Poor Easttown Township residents. More history at risk?
Easttown is another area with a LOT of history and lovely neighborhoods…seemingly under siege. And it’s not more to do with the Devon Horse Show or the whole new retail development on the old Waterloo site.
Locals are saying that in Easttown Township there are issues between zoning ordinance and I think their comprehensive plan? I don’t quite get all of it, but apparently it is something the township needs to iron this all out but it won’t happen until 2019? Locals are also saying the lovely and quaint village of Berwyn is once again under siege. (Now this news is nothing new, I remember another time around the time of eminent domain in Ardmore.) What is happening currently I am told is the beautiful old Victorian and other frame houses (i.e. wooden) that Berwyn is locally famous for are being snatched up and taken down in favor of new construction.
In 2007 I mentioned a group called “Protect Berwyn” in an editorial I wrote for Main Line Media News then editor, my friend, the late (and great and missed) Tom Murray. There was another editorial talking about Main Line development in March, 2007 but I am not sure who wrote it. It’s title is The developer-neighbor feud: A healthy dynamic and it still resonates and is current today. In May, 2007 Tom Murray wrote an editorial titled Moratorium on development needed on the Main Line. It still resonates and even more so, especially if you live in Chester County.
The Berwyn area has been ground zero for Upper Main Line development going back years and years. (Check this article out from 2001.) In 2013, it was a crazy hot button topic and check out this article in Main Line Media News by Caroline O’Halloran before she went out on her own:
Amid dissent, Easttown approves sweeping zoning changes for Berwyn Village
By Caroline O’Halloran
Aug 20, 2013
Downtown Berwyn won’t look especially different under the new zoning ordinance amendments approved in a 3-2 vote by Easttown’s Board of Supervisors Monday night. At least not right away.
But assurances by its creators that the new rules won’t mean major change didn’t seem to mollify the 45 property owners who attended the meeting, most to question the plan.
Instead of five zones, the new plan puts all Berwyn properties into one of three districts: Village Business, Village Residential and Village Transition.
Poor Berwyn. Maybe Protect Berwyn had the right idea circa 2007?
Here is some suggested reading from Main Line Media News over the coolness of Berwyn before I get to the rest of the post:
Berwyn Banter
By Ray Hoffman Jun 19, 2008
Just where is Berwyn, anyway?
By Ray Hoffman Jun 28, 2007
Painting a picture of Berwyn’s past
By Ryan Richards Jun 23, 2005
Berwyn walking tour highlights storied past
By Ryan Richards Aug 19, 2009
So by now you are wondering why I posted a screen shot from a real estate listing?
Because well, underneath the stucco awfulness of it all on this listing is a historic log cabin dating back to the 1750s. (Realtor site says 1758, my sources say 1750 – located ar 46 Arlington Road in Devon.)
Just LAST year, the news spread nationally when Main Line stylist Jude Plum restored a 300 year old log cabin in Bryn Mawr. He had bought the home once owned by dog groomer and English Springer Spaniel breeder, Ann Elder. Now I knew Ann for years, was in and out of her little house from the time I was a kid, knew her house was old, but never knew it was 300 years old until Jude bought the place some time after she had passed away.
This historic log home, log cabin in Bryn Mawr dates to 1704! Read about it in Country Living Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Main Line Media News. So don’t tell me restoring them is out of the question. After all there are entire T.V. shows devoted to restoring and rebuilding log cabins and log homes.
So anyway, I was told today that folks can do a right to know on Easttown and get the demolition permit application? And that the demolition permit has been issued?
I figure it’s a good bet since the realtor seems very excited and it’s on her listing:
I understand the property owner wants to sell this property, but if ever there was a need for a preservation-minded buyer this is it. Heck if I lived in Easttown I would contact the DIY and HGTV shows that feature log homes and log cabins. Maybe they know someone to buy and save this.
Easttown Township is yet another Chester County municipality that sadly can’t see its history (or open space) for the ratables of development aren’t they? It’s like ratables from development are the drug and the municipalities are like addicts, aren’t they?
Easttown residents it is up to you. I am only pointing this out….if they could save a cabin OLDER than this in far worse condition in Bryn Mawr, they can save one in Devon. And if they don’t wake up soon, the village of Berwyn will really disappear too, won’t it?
Tick tock, Easttown. Tick tock.