Photo courtesy of Woodlawn Garden Center and Nursery
Disclaimer: I am a customer of Woodlawn Garden Center and Nursery in Malvern. I love the place, think the owners and staff are fabulous.
So a while back I heard that Woodlawn was going in front of Willistown Supervisors to in essence get permission for a wine tasting room in one of the structures on their property. (Those who patronize Woodlawn and live near by know the tremendous effort the owners of Woodlawn have put into a property that had prior to their ownership looked run down – and the property was loaded with all this odd statuary that made you wonder if whomever at the time was a hoarder or something.)
Well Willistown turned them down. They had LCB approval too. What I find interesting is Willistown seems to have no problem putting small businesses through their paces. I mean really? An environmental impact and traffic study for what amounts to an interior decorating project and occasional wine tastings? I have to wonder if Applebrook Golf Club wanted to do this would there be the same “issues”? If Toll Brothers or say Bentley Homes wanted to do this would their be the same “issues”?
I mean did those fat cat supervisors in Willistown actually visit the site? We’re not talking the Stables Bar in Phoenixville or the Alley Pub in Frazer. Or some speakeasy. What a crock.
Dumb with a capital D. I mean d’oh does Willistown even begin to understand the success that is the Brandywine Wine Trail for example? A lot of those wineries aren’t so far away from this location. And it isn’t like Blair Vineyards who was to be the partner in this is some den of iniquity.
I wonder, will they burn books and ban farmers markets next? Can it be said Willistown loves big developers and hates small businesses?
Here check it out on Patch:
Township Denies Garden Center’s Bid to Sell Wine
By Pete Kennedy Email the author 2:18 pm
The Willistown Board of Supervisors denied a conditional use application that would have allowed Woodlawn Garden Center to sell wine at its location on Paoli Pike.
Woodlawn’s owners Dave and Rebekah Laughlin Bowser were planning to open a “wine garden” in partnership with Kutztown-based Blair Vineyards.
In a 3-0 vote Monday night, the supervisors rejected the garden center’s application, based on a recommendation from the township solicitor…..In an email sent before the decision, Rebekah Laughlin Bowser said they had received an approval letter from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, but still had to contend with local zoning regulations. She said Woodlawn had a legal right to sell wine from small, local producers as an agricultural product.