It’s no secret I have been following the plight of Jackie Schaffer for a couple of years now.
It seems to me that people are starting to believe her, and by people I mean, law-enforcement, and more. Do you see that above? That’s a police report.
I think Chester County needs to do the right thing with this messy enchilada at this point don’t you? And do we really think that someone who is guilty of doing something wrong with keep at it, and keep talking about this until people above Chester County started paying attention?
I don’t.
It’s a wild tale of bad checks (not hers, see screenshots below), crazy trails of court dockets and so much more.
This is a mother of an adult disadvantaged son, who is dependent upon her because he can’t live by himself. So if she is fighting for her life, and that of her child. And I think that a mother will do anything to protect her child especially when something wrong is happening don’t you agree?
Deed fraud is nothing new. Except you know, they seem to act like it only happens in underserved neighborhoods in major metropolitan cities like Philadelphia.
Deed fraud happens. Period. Jackie has a Facebook group called Chester County Property Rights. Anyway, I think this is really gaining traction. 
They say where there is smoke, there is fire. She followed the smoke and I think this dumpster fire in Chester County is going to blow up sooner rather than later.
I don’t know Jackie. I hope to meet her someday and give her a big hug and shake her hand. 
That screenshot was sent to me by a friend of mine with a barf emoji. I think a barf emoji was being kind.
And I’m laughing because they listed as Church Road but it’s not actually Church Road. It’s Church Street because it’s a loop around back around off of Highland Avenue in Wayne/Radnor Township. Near Odorisio Park.
So the irony here is this is $1 million skinny box that is around the corner from the affordable housing on Highland Avenue known as Highland Homes. The house looks like a box I would get 6 foot garden stakes in. 
Of course, when I was researching Highland Homes, I came up with an article from 2001. And why that interested me was the mention of a company called Pennrose Partners which over the last couple of weeks I think it was was told no by West Chester Borough Council on the Church Street lot in West Chester :
So I went digging and I found an old listing for a lot for sale on Church Street in Radnor Township. And I’m thinking this is the same land and the same location only they say Church Road because Church Road is a lot nicer than Church Street in the category of snob appeal because oh my gosh, they can’t market it as being $1 million plus property around the corner from affordable housing can they?
Here are screenshots real estate listings from Church Road in Radnor Township and a video, so you can see it’s not even the same neighborhood:
How ugly is this million dollar design blight on Radnor Township? It is definitely Church Street not Church Road. My guess it’s a Main Line version of like calling a town a Main Line town when it’s not, or calling a house in Downingtown Chester Springs. Marketing with a side of egg on Realtor face, right?
I just can’t with this listing. I mean I knew listings were crazy in Radnor Township when I found these:
Willow Avenue was the street below Poplar Ave on the other side of the Gulph Creek from North Aberdeen where Radnor Township barely blinked when they tore down the Jonathan Lengel house recently. And speaking of Lengel, read this about the family from the 1958 Radnor Historical Society Bulletin:
Now I’m off on a tangent a little bit, but I will circle back to the ugly house on Church Street shortly. But again here is the post I wrote recently about the Jonathan Lengel house:
So people not familiar with Radnor Township wouldn’t know that Willow Avenue is not a fancy street. It’s a nice street but it started out as a place for the working man to buy a twin home after they filled in what was the Wayne Natatorium pool in the early 20th century. I go by the corner of the street on Radnor Street Road once in a while coming back from Penn Medicine in Radnor to make sure that the historical marker I got for them is still standing. And yes, I worked to get that marker approved and erected.
I don’t trust the Radnor Township of today. They value nothing. And they certainly don’t value design standards in new construction if they’re approving Lego houses to go with Lego institutional feeling apartments, townhouses, and condos with all the personality and charm of a prison meets a mental ward.
And the fact that the weenie little former meteorologist, John Bolaris, who’s like the walking talking Philadelphia joke for decades is the realtor on this is icing on the cake.
Here is the recent write up of him from Philadelphia Magazine:
This is a town where local TV news personalities are very much Philly celebrities. John Bolaris was the talk of the town in the ’90s, when he was meteorologist for Channel 10. He became a regular fixture of gossip-column fodder. And he seemed to lead a charmed life — that is, until winter 2001. That’s when Bolaris blew his biggest forecast — or perhaps I should call it a fearcast. He predicted a “Storm of the Century” that amounted to less than an inch of snow. Folks laughed Bolaris out of town. He went to work in New York.
Bolaris turned up here again in 2009, this time at Fox 29. But things didn’t go so well. And Fox 29 soon parted ways with him. There was also the time when Bolaris claimed that $43,000 in charges on his American Express card were the result of two Latvian models drugging him. Oh, and there was that stun-gun attack in the Hamptons. I could go on!
Yeah there I left you a excerpt. You can click on it and read the rest of the article. The thing I remember most about this guy, other than how incredibly short he is is when we were all much younger and out on the town in the Main Line we would see him out. Of course we also used to see NBC10 Steve Levy and his zip up cowboy booties. And Sir Charles as in Barkley. Charles Barkley incidentally was always very nice. Bolaris and Levy? LOL 😂
But I digress.
This is pretty much hands-down, the ugliest new construction house I’ve seen in quite a while. And how does it fit into its surroundings and why do they say it’s on Church Road when it’s on Church Street which is off of Highland Avenue ? (Weird listing HERE.) this ugly house would look great next to those butt ugly townhouse things that the Ship Road couplet was built for in West Whiteland.
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got other than the Philadelphia Business Journal is listing a property that was once part of Ardrossan is for sale and the property the Ardrossan farmer rents is apparently also for sale.
I opened with that snippet from the Lower Merion School District meeting.
Why?
Because it has sent off a tsunami of social media speculation. I can’t resist and I have to memorialize some of it. It’s fascinating.
When I started seeing things appear on social media yesterday, I actually reached out to Natural Lands. They told me what was appearing on Facebook wasn’t true. I have no reason to doubt them. Because if Lower Merion School District is in the middle of a delicate transaction, no one might know anything yet.
They actually responded on social media:
I’m going with nothing to see here with Oakwell until there is actually something to see. Large real estate transactions, especially when you’re talking about hopefully a preservationist can be quite delicate, so in my opinion it’s time to put the egos aside and sit on the gotcha moments for now.
Like I said, sometimes the side show is more interesting than the circus. What is gained out of this game of gotcha?
Apparently Lower Merion School District has had a change of heart? I will believe it when the deal is inked but I am cautiously optimistic.
Truthfully, I had stopped following much of what was going on at Oakwell, because some of the volunteers involved with the Save Oakwell I found to be so distracting as individuals, that it made it hard to follow the actual issue. That being said I would occasionally get my updates from other friends I have that have been involved with this since the beginning.
Oakwell is next door to Stoneleigh. Originally was part of Stoneleigh land before we all came along. I remember going to some nonprofit thing there years ago I think with my mother, it was a garden thing. It’s been too many years to remember what.
I wonder what the prior owner thinks? I wonder because he is the one who set this all in motion in the first place isn’t he?
And then you have to wonder who is the new potential owner? When this all first started, Villanova University was buying it. Then came the whole thing with Lower Merion School District.
So who is the potential new owner the latest superintendent of the Lower Merion School District mentioned? Honestly, I don’t know. What I do know is nothing is finalized and if there is a new owner brewing, it has to be voted on by the school board. In public.
So I wouldn’t be quick to believe everything you read on Facebook just yet, and I am saying that as someone who has pretty goddamn good sources.
I think at best we are cautiously optimistic. I hope it’s saved so that tea pavilion survives because that’s actually rare to see one pretty much intact. Given the history of the property, of course what would be awesome is if it could be added to Stoneleigh but I don’t know that that is happening and we just have to wait and see at this point.
Just pray, it isn’t some predatory developer. One of the biggest problems in this area when it comes to saving gardens and preserving things is, there are no more Ernesta Drinker Ballards around.
This popped up on NextDoor. Mind you the platform itself is the social media for literal dummies site. I don’t know why, but this is the type of people it attracts who post the most.
This woman is sharing this post from literally a farming community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Of course a lot of the comments about this have disintegrated to stupidity in politics. Calling her a leftist Karen who’s probably vaccinated was one of my favorite comments when I shared this on Facebook that I removed. Politics has nothing to do with us. This is plain old, ordinary ignorance, and very humorous to me because politics, don’t come into it, considering where the poster is from which is rural Lancaster County.
I have always been grateful when I see a hay truck or a tractor on the road because it still means there are farmers around in spite of all of the development which pushes us all out and artificially inflates land prices.
And I have to ask this woman what kind of a farmer would she rather have? One who does glam photo shoots sitting on tractors etc and has a publicist or an actual getting hands dirty in the dirt farmer?
And speaking of farmers, again how many do you know who have a professional publicist and seemingly tons of time on social media making bold claims?
I am also just astounded that for all the people who are deserving and kill themselves working towards a James Beard award and she gets one for what exactly? If it’s a choice between an actual farmer on a tractor and a fauxmer, I will go for the real deal. Kind of like giving all puff and no substance (or track record) a huge federal grant when that could be a farming game changer for more deserving folks, right?
And so we are clear, I don’t care about the race, creed or color of a farmer. I care about those rare individuals who are actual stewards of the land and not just chin wagging selfies and reels on their self perceived fabulousness.
One of my favorite farms in Chester County is Queen’s Farm in West Chester. It is owned and operated by the Yin Family. You can buy produce from them at the West Chester Growers Market and other local markets.
Let me know who some of your favorite Farmers in Chester county are. I’m thinking maybe we should start to feature some of them so people know about our farmers. You know the ones who don’t have time for photo ops and professional publicists.
Thanks for stopping by.
A real Chester County farmer. Farmer Zuohong “Ed” Yin of Queen’s Farm, West Chester, PA
Last night there was a meeting of the West Whiteland Planning Commission. It was the first go round for the proposed development plan.
First of all who would’ve thought that the West Chester University Foundation would be practicing to be a bad neighbor, now that they have been given the Schiffer Farm? It’s very disappointing. Truthfully, also a little surprised the Schiffer family didn’t put more conservation restrictions on the gift. I mean, I get that probably the foundation doesn’t want to be responsible for this entire property, but this one section is so constricted by where it is and problematic before you think about adding houses to it that I just don’t get it.
Before I get to sharing some things, I think people will find interesting or helpful, I’m going to share a video from this afternoon showing rising storm water on Old Phoenixville Pike. Next is a photo with a ruler sticking out of it, indicating 8 inches of flood water on this narrow street this afternoon.
This plan has two parcels in two municipalities. 15 of the acres of this potential development are in West Whiteland. 5 acres are in East Goshen and East Goshen heard the plan recently.
I found it most interesting that the Chester County Planning Commission isn’t in love with this plan. and why I find that interesting is they are so pro development, so that speaks volumes about this plan already.
So here are some of their concerns:
Notes from County Planning Commission:
In #1 “enhancements in affordability” . It doesn’t sound like this development will do that.
In #2 highest priority, land-use objectives listed for this watershed.
In #3 pipeline concerns during construction listed
In #4 access concerns, because only one way in and out
In #7 limit tree removal from woodlands
In #8 stricter DEP or municipal limitations on wastewater and stormwater discharge because protected watershed
So last evening, the neighbors were tremendous. They spoke so well, and from the heart and intelligent questions, and stated their case. One of the things that kept questioning is this easement where developer wants to build, and it shows up on the West Whiteland as naturally constrained land, The thing about that is, it’s not supposed to be developed. And it floods back there as you can see, so imagine, increasing impervious surface coverage, taking away trees, etc? Do we really think some stormwater management plan that are developer floats in front of the municipality is going to take care of all of it? I don’t think so and maybe that’s just my opinion, but I’m entitled to it.
When is the last time FEMA updated maps around there? Or the vicinity?
I am just here expressing support for these neighbors in West Whiteland on Old Phoenixville Pike and elsewhere around this proposed plan being carved out of now old Schiffer farm land.
This is not a needed plan, it’s just a plan for a developer to make a buck and move on, isn’t it?
Small neighborhoods should not be taken for granted anywhere, ever. These neighbors have been taken for granted already by what has happened so far.
Look at the geology of the area with the schist and karst of it all in our area – affects pipelines, wells, water lines so what will happen with what they want to do if they get this development approved?
Stormwater is already an issue here. Neighbors were saying at the meeting how water also pours off of Route 202. How will filling up 20 acres with McMansions improve that?
Economically viable uses might be the law BUT it doesn’t mean development here will actually be viable. Why do residents in a small, lovely, established neighborhood have to suffer like this? Are they not valuable and in a lot of cases very long term residents?
West Whiteland can be proactive here and could have a sign up for directly affected residents to be notified of every little thing happening because it happened where I came from which is Lower Merion Township.
And because this plan is in two municipalities residents need to watch everything going on in BOTH West Whiteland and East Goshen.
This is not a good plan and the developer also has warehouses planned for the Johnson Matthey parcel that he purchased at West King Road and Phoenixville Pike. And the Weston Property on West King Road may be quiet right now but it is only a question of when the next bad development plan for that property pops up, right?
West Whiteland and her residents and residents in neighboring municipalities of East Whiteland, East Goshen, and West Goshen need to remain vigilant and on alert.
Last night no plan was approved in West Whiteland and nothing has been approved in East Goshen. This is but the beginning, and people need to stay on top of it.
For the first time my blog’s header photo is from another photographer other than myself. Thank you Henry Alonzo Longabaugh
I want you to see how bad it has gotten at Lloyd Farm in Caln Township.
A new photographer friend, Henry Alonzo Longabaugh, sent in photos.
This is again, land that was part of an original Penn land grant. This farm existed before the USA was a country.
As residents of Chester County, Pennsylvania, we really need to start standing up for these properties and open space better. We are falling down on the job, quite literally.
This is yet another reason why I am saying that for election 2024, we need to make development, over development, lack of historic preservation, not enough open, space, preservation, and not enough agricultural conservation in Pennsylvania counties known for farming election issues.
Enjoy and learn from the photos.
And because of a greedy developer, and that is an opinion that we are allowed to have under the U.S. Constitution, this is not only demolition by neglect, but quite frankly historic destruction. And Caln Township is allowing it.
Damn people it’s developer who’s on first isn’t it?
Late last night, I broke the news on this blog about the Johnson Matthey land getting sold in West Whiteland and as per the Philadelphia business journal plans for Eli, Kahn to build warehouses.
But wait, there’s more. Apparently misery loves company and there’s another warehouse bit of scuttlebutt floating around Chester County, not too far away from this.
Sources living out around Uwchlan who have had to live through Lionville Statuon Farm have been keeping an eye on a particular location off of Route 100 and behind where the Harley Davidson place was and kind of where the ice hockey rink is.
They say that on edge of Uwchlan, another warehouse plan is being hatched? Is it true it is also developer Eli Kahn? The fear is that someone if not him will be putting up a warehouse at the end of Haywood Drive (where the skating rink is) and does anyone else have details? The land is fully covered in trees that provides a nice buffer from the turnpike for people on roads like Susan Drive and Saddle Drive.
So if I have it straight, it’s the Uwchlan side of East Township Line Road? Rumors residents are hearing has it that Uwchlan Township expects a warehouse proposal there in February?
And speaking of warehouse proposals what about that land near this cleared by Hankin last year or something for warehouses?
So I think, in my humble opinion that warehouses are the new apartments/condos/town houses/carriage homes/commercial real estate office buildings.
People say this real estate market is still so “hot.” I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. No one wants to admit when a real estate market is softening because it’s the death knell for developers isn’t it? I think certain aspects of real estate are still “hot,” but I think people are not renting the apartments as quickly as we are told; I don’t think new builds on condo, townhouse, developments, and “carriage” homes are moving as quickly as possible. Also just driving around you can see that regular residential McMansion builds are not selling out as quickly anymore.
And we know the commercial real estate market is also struggling given the fact how developers want to reimagine commercial office buildings if they can’t sell them. Look no further than Tredyffrin . They want to make one a school which actually isn’t a bad idea.
But then you look at East Whiteland and a developer wants to turn an old commercial office building into apartments because we need more of those of course, right?
By Ashley Fahey – Editor, The National Observer: Real Estate Edition, The Business Journals Jan 24, 2024
Now I am told from friends in Tredyffrin the new builds in historic Mount Pleasant are not quite selling like hotcakes, and the upper Merion side of Mount Pleasant has he had another proposal coming for like three more McMansion houses – this was the message I received:
Upper Merion Zoning Board Hearing next Wednesday February 7th. 7pm. Developer wants to build 3 townhomes at 1034 Mt Pleasant.
Called the ZHB officer to ask if neighbors on the Tredyffrin end of the street are allowed to speak. Waiting for a return call.
So recent infill development in Mount Pleasant. I think is one single McMansion and eight McMansion twins and residents over there are not seeing any have sold.
Ok ⬆️ above is preposterously called The Enclave at Saint Davids. That is very amusing Main Line marketing to me because this is Wayne but it’s close to St. David’s which I guess sounds more pretentious? You know kind of like when they call Downingtown Chester Springs? And the price tag on Henry/Fairview ? $1,349,000. $1,149,000.
Now part of the reason they’re maybe not selling are the student housing slumlords in this neck of the woods right? I mean would you want your million dollar house down the street from where drunken off campus college students are vomiting on residents cars after partying all night?
Sorry, I know I’ve been rambling on here a bit. But we have to keep talking about these crazy ass developments. They keep popping up so they’re still building residential but it’s really not selling the way you would think. People are still buying houses but they’re looking for established neighborhoods and even fixer-uppers because the price points are so crazy.
And then there are all the parcels of land or structures are sitting rotting because no one has paid the price to buy the land. That could be for commercial or residential.
In some cases, there are historical assets sitting there rotting. Lloyd Farm in Caln comes to mind or the Joseph Price House in Exton/West Whiteland. Even the historic farmhouse on Route 30 in Frazer, next to the boat dealership counts.
Whatever the reason is for development, there is too much of it. And if all of a sudden more warehouse, plans are popping up and worse it’s a potential indication of the fact that municipalities need to actually pay close attention here? But are they?
Only time will tell.
Maybe it’s just my opinion, but maybe just maybe it all needs to stop for a while? And we can’t do it just with the officials in various municipalities, the state needs to step in, but then they would have to get past lobbyists wouldn’t they?
I leave you with beware the Aesop‘s fable of “build it and they will come,” because sometimes it’s just like the Emperor’s New Clothes and maybe not really there, but hey, I am but a mere mortal and a female. What do I know right?
It was Happy Days Farm. It was part of a Penn Land grant. It was a historic resource. It was beautiful and until not that long ago, a working farm with terrific tenant farmers who cared about the land. Vanguard the financial giant had come to own it.
Now as of fall of 2023 another developer is in control. Portman Holdings of Atlanta is busy steamrolling it all down for some kind of 1.9 million-square-foot industrial complex. So is that developer speak for lots of warehouses?
We drove past what was Happy Days Farm today and it’s so sad and a waste. Chester County is disappearing one bad development at a time. Soon it will all be bulldozed and a county historically known once for farms, open space, bucolic vistas and lovely country architecture and more will be gone.
My wish for 2024? That Chester County residents will rise up and start saving what’s left of Chester County; will make saving Chester County an ELECTION issue. It’s a Presidential election year. Just a thought.
The first Planning Commission meeting for West Whiteland Township was January 9th, but I missed it. The topic was that old folks development planned for Boot Road kind of on top of the Mariner East/SuNOco/Energy Transfer. Literally. Just put the address into the county pipeline interactive map.
I was concerned about this before as were many, many people. Which is why I was glad West Whiteland Supervisors didn’t just green light the plan 100% before. Among other things, there is no safety plan in the event of a pipeline emergency. We are talking elderly people, with any range of issues and that includes memory as in Alzheimer’s. It’s bad enough the pipeline runs super close to seniors in those places in East Goshen because the places were already built before Mariner East/SuNOco/Energy Transfer came through in recent years.
Yes, we’ve all lived mostly ok with petroleum pipelines. This is different. It’s more can go boom and will do so rather quickly and has the ability to cause incredible amounts of damage to life and property. Many of us, myself included live in blast zones for one pipeline or the other, so why built for at risk humans on top of a pipeline essentially?
Anyway since I missed the meeting I asked West Whiteland if I could have the zoom link. It’s a public meeting and publicly recorded so if you cannot go in person or attend the zoom portion, you CAN request to view it. (CLICK HERE) I will note again, that I requested the meeting like anyone else can. I have to point this out since people seem to think I actually run various townships with my blogging superpowers or get extra special treatment which makes me howl with laughter at the sheer absurdity of it. The truth is regular people have rights, and you can ask questions and ask to view public meeting recordings. The other truth is I am one opinion, one woman, why so fixated?
At first the meeting seemed pleasant enough and they welcomed a new member, Ginny Kerslake. If you click on below, turn up volume or watch entire meeting.
Now I make no secret that Ginny is one of my favorite people. I am very happy to see her on the Planning Commission in West Whiteland. There used to be another lady on it, but that committee runs itself like a boys’ club and often their attitude in general leaves a lot to be desired, so I have to wonder if that is why she is no longer there? I think some of them prefer those of us in the female species to be seen and not heard. I am sure I am on that list for expressing my opinion on things before them.
This plan IMHO is still a fool’s errand. I don’t object to senior living facilities, but plans that are kind of bad….are just kind of bad. What makes THIS plan bad? Location and proximity to pipelines. That would be Item 9 being referred to a lot in the recording. I also think it’s too close to the road etc. It’s an awkward location all the way around, if most of us are honest, and no matter what happens, we can indeed think that.
That is kind of a BIG item (emergency plan) to NOT be addressed when submitting plan again or whatever, isn’t it? And Ginny Kerslake expressed the SAME concerns she expressed as an ordinary resident the LAST time this plan came up. And wow the rush of Male Chauvinist Planning in the room was something else. And mansplaining. Oy the mansplaining.
One of the chief voices on the recording I think was West Whiteland Planning Commission Vice Chair Mark Gordon. Why do I say that? The East Goshen and pipeline references. You see, Mr. Gordon was an employee of East Goshen Zoning Officer /Director of Codes until some point in in 2022. I guess he retired? Do they miss his sparkling know it all personality? He might not like that I said this, but it’s not illegal and I am just a silly woman, right?
Anywhoooo, a couple of those voices on the recording who were NOT anyone representing the applicant were horrible IMHO. So the other blue meanie I think was a guy named Jeff on the Planning Commission? Why are he and the Vice Chair so full of themselves anyway? Did I miss something? I have known quite a few men and women on planning commissions in various municipalities throughout the years and a lot of them have quite frankly amazing resumes and they didn’t behave so poorly even if they didn’t agree with the public, so what gives?
The representatives of the applicant was quite pleasant throughout, I thought….and this can’t have been fun for them since they still don’t have a safety plan, right?
Here’s the 411 mansplaining Planning Commission members: you don’t know everything, no one has to kiss your rings. Yes, I am saying once again I am not fond of West Whiteland’s Planning Commission boys’ club. I have encountered it with other meetings and their obvious disdain for residents and neighbors and non residents and neighbors kind of just goes on. And it should NOT. If they don’t want to play nicely with residents etc., why are they there? That was Ginny Kerslake’s first meeting, so what is the objective? To beat her to a pulp verbally and will this continue every meeting moving forward? And point of fact, the Planning Commission has a liaison from the Board of Supervisors and why didn’t he calm the tone? He could have, it would have been most appropriate.
It’s funny, this coming week Willistown Township deals with the decorum of residents speaking at meetings. It seems West Whiteland needs to do the same with some of the Planning Commission members towards residents and seemingly women on their own board? I think it’s pretty pathetic but who am I but a mere mortal and female?
The biggest problem with certain West Whiteland Planning Commission members after mansplaining and dismissive atty-tudes is that they seem to think that if they make a recommendation it should be Gospel. They are an advisory board only. And I am glad Ginny Kerslake is there now because she will shake things up in a POSITIVE manner. I may or may not agree with her decisions while serving, but I will rest assured as will all West Whiteland residents that she LISTENS and does her HOMEWORK.
So yeah, boys’ club, I will get out the popcorn. And while I am waiting for the next mansplain be rude to female commission members occasion, I will take a moment to upload other agendas and some related screen shots where this Columbia Cottage thing has been discussed or other pipelines + elderly dwelling areas. It goes back to 2020 and I don’t even think I found them all. But seriously boys, what are you recommending for approval when all that time there hasn’t yet been a safety plan? How will you be when the plans for Church Farm Lane which will be Hershey’s Mill- like comes up? Maybe man babies, it is time to check your egos at the door and remember WHY you are SUPPOSED to be there?
You won’t like my opinions here, but am I completely wrong? I don’t think so.
