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.
I had not been to FDR Park before the Philadelphia Flower Show self-located there a couple of years ago now. And I have to be honest, that park made it a better flower show. After all, it was outdoors the way flower shows are supposed to be. I found the park to be amazing and interesting and home to quite the array of flora and fauna.
But of course, the City of Philadelphia seems to not be able to get out of their own way and want to create a turf field paradise there….which obviously would destroy the nature of it all. Turf fields are toxic in my humble opinion. Apparently some neighbors and Philadelphia residents also have that opinion because they have retained West Chester Attorney Sam Stretton and filed suit yesterday.
The risks associated with the artificial fields — which contain chemicals linked to cancer, asthma, and other health issues — are not worth the benefits.
It’s never a good sign when a former Environmental Protection Agency official says the city was “bamboozled.”
But that was how Kyla Bennett reacted when she learned Philadelphia officials were told that an artificial turf playing surface — the centerpiece of a $7.5 million renovation to a recreation center — was free of PFAS, the forever chemicals linked to cancer, asthma, and other health issues.
Bennett knew such a guarantee was impossible since PFAS-free turf does not exist. Even the head of the Synthetic Turf Council, which represents turf manufacturers, admitted as much in a letter to California lawmakers.
Yet, Sprinturf, the turf maker, told Philadelphia officials the surface didn’t contain forever chemicals. The company provided a lab report to back its claim, a spokesperson for the city told The Inquirer.
Bennett, and two other independent experts, reviewed the test results. They found them to be flawed and concluded the turf likely contained forever chemicals.
“Their detection limits were way too high, designed to not detect PFAS,” Bennett told Inquirer reporters David Gambacorta and Barbara Laker, who have spent the past year investigating the risks from forever chemicals.
The Inquirer’s investigative reports have examined troubling links to cancer involving the protective gear worn by firefighters, the turf at Veterans Stadium, where the Phillies and Eagles once played, and turf at youth sports facilities….Portsmouth, N.H., spent $3.5 million for a turf field after being assured it contained no toxic chemicals. After residents raised concerns, the city conducted tests and found PFAS chemicals.
Similar turf battles have erupted in cities and towns in New Jersey and beyond, prompting officials to take action. California passed a measure last year that allowed municipalities to ban turf fields. New York recently banned the sale of turf fields with forever chemicals. Similar bills have been introduced in Massachusetts and Vermont….This board voiced support for the broader renovations to FDR Park, but the risks associated with the turf fields are not worth the de minimis benefits. In addition to the forever chemicals found in the turf fields, studies show a higher rate of injuries compared with playing on grass.
Beyond the chemical and injury risks associated with turf fields, Philadelphia is also exposing taxpayers to costly lawsuits from individuals who get cancer or are hurt playing on the synthetic grass.
Turf field supporters argue the synthetic grass is easier to care for and allows more playing time. But the up-front cost is substantial, and the turf does not last forever — just the chemicals.
Of particular concern are the children who face the most risk from playing on the turf fields. The EPA warned that growing children are more susceptible to the harmful effects of forever chemicals.
Studies show that poorer neighborhoods, especially those made up largely of Black and brown residents, already face a disproportionate amount of environmental hazards. Turf fields add to the harm and inequality.
Parker and City Council should do all they can to protect the most vulnerable. Banning turf fields is a good start.
by David Gambacorta and Barbara Laker Updated Feb. 23, 2024, 11:52 a.m. ET Published Feb. 23, 2024, 5:00 a.m. ET
A new artificial turf playing field, the centerpiece of a $7.5 million upgrade of South Philadelphia’s Lawrence E. Murphy Recreation Center, is supposed to be free of PFAS, the chemicals that the EPA has linked to cancer, asthma, and a range of other health problems.
Sprinturf, the turf’s manufacturer, told city officials that the surface didn’t contain the so-called forever chemicals, and provided a lab report to support its claim, a spokesperson for the city’s Rebuild program said earlier this week.
But three independent experts who separately reviewed the test results told The Inquirer that the lab test, compiled by Michigan-based RTI Laboratories Inc., is flawed and inadequate, and that the turf likely still contains the chemicals.
The city had, in the past, pledged to install only artificial turf that didn’t contain PFAS in renovations of public fields.
“Purely misleading testing that no reputable lab would do,” Graham Peaslee, a physicist at the University of Notre Dame, and a widely recognized expert on PFAS, wrote in an email to the newspaper.
“We have plans to follow up with the manufacturer about the test report,” Kira Strong, the executive director of Rebuild, said Thursday. “We care deeply and foremost about the safety of our children and families that use this field.”
(Rebuild, which is funded with proceeds from the city’s sweetened beverage tax and foundation grants, is tasked with making improvements to rec centers, libraries and parks across the city.)
Here’s a novel idea for Filthadelphia: clean up the streets. That means trash, potholes, broken sidewalks, the smell of human urine. Clean up crime. Clean up Fairmount Park and other parks and let them be parks. It’s not a greenspace Madam Mayor if it’s artificial turf. It’s just colored green and smells like plastic. I have to be honest that I am shocked that even from a fiscal aspect that the City of Philadelphia would even think of spending crazy money to in effect, destroy a park, can’t you agree?
Ahh development. This is Greystone in West Goshen. One word: HIDEOUS.
Living cheek to jowl. No real gardens. No individuality.
This was once a glorious estate. Of course, while it was a glorious estate in recent memory, there was a failed eminent domain attempt. So then after a few years the owners sold to developers. Was one action a direct result of a prior action? We’ll probably never know.
One of the things I love about this development is if you look at the last little bit at the edge of the road it looks like bad military base housing.
It is just too much development. It stresses the infrastructure in West Goshen.
Of course, in West Goshen there is a lot we will never know because everything is a state secret isn’t it? And there is still the questions about the recently deceased West Goshen employee by suicide, but has anyone else notice how no one is talking about that or what the cause was?
Sorry about that little segue, but it was kind of necessary wasn’t it?
OK back to bad development. Another amusement yesterday occurred as I was being horrified by the side of it is the giant Catalyst billboard on Lancaster Avenue in East Whiteland. It shows a giant photograph of lavender or maybe a salvia. Which is perfect for all of these people in these hideous developments, who can’t plant a flower pot full of flowers in their Welcome to Stepford plastic development. All they have to do now is gaze upon the giant electronic TV along Lancaster Avenue.
And this is what we’re becoming: just one bad development after the other. And if it’s not bad residential development now, we have to fear mega warehouses.
So class, where are the origins of these development woes and ills? The very greatly outdated Municipalities Planning Code. I mean it hasn’t been comprehensively updated since 1969, so don’t rush Harrisburg.
If you really want another shock, drive Ship Road in West Whiteland from King Road through to Lancaster Avenue. Try not to run off the road when you see the land laid bare and stripped for apartments and townhouses and other bullshit before you hit the corner.
This is Chester County. Is this what we really want?
I’m going to show you some photos next. They will remind you of all the ugly apartments being built here in Chester County, including next to Will and Bill‘s along 202, or dwarfing the Berwyn Tavern on Lancaster Avenue, or along 29 in East Whiteland. These photos were taken as a passenger driving along 95 towards the Betsy Ross Bridge. Essentially, it’s all the same ugly crap everywhere you go. Cheap to build, charge a fortune. Municipalities and residents left holding the bag.
We need to collectively as a county full of people demand better from our elected officials. And every state election, we need to make overdevelopment everywhere an issue, and we need to demand, not ask, but demand state reps and state senators remember for whom they actually are supposed to work for. And it’s not the largest donor or unions or construction lobbyists, it’s all of us.
Politicians should no longer be allowed to say how they love our area and it’s so beautiful. Or say look at all of the open space because all of the open space is disappearing. The ratio of what we’re saving as open space and farmland compared to development is a very unequal balance.
Pick a municipality. No one is immune from this.
Yes, I hate all of this development. Yes I say it out loud, and for those who think I hate all development, that’s actually not true, but we don’t see any thoughtful development anymore.
People wherever they live, need to take a stand. We need to stop the madness.
So does anyone recognize that broad side of a barn or the logo on that tractor thing?
Well, apparently, if it’s something weird that will happen, it will happen in Willistown Township.
A friend has come to me asking if I recognized anything about this tractor like the logo and she knows it’s grainy because it’s from a security camera. Here is the tiny video. The video was taken May 3, 2023 at 9:50 AM. This video was taken on their property on Creek Road. They think that this vehicle came from Wildwood Drive.
The homeowners here were not home. They were out of town. They had not contracted with anyone for any sort of work on the property. And as far as they have been able to ascertain neither have their neighbors.
They went to the Willistown Police Department via phone because they were out of town when the security camera went off. They filed a police report right then, but right or wrong, recounted to me that they didn’t feel taken seriously, or the person taking the report didn’t understand how bad this could actually be.
Not only was their lawn completely turfed, and I have photos to post next, there is this smell emanating from where whoever this was dumped whatever it was and people need to know what the chemicals are! And yes the smell is still there! And it’s now days later!!
Now my friend does appreciate that Willistown sent an officer to check it out, however, this is something that is kind of a big deal potentially. Like many of us they are on a well. Like many of us, they have pets that could be potentially fatally sickened from whatever was tossed on their property. The officer who responded did not seem to get out of their vehicle?
This dumping event is SO not OK. Not only does this person not know what chemicals were dumped, but whoever the company is and employee totally ruined her lawn. She and her husband feel utterly VIOLATED and environmentally conscious Willistown Township needs to get on the stick here.
If you have any information, leave a comment, and or message any other kind of proof to this blog’s Facebook page. I will pass it along to the homeowner. If you saw the truck carrying this weird little tractor thing and Bubba in his big blue suit, also helpful information.
Illegal dumping is actually a crime. And this counts is illegal because they didn’t authorize any work or anything.
If you are media, and you would like to be connected to this person, you can similarly contact me and I will pass your information along to them.
We have enough environmental hazards on a daily basis without some thing that is intentionally bad news like this.
Today is ugly season in Downingtown at Kerr Park. Their objective? To be louder, uglier, and nastier than everyone else.
This makes them (in their minds) better Americans than you and I.
They aren’t. It’s not actually a contest.
But all of this ugliness is exactly WHY people have to get out and vote Tuesday. They are exactly the reason we have to vote to preserve our rights. And those rights are whichever ones apply to us as human beings and Americans. If you think about it, to an extent, this election season is about protecting the basic human rights Americans enjoy, isn’t it? Our rights aren’t subjective.
Oh and where would we be without a Ron Paul t-shirt sighting as well?
The ugliness and abusive behavior and implied violence is supposed to make you afraid to stand up. It’s still the basic premise of bullies only win if you allow them. Trust me, I know. Threats and implied threats and harassment have become every day behavior for bloggers and other independent voices that aren’t interested in political cultism.
Those photos above demonstrate clearly that the Chester County GOP panders to extremism and extremists. If you are a Republican and you care about the party of Lincoln, I hope Tuesday you vote to keep their current slate of insanity and inadequacy out of office. I hope you vote to save what’s left of your party by voting against them.
Republicans and Democrats need to try to set a path forward to return to moderation, balance, and a viable working two party system. Because we need a viable two-party working system to maintain a democracy. That means saying NO to the ENTIRE GOP slate this time.
We are already “free people.” Our founding fathers fought, died, and bled for it. that means that these people also get to demonstrate their ugliness, sadly. But it doesn’t mean they have to win. But it means that Kumbaya time is over and you need to get out and vote on Tuesday.
I am just one voice. This is not my sole responsibility, and more of you need to find your individual voices. How we move forward as a county, state, region, and a country is a “We the People” kind of thing. I am not interested in people telling me how I should think and how I should write and what I should write about. I am writing about this because it matters to me personally. When I was born, women had limited rights. Women weren’t even really supposed to have their own bank accounts and credit card accounts and store charge accounts. And along with everything else, we vote Tuesday as women to preserve our rights. Don’t tell me you care, show me you care by actually voting.
Move over Marie Antoinette, Saint Theresa of West Whiteland is on the Zoom! Apparently people are being chastised for NOT going to the grocery store and using services like Instacart and Amazon? Nice. I found her interaction with this resident completely condescending, and did she go to the political graveyard of West Whiteland to dig up dead bodies to say they like the crappy and overpriced big W trash bags too?
Seriously, there were former officials speaking whose idea it probably was in the FIRST PLACE to do this whole trash bag thing! So of course they were good ol’ cheerleaders! (Full meeting video available HERE.)
Now I honestly couldn’t decide if Saint Theresa of West Whiteland should be Marie Antoinette for Halloween, or just a witch. So she has two costume options. Readers can decide on the best costume.
I will share video snippets of this public meeting and a word of warning to Supervisor Rajesh Kumbhardare. To Supervisor Raj, I caution you on your tone with residents at meetings. You are starting to sound dictatorial and combative. That is really unattractive and you can do and be better. Generally speaking, I think you are a good guy, hence the warning.
But Saint Theresa? Oy woman, just #resign already. You are an embarrassment to women, female politicians, and your own political party. Quit acting like Bossette Tweed of New Tammany Hall. How you grocery shop isn’t necessarily the golden rule of shopping is it? Who are you to judge every resident who essentially doesn’t agree with you? Ed the nice and friendly resident who spoke wasn’t the enemy. He expressed his opinion politely and in a non-threatening manner. You were rude. But then again you are always rude. You talk OVER everyone and CONSTANTLY interrupt. It’s like you are so damn afraid you won’t be paid attention to, and why is this always “The Theresa Show”? If the world revolves around YOU, lady then stop the spin so we can all jump off.
Why do you care where the guy gets his groceries? Why do youcare where the man gets his toilet paper or paper towels? What does THAT have to do with West Whiteland’s over priced but cheap trash bags? And no, we all actually don’t have to go to the grocery store any longer. And however you parented and whatever you thought when you had school age kids way back when is not necessarily everyone else’s opinion and experience. We don’t care. You aren’t a shining example of anything other than an extraordinarily unpleasant politician. That, madam, will be your enduring legacy.
You want to complain constantly on social media about how hard you work, like you are the only one who has ever worked hard, right? Ok, we get it. One of my grandmothers would have called that poor mouthing.
No one is ever as good as you are in your estimation. But then again you were the one who wanted a finance person to just cut a big check at the beginning of the year, bypassing proper procedure, so is your personal estimation even one we should take into account? I guess that might be a conversation for another day. But hey what do I know, I am just a troll, right? (Your words, I also saved the screen shots before you deleted them but you haven’t deleted that post dated September 15th where you trash talk a resident you are threatened by, right?)
Back to the trash: I do not believe all of the people who say they only put out one little trash bag a week. I DO believe that people dump their trash elsewhere, I have seen it with my own eyes in East Whiteland where the walking trail goes behind some office complexes. I literally watched someone drive into the place from the road, stop their car, pop the trunk, dump trash into office complex dumpster and drive off. I have seen it in other places too. When I lived in Lower Merion there was once an apartment landlord that would pick up his trash in Lower Merion and take it to apartments they owned in Narberth.
I understand why people in developments don’t want trash cans. They don’t want trash cans because their neighbors now just leave the recycling bins out everywhere for days without bringing them back to their garages. But that is an issue with the association that runs their development, isn’t it? If the HOAs were proactive and said they were going to fine residents for leaving trash bins out all of the time and blocking sidewalks, don’t you think development residents would be more proactive?
And the quality of the trash bags is poor. Even residents who like the trash bags say that. And they also comment on how the price can jump around if the retail outlets are paying molly markup. Why can’t trash bags be delivered to residents like quarterly? Or have them available at the township building?
And as for the trash haulers making coin on the side? Cash is king, and if people are tipping them to just just make the trash go away, as long as there are bags, I think this will continue to happen. It’s human nature, sadly.
It’s a shame, really. This is really about politicians who want to govern by surveys. Not everyone will take a survey, some actually want people to TALK to them. But some won’t do surveys in addition because they fear retaliation. Some just don’t have time. I think the survey was set up to fail because two supervisors wanted this to fail. But that is on them and their future elections, isn’t it?
The other thing that is a shame is while certain things in West Whiteland seems to be improving, certain elected officials are not. Saint Theresa of West Whiteland is unpleasant essentially EVERY meeting. Sometimes she has public meeting wig outs, other times it’s on social media. And when she puts on the extra special Bossette Tweed outfit on election day, well look out?
Why does she have to be that way? The simple answer is she doesn’t. The more complicated answer is appears she is not capable of any other way to be and is just so utterly unhappy and angry a person, that it spills out in all directions. And I can wonder aloud about politicians, Theresa.
Anyway, just another trick and no treats meeting this week in West Whiteland. And that is not because trash bags won. It’s because SOME had issues with the public speaking out and not agreeing.
This is a post I have been struggling with. I am a big supporter of Natural Lands. But I am not sure what to think here.
Summerhill Preserve is acreage in Willistown. It was put in preservation. But was the intent of the gift of this land and the preservation of it to make it a public access site, or just a preserved swath of land?
I used to see stuff fly by the past few years mostly about birds and Summerhill. Here are some screenshots and note that these screenshots don’t seem to go anywhere now when you click on the link:
Ok well stuff gets updated and moved around on websites and links get broken. No biggie. But when you go to Natural Lands website and put in Summerhill all you get now is a handful of very old articles mentioning but not centered on Summerhill. I never thought much of it, because I never thought Summerhill was like a place you could just visit, although I am sure I would love it like I love so many of Natural Lands properties. But Summerhill? Not on their list of places to visit. I just checked again today.
Again, no big deal. I have always thought, whether it is right or wrong, even if land is in conservation/preservation, it is not necessarily just open to the public. And Natural Lands kind of always said that about Summerhill. Note this screenshot from a few years ago I found for an event listing about Summerhill :
So then someone randomly asked me what was going on with Summerhill. I replied truthfully, wouldn’t know, had forgotten about it. Why had I forgotten? Because I never knew you could visit it and it had been ages since I even saw something mentioning it.
Well there is a wee problem and Natural Lands is in court with the Summerhill neighbors. And Willistown too I guess? But this is not the same as the strange case of Wildflower Farm and those neighbors. No comparison. Among other things so much of this land abuts private property. It’s not a working farm, it’s land — open space.
If you ever ask anybody who lives adjacent to a trail or conserved land or even a park they will tell you there is good and bad and living La Vida COVID in some cases has made it awkward at times. Sometimes stupid human tricks prevail – leaving trash, trespassing on private property and taking stuff, even urinating and worse from our much loved trails onto private property. It happens. Sadly, it happens. I have heard about it on the Chester Valley Trail and the Radnor Trail even in years past on the trail at Haverford College. People have told me similar stories like this near Willisbrook in Willistown. Stupid human tricks and a lack of respecting boundaries and private property, and of course it makes you wonder if they even respect the actual nature preserve or trail?
This is not the fault of the people responsible for the trails or nature preserves, in my humble opinion. It is probably impossible to babysit all of these properties all of the time and how many operate is somewhat on an honor system of dawn to dusk without real actual bodies on site to close and open properties?
So it begs the question of ironing things out so people know what will happen with what they donate land maybe? And ironing out what the public can and can’t do also perhaps? Is it not OK for preserved/conserved land to just be well passive, pristine, and preserved? As in maybe it’s left alone or maybe it’s an occasional very special space not open dusk ’til dawn to the public? And what if that is what a donor or grantor said in the first place? What if that is what conservation easements said? So maybe you can’t just pave paradise after all and put up a parking lot or you can but not necessarily everywhere?
I remember when the Summerhill place was for sale, conserved land was a selling point (and it was in the Willistown Conservation Trust Barns and BBQ as well):
So yes, neighbors moved in here knowing about the land preservation/conservation. But I think the question from reading an Orphan’s Court thing is original intent vs. I guess Natural Lands wanting to open this up and build a parking lot, etc? But I am having a hard time envisioning how they would even do this because of all of the properties that touch what Natural Lands has if that makes sense?
After reading this Orphan’s Court thing, it makes a person wonder if the neighbors here are wrong? Because if the original intent was just preserved land and that can be proven, are they wrong?
I love Natural Lands. I know some will think me horrible for raising this issue. But isn’t it important? After all you want people to donate land but land in conservation and save it from development, right? That is why I feel this case bears watching. It also looks like there is other stuff other than what is in Orphan’s Court brewing.
I am sharing the Orphan’s Court thing. Not trying to slam Willistown Township or Natural Lands. But this makes for interesting reading and pondering. And these strike me as VERY different neighbors than the OTHER Wildflower Farm thing and a different situation altogether, correct? To me this will be a case that no matter what happens will possibly lay things out a little more clearly for others in the future and will you agree when all is said in done? I am all for the race to preserve open space to quote another organization, but it should be less foggy, and simple right? Or wrong?
Inside the hoop house – zinnias and lisianthus and more!
🎈UPDATE 🎈 the neighbors on Castlebar against Wildflower Farm in Willistown apparently had their zoning appeal tossed by zoning last evening. I am told the phrase used was “lack of jurisdiction” to hear their appeal.
Wildflower Farm will be back in front of zoning in a few weeks.
Snapdragons. They just remind me of childhood, because it was one of the first flowers I ever grew.
I will also note that not all neighbors on and adjacent to that street are against the farm. I think that is an important distinction not always noted. Also important to note is that not all of the “neighbors“ who have been involved with these zoning challenges of Wildflower Farm actually physically live on Castlebar Lane. That is a matter of public record, isn’t it?
I could look at this view all day!
And I am stating for the record that I am not the spokesperson of the Heenan family or their attorneys which is the latest rumor being spread. I am a friend of the Heenans, have a brain in my head, a legal right to express how I feel about this issue, and am an occasional customer of their farm. I am also a gardener, so I appreciate their efforts to rejuvenate their farm which frankly needed cleaning up, and their interest in flowers and trees and native plants and bee-keeping.
This Wildflower Farm property is zoned agricultural, BUT truthfully they could have IGNORED all that and built a giant McMansion when they purchased it. But instead they opted to restore the house and the barn and bring a viable adaptive reuse to existing farmland.
The restored barn and hoop house
The Heenans should have been welcomed into their neighborhood, yet they have been treated most poorly by some. For the record I happen to live on a cul-de-sac, and if this farm was on my street I would be unbelievably happy.
I think Willistown folk and other related people interested in this topic that it is really great that you are interested in supporting Wildflower Farm through this process and please continue.
🌸🐝Flowers bring happiness. We know, it’s why we garden.🌸🐝
I am using some of my photos of the farm taken last week, and I am also sharing a photo of the Radnor Hunt which does go through their property sometimes. Not all property owners allow the hunt to pass through any longer.
