#resigntheresa and other tales from west whiteland

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It looks like Hollywood Squares for municipalities doesn’t it? At least West Whiteland is recording the meetings, however. Last evening’s meeting was a bang your head on the wall kind of experience.

So there is the new assisted living facility planned for Boot Road and Ship Rd. It has to be close to West Goshen I guess. It’s 930-936 E. Boot Road, West Chester. The road is pretty narrow back there and it’s close to that odd little strip mall that once upon a time had a pizza place that never seemed to have many customers.

So about this site. Only a couple of hundred feet from Mariner East, so what happens in an emergency if this thing gets built? A crafty cottage style warehouse for often immobile senior citizens?

Apparently Bossette Tweed is an expert of what you cannot do, always from her phone screen, and never seemingly prepared ahead of time? Shall we call her Saint Theresa of No-No? Yes Supervisor Saint Theresa Hogan Santalucia, I am referring to you. And yes I can have the continued opinion that you are an unpleasant, sometimes foul mouthed, obstreperous, and useless git of a politician. The First Amendment allows it.

You are the font of NO. And you don’t really know what you are talking about, have incredibly poor speaking skills, and if you actually did your damn job you would realize that although local elected officials have to say no at times because they are hampered by bad advice and crap zoning, there are those lovely state and federally elected officials you kowtow too and pose for photos with who CAN help sometimes with sticky wickets.

Like State Reps and State Senators. Now we all know State Rep Kristine Howard is another useless git of a politician, but she is up for re-election. So Saint Theresa of No-No, Bossette Tweed, have you bothered to figured out the last time the Municipalities Planning Code of the Commonwealth of PA was comprehensively updated? Try late 1960s early 1970s. HAVE YOU EVER PRESSED THESE STATE ELECTED OFFICIALS TO ENACT AN ACT OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION TO UPDATE THIS BEFORE EVERY AREA IN PA IS DESTROYED BY OUTDATED AND OUTMODED ZONING? Instead of sitting like a blob at meetings with your nasal no-no tone, have you ever actually done what you were elected to do? Or are you still confusing West Whiteland with Upper Darby of the bad old days?

Yes, it’s not a great recording and No No Nannette mumbles and tries to hide from the camera BUT you can’t hear Supervisor Raj really either, since he often talks away from the microphone. Why did this application have to get approved preliminarily last night? Why couldn’t they have postponed a decision for a month or so? Why not TABLE for a little bit? Even until the next meeting?

It is not always an easy thing to say NO to a project as an elected official. But there are things you can do like TABLE something for a specified duration, even if just until the next meeting. Which should have been done here, somehow. But nooooo they rolled over except for Brian Dunn who just does what is right, even if not politically popular because he GETS that he was elected to serve the plurality, not special interests. I expected Theresa to be Theresa because she’s always just Theresa, but Rajesh Kumbhardare, the Chair of the Supervisors seriously disappointed residents last evening. He was hard to hear and just rolled over like a good boy. Hope they scratched his ears and gave him a cookie?

West Whiteland is still to me a huge, hot mess. This senior living facility being built deep in the blast zone of Mariner getting approved is just the latest example. If West Whiteland is SO concerned about residential safety, why not table it if you don’t have the municipal balls to say no thank you?

Now allow me to quote West Whiteland Residents for Public Safety:

How is this business owner and our township EMC, neither of whom have a background in developing emergency plans for HVL pipelines, to accomplish this when Chester County Department of Emergency Services and others have not? How can they possibly develop a plan to quickly evacuate 80 residents who cannot travel a half mile upwind on foot unassisted?

In addition to this condition, the applicant stated in the conditional use hearing on 05/25/22 that the Emergency Plan must be approved by the Township before the facility can get a license. To hear that, go to 1:17:55 at (previously recorded West Whiteland Township Meeting)

When this emergency plan is submitted by the applicant how will the WWT Supervisors possibly be able to approve it? Here is Tom Boyce, Delaware County’s Director of Emergency Services in 2019 testifying about the inability to evacuate those who cannot “get up and walk away” when Mariner East leaks. Theresa Santalucia was at the hearing and yet she, along with Rajesh Kumbhadare voted to approve this conditional use last might.

~West Whiteland Residents for public safety 6/23/22

Here also is a written form of comment by West Whiteland resident Ginny Kerslake:

This Decision and Order before you tonight contains a reference to a public comment I made at a previous meeting. It gets a couple things from my comment and about Mariner East wrong. These are significant so I emailed them to you last night and wish to repeat them now publicly.

Mariner East 2 and Mariner East 2X are NOT natural gas pipelines. They are natural gas liquids (NGL) pipelines. This is a critical point. NGLs are denser than air so in the event of a leak they do not dissipate upward like natural gas but rather form a low-lying vapor cloud. They are more explosive and have a larger blast radius. And in the case of Mariner East, they do not have an odorant added. All of this, in addition to their size, makes Mariner East uniquely more dangerous than the other pipelines we have in West Whiteland Township.

Secondly, I did not “inquire about the applicant’s evacuation strategy” but rather spoke to the impossibility of a credible strategy to evacuate these residents who cannot quickly walk or run a half mile upwind, unassisted as is required for a leak on Mariner East.

You have included in this conditional use approval a condition #9 that states: “The Applicant shall work with the Township’s Emergency Management Coordinator to develop a satisfactory strategy in the event of a pipeline-related emergency”

How will this applicant, a senior care facility developer and our township’s Emergency Manager Coordinator possibly be able to come up with a credible plan to protect these 80 residents incapable of self-evacuation when our county and other counties, our township and other townships have failed to come up with an Emergency Plan for Mariner East even for the general public, because it is an impossible plan?

Last night Edgmont Township voted NO on building another school in the blast zone of Mariner East. This was the right thing to do. I ask you again tonight to use your authority and honor your duty to ensure public safety and vote NO on granting conditional use approval for an assisted living facility at this location

~ginny kerslake

West Whiteland likes to pretend they don’t see what is in front of them. It’s wrong. I think a lot of things would have the room to grow and change however if Supervisor Theresa Hogan Santalucia RESIGNED.

#RESIGN THERESA

On right is proposed site of the granny and grand pop go BOOM senior living facility .

now open: sycamore & stone

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So yesterday I did a thing. I went and checked out the new Sycamore & Stone on 401!

Jeff Devlin‘s new property is one I am familiar with, because I used to patronize the antique store that was once in this barn. I love this property and was sad when it went up for sale because I was afraid some developers would snatch up the property and the beautiful barns and house would disappear. However when Jeff announced he had purchased this property I was totally psyched because I knew it was going to be saved, preserved, and wonderful!

Along with the barn which has the store there will be other things available to do on this property including the house becoming a fabulous Airbnb.

This is the kind of preservation in real time and adaptive reuse that Chester County needs more of! I will note that I first came to know Jeff and his fiancée Janelle, through our mutual friend Meg Veno, proprietress of Life’s Patina at Willowbrook Farm and the soon to be opened Mechantile at the Jenny Lind House in Historic Yellow Springs Village.

I will note that both the Mercantile/Jenny Lind and Jeff’s Sycamore & Stone are both located in West Pikeland Township. West Pikeland is a treasure trove of amazing historic properties. I hope that Township realizes how fortunate and blessed they are that they have people willing to come in and do these amazing adaptive resources that are viable on historic properties.

Jeff’s store is a feast for the eyes and there is all sorts of fun stuff! It has a great Americana country vibe. It’s a lovely space and shoppers feel relaxed in it. It is almost like welcoming someone into a great big farmhouse and not just a hands down super amazing barn. I gravitate to places that are warm and welcoming. And their staff is equally warm and welcoming!

One of the things I liked best are the reproduction hog scraper candlesticks he has available for sale. I collect the actual vintage/antique variety, so these are a real favorite with me! If Jeff Devlin had a wish list for customers mine would be to carry hand dipped taper candles that fit into hog scrapers because that is the right shape for them!

I look forward to this property further coming back to life and it is such a joy to see the work occurring on it every time I drive by. Jeff is a quality craftsman, and such a nice guy so I am glad he found his spot here on this property. My only lament is I don’t have a super old farmhouse for him to help me restore!

Anyway Sycamore & Stone is yet another reason to shop local! Enjoy the photos!

Sycamore & Stone is located at 1251 Conestoga Road, Chester Springs, PA. Right now the hours are WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY 12PM-7PM, SATURDAY 10AM-7PM, SUNDAY 10AM-4PM.

I will note that I have not been compensated in any way, shape, or form to write this post. I’m merely visited the store and I am now a happy customer: I like to shop local and support the businesses of people I know.

#shoplocal #shopsmall #stonehouserevival #schoolhousewoodworking #home

the beauty of historic preservation: back to odessa, delaware.

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As I said in the post prior to this, Odessa, Delaware is one of my favorite places. It is literally a jewel of a historic town, almost frozen in time.

I have written about Odessa, Delaware before. I really hadn’t been down there much since Covid, and I realized today how much I missed visiting this gem of a small town.

Located in New Castle County, Delaware, Odessa was founded in the 18th century as Cantwell’s Bridge, her name was changed in the 19th century after the Ukrainian port city of the same name.

Odessa is a National Registry District, home to a National Historic Landmark as well as two National Parks Service Network to Freedom sites.

Odessa like Lewes was settled initially by the Dutch in the 1600s. (Lewes is another favorite place of mine, and it’s a bit larger and busier than Odessa.)

When Odessa was a first settled by the Dutch in the 1660’s (to be more precise), they adopted the Indian name for the area, “Apequinemy”. The Dutch settled here in Odessa because it’s proximity to the Appoquinimink River which flows to Delaware Bay, making it ideal to them for trading. I have been told this was once the shortest route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Chesapeake Bay before the construction of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

This was an area inhabited by Lenni Lenape Native Americans before European settlement. The Dutch weren’t actually in this area for very long before the English assumed control of the area. Then land was granted to a Captain Edmund Cantwell, the first Sheriff of New Castle County, under the government of a person we are familiar with, William Penn. By the 1730s there was a town and Edmund’s son, Sir Richard Cantwell, built a toll bridge and toll house and the town of “Cantwell’s Bridge” was born.

For the next century plus, this was a thriving little port town shipping grain and other things (like peaches.) It was a bustling small town…until 1855 and the arrival of the railroad around Middletown, and bypassed Odessa. Like many other towns that thrived on rivers and canals (think Frick’s Lock in East Coventry Township, Chester County), the railroad did a number on the economy of “Cantwell’s Bridge.”

Cantwell’s Bridge was name changed to Odessa around 1855. It had something to do with hoping that the name change would remind people of the flourishing port of Odessa in the Ukraine and the same thing would happen in Odessa, Delaware.

Now the Odessa area was also known historically for the nearby peach orchards. Odessa remained historically a very active port until the late 19th century when a peach blight ruined crops, one of their larger exports. My research indicates that between the peach virus blight and the railroads Odessa almost died as a town.

However, where a lot of similar little towns have died, Odessa has lived on. It is a great collection of houses and architecture spending 200 years, truthfully. Colonial, mid-Georgian, Federal and Victorian architecture. Another fun fact about Odessa, is there used to be a steamboat that operated out of it from the latter part of the 19th century, up until the early parts of the 20th century, ending I think somewhere around World War I.

A lot of people wouldn’t like Odessa because it’s literally a sleepy historic town. That’s why I personally think it’s so wonderful.

There are different things that go on in Odessa throughout the year. A historic Odessa Brewfest in September (this year September 10th) , lovely Christmas holiday events, tours for all seasons. July 15 – 17th features an event I am interested in called Christmas in July. It’s a special holiday sale in the Christmas Resale Shop in the Collins-Sharp House.

We belong to the Historic Odessa Foundation , and anyone can belong. It’s a remarkable little town and makes a fun little day trip. There are also little bed-and-breakfasts in the area so it also makes a nice we can get away. But if you’re looking for lots of bells and whistles, this isn’t it. Unless of course historic preservation is one of your favorite bells and whistles. This isn’t Disney or Six Flags (thank goodness.)

Enjoy the photos from my ramble and thanks for stopping by.

contrasts.

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Odessa, Delaware is one of my favorite places. It is literally a jewel of a historic town, almost frozen in time.

Located in New Castle County, Delaware, Odessa was founded in the 18th century as Cantwell’s Bridge, her name was changed in the 19th century after the Ukrainian port city of the same name.

I will be posting a separate post of just photos I took today in Odessa, but would also interested me separately is a study in contrasts.

When you’re coming into historic Odessa, on the edge of the town, there is literally this house that has been falling apart for years. It is a clear example of demolition by neglect or abandonment, take your pick. We see examples of this in Chester County all the time. I realized today that the house that used to be right on the corner of Boot Road and Greenhill across from Hershey’s Mill and the fire house is so overgrown I can’t wonder if it has met or is meeting a similar fate? The deterioration of this old house reminds me a lot of the deterioration of the historic farm house in Malvern along route 30 that is part of the Clews and Strawbridge boat property in East Whiteland.

But then as you get into town and around the corner from Cantwell’s historic Tavern is a house that obviously suffered a fire that is being rebuilt. So that is your contrast. You have letting a historic structure rot versus someone painstakingly rebuilding a structure after a devastating loss.

This post is not a dig at Odessa, Delaware because the historic preservation is remarkable. It’s just sort of food for thought of the whole historic preservation of it all. The next post shows how pretty Odessa is.

the old hershey’s mill is looking just glorious!

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Two years ago I wrote about the old Hershey’s Mill starting to get a rehab facelift. Last November I posted photos from the rehab in progress. Well today we drove by on our way home, (and sorry I didn’t get the best photos but I got a couple of photos) and I am so happy to see that beautiful old structure with new life.

The new owners have taken great care with her restoration and she looks glorious! I really hope East Goshen historical commission gives them some kind of an award, they deserve it!

I hope the family will be really happy there and now let’s hope East Goshen Township gets a move on with making a park or whatever they are doing with what was the old pond and other things next-door. Because I have to tell you if I had spent all that money on that rehab of that beautiful old structure, it’s a little jarring to look at the undoneness of next door which is the township’s responsibility.

And speaking of East Goshen have they taken eminent domain off of the table for the Hicks Farm? I’m still wondering how I can take so long to unravel an eminent domain taking.

Anyway, bravo to the restoration minded owners of the old Hershey’s Mill. In an age where everyone tears down rather than restores, this is the most wondrous site!

Happy Father’s Day!

more historic properties that aren’t so historically cared for in west whiteland? take a peek at 105 s. whitford road, for example.

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105 S. Whitford this morning June 17, 2022

Driving by you wouldn’t know that this place in photo above on South Whitford Road actually had a historic house back there. All you would see were really, really high weeds. And this photo doesn’t even do how high the weeds are in places justice.

The address is 105 S. Whitford Rd.

Here is a 2019 Internet photo:

Apparently this house is something that the historic commission of West Whiteland Township is aware of. It appears to be on their inventory. Interestingly enough the supervisor who is the liaison to the historic commission is none other than Saint Theresa Hogan Santalucia. So is she aware of the condition of this property?

Apparently it changed hands recently or within the past few months?

It’s like the grass hasn’t been cut and I’m not exaggerating, it hasn’t been cut since who knows when if at all this year. So if this is a historic house, what is going on? I mean there’s already some wicked demolition by neglect going on at the Joseph Price House, on the same stretch of road, right?

So another question would be West Whiteland has a codes department right? I don’t know the Director of Codes (Codes Barbie) who is also the Fire Marshall but I always see her on the West Whiteland zoom meetings with lots of make up and flipping her hair …. so is she aware of this? What’s her name? I have to ask in her dual role why she does she look at or inspect these properties? Or does she? Or is she just a selective stones buster? I mean you would think that properties like this or the Joseph Price House would be an issue given shall we say certain conditions? So does demolition by neglect count for anything according to these people?

I mean we’ve got Bossette Tweed posting her merit certificates publicly on social media but ummm what else???

Wouldn’t you say that the way certain properties are treated with historic value qualify as a “difficult situation” in West Whiteland Township? Again, this address in on the West Whiteland historic resources map?

And then there are the two business entities I found on the deed file:

And then you go to the property records:

And then you pull the things uploaded as deeds:

11897078Download
11897079Download

So obviously someone owns the property actively, so what is happening there? It’s 9 acres give or take, right? Will house be preserved? Will a business go there? Will it be subject to development? I ask about development because of an old listing for the property from a couple of years ago. Showing screen shots below this, and another embedded document.

105-S-Whitford-Rd_1.28.21Download

So what’s the plan? Demolition by neglect until someone submits a plan? I was told the house had tenants until not THAT long ago?

What started me being curious? A note and photos I received. I already have inserted a couple of the photos, but here’s part of the note from one of my readers:

What is West Whiteland now doing with historical properties? The house at 105 S. Whitford road was just recently sold. It’s been months the grass is very high. This house was not too long ago inhabited. It is now owned by 105 Whitford Rd llc. If you Google can’t really find much. The only mention of it was when the daycare was being built and if there was any impact….It’s a historic house and WW recognizes it as that….They sold it and it hasn’t been taken care of since January…the grass looks like it would be way above my knees, maybe close to my waist in spots!!

~ West Whiteland resident who drives by location often

So I realized I literally drive past there at least once a week en route to PT. I can tell you it’s overgrown enough that I forgot there was a house there. Personally I keep noticing trash along the curb of what may or may not be part of the property. There was also a car repair place at the corner with a sale sign.

In any event, West Whiteland is NOT the only township that turns a blind eye to neglected properties and/or empty or seemingly empty but falling apart historic properties. It just is always a puzzle when these townships act like they can’t SEE some of these properties.

West Whiteland is a mess, and it will be for a while given what they have been through. But people hired by the last manager maybe should be trying a little harder now? And politicians who love to talk about how they love the historic properties in their township who can’t seemingly see things like this? Or when they are pointed out, “didn’t know”? I mean COME ON, you are an elected official in this township and you live there!

This parcel is seemingly the old tenant farm for “Oaklands”. It is referenced in the Revised History of West Whiteland I found uploaded on the West Whiteland Township website that I downloaded to read.

Revised-History-of-West-Whiteland-TownshipDownload

If you live in West Whiteland, please get familiar with your history. It’s not all commercial and a sea of new apartment and townhouse developments. And this post is most definitely NOT a criticism of the West Whiteland Historic Commission because they do a very good job. Their supervisor liaison, not so much a good job doer, and this post is also an additional criticism of her. In my humble opinion, she one of the wonkiest local politicians out here and an embarrassment to her township as well as Chester County Democrats. Why doesn’t she just resign already?

This post is also quite simply a “what is going on here and what will happen to the property and structures on it and why?” That is very important. I am a realist, and not all historic properties can be saved. But when you see demolition by neglect that has been ongoing (Joseph Price house corner of S. Whitford and Clover Mill Road) and newly emerging issues with 105 S. Whitford Rd and identified as the tenant farm to Oaklands, there should be a community conversation sometimes, shouldn’t there be?

Well who knows, but this is what intrigued me today in the ever evolving As The West Whiteland Turns.

Have a great Father’s Day Weekend everyone!

105 S. Whitford circa 2019.

only the crème de la crème leave nasty notes for their neighbors

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File under things you just can’t make up in Chester County, PA. Apparently there is a veritable epidemic of anonymous development and non-development letter writers.

Now this letter writer, is the crème de la crème, they are writing in ALL CAPS WHICH MEANS THEY MEAN BI BIZNESS, RIGHT??????

In this development, if you don’t comply, surveillance cameras will big brother you out of the development? Really? This letter hails from a townhouse development in West Whiteland/Exton. I am not exactly sure which development it is but have my suspicions.

Why do I say Exton/West Whiteand? Simple – trash bags. West Whiteland for some dumb ass reason has a trash bag thing. One supervisor, Brian Dunn, is trying to change that. Can it be said another supervisor Bosette Tweed is against it?

So maybe just maybe if West Whiteland had regular trash cans this might not happen in their developments? One can hope but humankind keeps losing humanity so if not poison pen letters over trash bag placement, it would be something else, sadly.

But back to this particular nasty gram. This is unfreakingbelievable. I can’t believe I literally write about this whole “welcome wagon” topic as it happened in East Whiteland, and like COVID this nasty neighbor virus has popped up in another municipality. And I am sure it’s going on in lots of developments. HOAs and condo associations are breeding grounds for petty tyrants.

Yet this behavior isn’t limited to the developments with associations because when I wrote the other post it was a poison pen letter from a non-HOA neighborhood. This stuff is so puerile and unacceptable wherever, right?

Time to retire the nouveau welcome wagon already.

summer salads: tabbouleh with a twist

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One of the things I like about summer, are summer foods. One of my favorites is tabbouleh. Essentially tabbouleh at its core is a parsley salad flavored with bulgur, mint, scallions, tomatoes, and a bright lemony dressing. It’s quick, fresh, easy, and totally yummy.

Tabbouleh is something I’ve always made in the summer, but as an adult in my own house I essentially make it only for myself unless we’re having company because no one else seems to eat it. Another problem in my house is while I work for myself and can set my own hours, my husband has a corporate job, and corporate jobs seem to have expanded their hours since the onset of COVID19, and the days of traditional 9 to 5 hour days seem to no longer exist. So he works a lot. Often he comes home from the office and works hours more in our home office and eats later. I don’t like to eat late, so tabbouleh the way I make it that I’m sharing with you today, is something I can eat for a quick summer dinner . I don’t even necessarily need to make meat or chicken to accompany it, I can just eat that “as is.”

Yes, there is a young adult living with us, but he’s kind of allergic to vegetables most days and eating with the other people in his house, so he will grab dinner and go sit in front of his computer screen and play video games. Often I will make the two of them something to eat and just leave it on the stove. No it is not my favorite thing to do as I don’t like eating by myself but life is what it is. So I have decided that I’m going to make things that I enjoy more in the summer to have if I am going to be eating early and by myself.

You will note when I share my recipe that I don’t have tomatoes in it, and I added chickpeas. The reason I didn’t add tomatoes is I don’t have any in the house and the ones I am growing in my garden are just plants at this point. I’ve also discovered that the salad stays a little more fresh if I don’t store it with tomatoes added. So if I make this with tomatoes I will often dress the top of the bowl with tomatoes that are diced and I will remove the tomatoes off of the top to put away.

Another thing about tabbouleh is you can indeed make it with couscous if you don’t have bulgar wheat.

This is a great summer salad and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! To follow is the recipe.

1 3/4 cups bulgar wheat

Juice of 4 large lemons (maybe more – depends on you!)

A couple of dashes of apple cider vinegar

Olive oil

1 large bunch of Italian flat leaf parsley

1 bunch fresh parsley

Salt, pepper, dash of garlic powder, ground cumin

One large regular cucumber peeled, seeds removed, diced. Or one English hothouse cucumber peeled and diced.

1 sweet or red onion diced, or two bunches of scallions cut up small.

A 15 ounce can of chickpeas drained

Get out a large mixing bowl and to it add dry bulgar wheat, a little salt, a little pepper, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, and a teaspoon of ground cumin.

To that add about 1 1/2 cups boiling water, and toss. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil and put to the side.

In another mixing bowl, add your chickpeas, onion or scallions, parsley and mint chopped fine, and the cucumber. Add salt to taste. Toss it together and if you think it needs more salt add a little more. I add the salt slowly because you don’t want to over salt this.

And a small bowl add your lemon juice, cumin, small dash of garlic powder, salt, eyeball the olive oil and whisk together briskly. Give it a taste and you may want to add a couple of dashes of apple cider vinegar as well.

Bulgar wheat takes nothing to reconstitute with a little hot water so by now you should be fine and remove the aluminum foil from the bowl and give it another stir to fluff.

Add the vegetables and chickpeas and mint and parsley to the large mixing bowl with the bulgar wheat in it. Give that all a mix together and then whisk the olive oil lemon juice and apple cider vinegar mixture again and pour it evenly over everything in the large mixing bowl and toss together.

At this point you can taste test to see if you want more salt or ground pepper. Cover the mixing bowl and put in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly.

Leftovers are good for a few days. Keep refrigerated.

thoughts about the “welcome wagon”

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This was left for a new resident of an East Whiteland Township neighborhood known as Spring Mill Farms in Malvern. I don’t know who the recipient of this horrible poison pen letter is, I don’t know who wrote the poison pen letter. But the bottom line is simple: this is freaking unacceptable.

Spring Mill Farms is one of the many developments in East Whiteland Township and I think dates back to the late 1960s. Really nice part of the Malvern area. But this development does NOT have a homeowners association or HOA. It’s just a few neighborhoods. It does have a civic association, but that is not the same as an HOA.

When I first moved to Chester County it kind of drove me crazy that people didn’t refer to the road on which they lived, they referred to the development. And as a newcomer I couldn’t keep up with what development was where, nor was that how I identified where someone lived. It still seems foreign to me. What is not a foreign concept is the reality of a nasty neighbor. And apparently there is one or more living in Spring Mill Farms.

Nasty neighbors are sadly a universal issue. And to leave an anonymous poison pen letter like this for a newer neighbor is well…WRONG.

Apparently the letter writer leads a very perfect life. My guess from the tone of the letter is that it’s probably a woman. I could be wrong but that’s the way things are phrased and the things that seem to bother this person. And they are literally telling these people how to place their trash cans, how their windows should be dressed, where the sports equipment for their kids should be, and essentially where the kids should be: in the backyard not seen by the public.

I don’t have neighbors like this. My neighbors are actually nice. Have I ever had crappy neighbors in my lifetime? Yes, who hasn’t?

Also, shock and horrors, this person apparently doesn’t like seeing BBQ grills. Basically this neighbor of Spring Mill Farms would like everyone and every thing placed neatly behind a hedge and to have shutters of distinction. Do you know who this neighbor is? If you do, by all means out them.

Years ago when I lived in Lower Merion Township and was considered a community activist and was also an early blogger, I sometimes had nasty anonymous notes like this literally stuck in my mailbox. I actually had a neighbor write an entire guest editorial to the Main Line Times signing all of her familial names with great pretentiousness directed at me.

The notes left for me in my mail were sometimes truly horrible. I was a bad person, who did I think I was, and more. I remember how horrible some of the notes were and how they made me feel at first. So I feel for whomever got this poison pen letter.

But to the recipient of this letter, I also suggest pink plastic flamingoes. And I would have them playing soccer or doing whatever sports the sports equipment you have set up in the front yard really represents. Fight the nastiness with humor.

To the scribe: when your neighbors expose you (and they will), perhaps apologize? Life is difficult enough without someone like you doing something so wrong like this. We all don’t have to love every neighbor, but this is just wrong.

To the civic association I say simply: deal with this.

in case devon horse show has any rain/thunderstorm delays and you need something to read…..best served with devon popcorn (naturellement)….

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Well here we are, I guess a good way through Devon Horse Show and low and behold I received an email gift today: the filing against Eastown Township by The Devon Horse Show. The Right to Know Requests are being answered. Here is the original filing:

Devon-Litigation-2022_redactedDownload

But it’s been a minute so I also checked the Chester County court docket. And guess what? Found something interesting. “Removal to U.S. District Court”?

So what does this mean? The term “Removal” is the process of transferring a lawsuit filed in state court (or in this case, Chester County Court) to the United States District Court with jurisdiction over the same area. A defendant can remove a case from state to federal court by filing a notice of removal in federal court and then notifying the state court and the other parties. That means….yup….this Devon Case is now in fed court. Probably makes it more expensive too?

United-States-District-Court-Eastern-District-of-Pennsylvania-1Download

Yes, I have the filing, and will post it. But first the judge. The Honorable Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro. It will be very interesting to see what she thinks of Devon’s litigation, don’t you think? She was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2012. She was confirmed in June, 2013. Here is a little video of her induction day:

From Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts:

Nitza Ileana Quiñones Alejandro is a judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She is the first openly lesbian Latina to serve as a United States federal judge. She was also the first Latina to serve on the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.

~ Pennsylvanians for modern courts

She is an interesting judge, and from what I have seen from researching her cases, fair, thoughtful, and equitable. I can’t help but wonder what she will think of Devon Horse Show’s litigation against Easttown. Will she see it as first world problems?

The thing about this case that I find curious me is the assertion by Devon Horse Show that Easttown Township has violated the 1st Amendment vis-à-vis the freedom of assembly and speech, and am I the only one? For me it is also amusing because one of Devon’s lawyers in this case is the very same person who wanted to deprive me of my 1st Amendment Rights in the Bishop Tube SLAPP suit where I was the named resident. (Eventually that was tossed. In county court and superior court.)

So how has Easttown Township actually violated the 1st Amendment? Are they saying to Devon Horse Show no you can’t have the horse show? I mean obviously not, because Devon is going on now, right? Is this in fact, all about what Devon has to pay for Easttown Township goods and services? How is asking an organization to pay for the municipal services it will be using for a special event wrong? Are the taxpayers of Easttown just supposed to foot the really big bill?

Get your Devon Horse Show Popcorn ready, this will be interesting….

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