? Or do you simply want access to the amenities this region offers by virtue of having the density and wealth of being near a city but not the development and congestion that come along with that? You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.
Also this comment:
Y’all hate when someone builds something on an empty lot 😂
And this one:
That was a historic parking lot though! George Washington parked there!
And this one:
Chester County Ramblings I own a home in the borough, drive or walk past these sites multiple times a week, doesn’t bother me one bit. I lived in Chestnut Square when it was first built and it was awesome, brought a lot of young people into the town, everyone was proud to live there and the property was always well taken care of. It brings more people to our local businesses and restaurants, more money into the borough. The only people I see complaining are the ones too high and mighty to live near “renters”. No one will convince me that replacing an empty concrete lot or an abandoned Burger King with a brand new, nice, apartment building is a bad thing.
And this:
All the NIMBY’s know is unhappiness about any sort of growth and change. They are perfectly content with this region stagnating and declining while the rest of the world flourishes and advances. I can see being against a 5-floor apartment complex on a farm in West Nantmeal Township, but on an empty parking lot in a walkable town with amenities?
I’m really tired of having the same conversation over and over and over again.
While some are reveling in their ignorance of what they think are funny comments, they are missing the point and the point is there are too many apartments.
NONE of these developments are even attractive at this point . The development can be along I 95 in Philadelphia or in Chester County and it all looks the same. Cheap looking Lego boxes.
Too many apartments are creating a transient aspect to society out here. It causes issues with other types of real estate. It encourages predatory real estate investors, etc.
It’s just whatever the developer can suck out of the plot of land. If these folks all want to be part of the conversation, they’re welcome to be part of the conversation but if they’re just here to be ignorant, they can F off.
I’m just tired of it. We can’t have intelligent conversations about anything.
People can either constructive and polite even if you are on the other side of the issue, but they are not . Does anyone think these apartments are doing anything in the long run? They aren’t. They cause more kids to be in already bursting at the seams schools and they cause other stresses on infrastructure which is human and otherwise so it’s services like utilities, and then it’s emergency services like fire and police, etc and roads.
So if anyone out there would like dense buildings next to you, give the developers your address I’m sure they can oblige.
We can’t handle everything that’s being built literally. And our municipalities can not afford it. They get the short term high of ratables, but then we’re all on the hook.
There is no pace. There’s no real design. There’s a lack of human scale in most of these developments and issues with setbacks as well. Find open space? Not if they can help it. You know how you get open space in any of these new developments? If they can’t build on all of the land correct?
And then there are the developers that shove these plans down the throats of people in various municipalities and then they just let everything sit there and rot Today we have seen in Berwyn what happens with that. See my post on Berwyn Square.
Yes, communities have to grow and evolve to survive. But the growth shouldn’t always hurt so much and how about plans that are less dense and not so many rentals? That would probably be welcome just like anything other than a cram plan of apartments or townhouses.
What about affordable housing? I mean, basic average houses that people can downsize to who are getting older but raised their families and possibly even grew up themselves in a particular community or area. I’m also talking about what used to be called “starter houses” for people who grew up somewhere and came back to raise their own families and start their adult lives in a particular community. And by affordable housing, I’m also referring to low income housing. The state of the current supply of low income housing in Chester County is deplorable.
These developers aren’t building for a sense of community. They’re building for a sense of their own bank accounts. This is why you saw two municipalities this past election put an open space referendum on the ballot – East Whiteland and Uwchlan. Both referendums passed.
We don’t live in Chester county because it’s just some random suburb, we live here because we love the history of our county and we don’t want to become what Montgomery County and Delaware County have become and we’re pretty much there. It’s becoming too much development, overcrowded schools and an urban feel which is not what most of us signed up for. Bucks County too. Basically pick a county.
The Municipalities Planning Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is something I have written about so many times before I’ve lost count. This is the state level zoning bible, the guides all municipal zoning throughout the state. This weighty tome came into being when the definition of suburb and exurb was very different than today. this thing has not been comprehensively updated since around 1969. We’re at 2024. That’s 55 years.
Supposedly there was a big update in 2022, but I don’t remember anyone in Harrisburg enacting an act of the state constitution to do it?
What changed in 2022? Things most people didn’t even realize happened:
Amended Title 53 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to establish the Municipal Boundary Change Act. This act also defined changes to real property that don’t require the assessment office to adjust an assessment
Amended Section 509 of the MPC to clarify the amount of financial security that municipalities should retain to cover the cost of remaining improvements on a subdivision or land development. This amendment took effect in February 2022
What we’re looking for in our communities among other things is more open space preservation, historic preservation that actually has teeth, and meaning, means to slow down the pace of development and have better control in our communities over the types of development we’re seeing. we want to be able to say we need to pause dense development and we want tools that our municipalities can legally have to help us preserve the feeling of where we call home.
It feels like every square inch of where we live is getting developed doesn’t it and as soon as you say, I really wish there wasn’t so much development you’re called NIMBY.
That’s bullshit. And the reality is the pace of development currently is not sustainable long-term and the stuff being built it doesn’t have staying power. The finishes and building style is just put it up as fast as you can. It doesn’t last. What is being built is not inexpensive and it looks cheap.
Parcels of land are built out to every inch possible. If any thing is retained as “open space” half of the time it’s not billable so you think a developers being magnanimous, but they really aren’t.
And then with all this development, especially in places like West Chester Borough you have people that’ll say “but we need workability and then maybe we’ll get the train back .”
Do you have two dollars? I can give you a piece of my bridge. I don’t really own a bridge. It’s a turn of phrase. All I’m saying is people are so gullible that they want to believe just about anything, but it doesn’t mean anything is based in reality.
And people always want to just say I’m NIMBY and I hate all development. There have been developments in the past I’ve actually liked. but those plans are few and far between or in some cases never actually happened because they were too good to be true.
Plans for development need to fit the communities in which they are going to be located. which of course is why I am worried about what is planned for the Weston tract in West Whiteland of W. King Rd. It’s why I am also concerned about whatever warehouses are being planned for the corner of Phoenixville Pike and W. King Rd. in West Whiteland.
Another thing I’m concerned about is whatever will happen with that random 15 acres that are partially in East Goshen and West Whiteland that were part of Schiffer Farm that the West Chester University Foundation is selling to a developer which backs up to a sweet older neighborhood on Old Phoenixville Pike.
And things like Lionville Station Farm are still in play aren’t they? And what is it about Downingtown Area School District that you don’t really know what’s going on with what the latest buyer is actually going to do?
And then you go past what used to be Happy Days Farm. The scale and just size of those warehouses is insane and no more farm.
If you want to see what negative impacts are occurring with all of this development try to drive through Ardmore or Wayne. Look at all the apartments in Tredyffrin, including along 202.
All of the development is overly dense and it’s about maximizing developer profit. It has nothing to do with community. It has nothing to do with any of us who were here first.
Again, all of this development is not sustainable. All of the rentals don’t foster a sense of community but they do create a more transient society. But go ahead, call me NIMBY if it makes you feel better. It’s not the truth.
I mean, yikes! So much for Berwyn Square being the fabulous addition to Easttown Township, right? I mean, how long is Easttown Township going to allow this to go on? This affects property values of neighboring properties, residential and commercial. It looks like a slum.
I was tipped off today when I saw a post:
So the entire roof hasn’t completely collapsed as of earlier with photos sent to me, but you look at the photos being shared here that residents sent to me today and you tell me if you think that looks safe? And how about there’s no construction fencing around this entire project and does police tape, and those sawhorse / barricade things keep people out?
Residents have expressed concern for quite a while now haven’t they? Haven’t among the complaints been not only does the site look like a slum, people have questioned it being secure as in. They’re worried about people getting into it?
I think I first wrote about this in 2019 and that would’ve been under the prior developer. The meetings caused such a huge resident turnout that they had to cancel one of them and reschedule.
Residents have been against this super sizing since this first began and I think that was what 2018 or so? I’ve lost count because this has been going on and been a consternation for so many years at this point.
I have to ask how can they say? They actually care about the community around this site and how can Easttown allow this to continue? This is ridiculous. There isn’t even cyclone fencing up around this site. Haven’t residents been worried before about middle schoolers and other kids getting in there?
OK, everyone gets it. The site will be developed, but what was there before obviously needs to be taken down ASAP no BS. They need to clear that lot and make it look neat and safe. Now I realize in order for Easttown Township to do the cleanup themselves they might have to take the property via eminent domain, but wouldn’t that be for public purpose at this point because it doesn’t look quite safe? And I don’t like eminent domain, but they’re not taking care of the property and they’re not moving forward on the project right now, are they? Now I also wonder if Easttown could force the unsafe structures to come down as a matter of public safety without taking the property because I remember East Whiteland did that on two dilapidated properties two different times in recent memory.
The neighbors deserve better. The residents of Easttown in general deserve better.
It seems like no matter what municipality you live in you are living with development sites that haven’t quite popped yet and they just sit there rotting don’t they? 
Giddy up Easttown and DP Partners, giddy up. This is BS. This developer likes to tell people at meetings how he’s one with the community, well dude do you want this across the street from your house?
I have given up counting the number of blog posts just about the Joseph Price house in Exton. It’s the house at the corner of S. Whitford Rd. and Clover Hill Road. It’s a gorgeous house.
For years many of us have been concerned because there’s nobody living there and we feel that people have been getting in. There’s a new video from Abandoned Steve and I am very grateful to whoever this videographer is because it shows West Whiteland Township the exact state of this historic asset, and this is a federally listed historic property.
I actually know people who have tried to make a deal to buy this house. I also have been told that people on the West Whiteland Historic Commission have been trying to find a preservation buyer haven’t they? But things don’t seem to be as simple as that do they?
Can we just ask the question why is it that the two owners of this property who have never done anything with the house? It seem to be unable to let it go and are just letting it rot? Why why why why?
Anyway, I hope this video will spur people into convincing these owners to sell to a preservation buyer, etc. and I think West Whiteland needs to make sure this property is properly secured.
I’m having a big I told you so moment now. When I had written about this and said that I had a couple of inside photos that somebody had sent me from like a year or two ago, people argued up down and sideways that the house was occupied.
