Gladwyne is a wonderful place with a historic village. The nouveau and uninformed see it as this money-laden Main Line place to be conquered. Yeah, so they have done that enough in general to the Main Line, but there are some places that they should just leave alone. That includes the literally historic village in Gladwyne.
Yesterday was Azalea Day at St. Christopher’s in Gladwyne. It was the 73rd year.
I went to Azalea Day from the time I was 12 pretty much until I moved to Chester County. It was and is a perfect example of the magic of the village and surrounding environs which just don’t need tarting/messing up.
Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.
A zoning change and development circus? NO.
Gladwyne doesn’t need to be other than it is. Maybe people can’t stop Lower Merion from approving horrible out of place LEGO infill development McMansions, nor keep predatory development out of Ardmore with BS plans every few years for Schauffele Plaza, etc., but Lower Merion needs to be proactive with stopping the madness in the 19035.
It’s like Groundhog Day in Gladwyne every few years when a bad plan arises. The only thing now is that they neither have a civic association with people willing to protect the historic village, nor elected officials who are willing to do so and did you ever think Gladwyne would be in this predicament? Honestly, I did not because all of my observing prior to this was admiration for Gladwyne sticking up for Gladwyne.
Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.
A zoning change and development circus? NO.
Now there are still some people on Gladwyne Civic who were part of the magnificent years where they STOOD UP and fought for Gladwyne and the historic village. But they are the minority and probably tired. And my so much civic “leadership” yet where IS the leading? Oh I am sure they don’t care for my opinions and they even tossed me out of the closed Facebook group started by a friend. They have social climbers from Chester County in the group, but I am a threat. They tried once before this to remove me unsuccessfully.
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So I am out of the group now, which is no great loss as it is quite the insipid government ass kissing shadow of the group it once was….and civic it once was.
They will say that I am talking about this because it is merely sour grapes and no it’s not. If they kept such close tabs on my activity there before the co-prez removed me, they would see that I really did not visit much as the involvement of my friends lessened. That and knowing that I could not keep my mouth shut over the insipid nothingness that was being posted. Gold foil stars for all, and the nerve of that horse for not picking up its poop!
I had posted about what was happening in the historic village district because THEY WERE NOT. And it was and IS important. But now I realize WHY they aren’t and it’s sad that I realized it’s in my opinion a combination of a lack of spine and it would mean actually working for the community, right? For these people it’s easier to have a “greenspace” and gazebo that is not needed and for the historic village district to lose protections with a zoning change and an overlord they can bow and scrape to isn’t it? And if this goes through like this, history in my opinion, will not remember them fondly.
Again, for the cheap people in the expensive seats: historic preservation and continued adaptative reuse is a GREAT thing. Creating a fake narrative and a Peddlers Village/Disneyesque landscape is NOT. Potentially changing the zoning, tearing down houses and undoubtedly trees is also a BIG MISTAKE.
I can indeed have these opinions. My opinion remains the same: yes to historic preservation, tree preservation, and adaptive reuse. No to zoning changes and the ensuing circus. It’s still supposed to be a historic 18th/19th century crossroads village and THAT is ok.
The Gladwyne Civic needs to recover where they left their collective balls.
Lower Merion Commissioners need to not sit on their hands.
Residents can’t depend on either the commissioners or civic association here and they should go to every single meeting possible to save the village.
Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.
A zoning change and development circus? NO.
Vanity projects can be useful, this project has many problems. The developers here should use their big money for good….if they are really listening, that is?
The data center. At this point, people are saying “which data center” because every time you turn around another municipality in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and all across the state are being faced with data centers.
And with few exceptions like our wonderful State Senator Katie Muth, so many elected officials are walking lock step with Josh Shapiro ruining areas one day to center at a time, aren’t they?
This post is primarily focused on the East Whiteland data center. But it’s an insidious problem. I’m going to share a video I found on Instagram from Missouri’s JeffCoHousewife on Instagram- she proved my point about this is just a real estate deal/development meaning data centers.
It’s the new warehouse, it’s the new condo development, it’s the new apartment building. It’s nothing about the good of the community, etc. etc. She also poses an interesting thing about how there the data center operators or want to be developers are packaging their scheme to the Republican majority that is this county in Missouri. That’s exactly what’s being done across the state of Pennsylvania only it’s being packaged for the Democrats, primarily. These data centers are just being packaged to sell, period. You could belong to the purple people eater political party and they would tell you why it was so fabulous for your political party and your constituents.
Let’s get real: they’re bad. Data centers aren’t good for anyone except the developers making money and then the data center operators making money. They suck our resources dry, they pollute our water, our land, our air. And if you want to tell me that it won’t affect real estate values in a community, maybe they should offer the Brooklyn Bridge for sale while they’re at it.
Now I have tons of questions about the data center in East Whiteland, but my voice isn’t the most important one. It’s the thousands of other people.
I will mention, however, that when this first started, I couldn’t understand why people in Malvern Hunt didn’t seem more concerned? I think that’s a question that I would ask board members of the homeowners association at the initial time this surfaced a few years ago, wouldn’t you? Which board members were on the board at the time this was initially proposed? Did the developer at the time a.k.a. Green Fig before Sentinel go meet with them? What was said?
Now, I’ve said before that the Green Fig developer is a glad-hander. His personal career roots are in sales and retail brokerage, correct? He described himself as a stock picker. See here:
Some brokers almost cringe at the term “stock-picker.” It can conjure up visions of reps with frayed nerves and churned accounts.
Not Charlie Lyddane.
“I’m not ashamed to admit that I pick stocks,” says Lyddane, a soloist at Legg Mason in West Chester, Pa. “It’s what a broker is supposed to do. My clients like that kind of help.”
Apparently so. Lyddane reports $1 million in production and $120 million under management. He’s been a broker for 19 years and has never been part of a team….With 400 clients and 1,000 accounts, Lyddane uses discretionary account management as a time-saving technique. “I can’t call everybody when I move stuff around. So I pick investments as I see fit.”
He also wants to tell you he’s a son of the environmentally, friendly, but is he really and remember when he ran for school board as an endorsed Republican?
Here’s an interesting quote from that Patch article years ago when he ran for school board:
Mr. Lyddane has lived in Great Valley School District for 15 years and has graduated two children from the District. A graduate of Union College in Schenectady, NY, Mr. Lyddane has a BA in History and also attended the Business School at Union. He started his career at Xerox. He was Vice President of Merrill Lynch and Legg Mason in West Chester for 23 years. As a real estate developer and investor in Chester County for the past 9 years, Mr. Lyddane has significant experience in budget development and implementation, as well as achieving strategic goals in a timely and cost efficient manner. He also has significant experience in Property Management….According to Mr. Lyddane, “When you are managing shareholder’s money, you must produce a product that is beneficial to those shareholders.
They are not us. They don’t get us and don’t care about us, do they?
Why not simply admit who they are and what they are about except they kind of did that at the meeting last week didn’t they? They were like if you don’t comply, we will make you comply, and if you’re bad, we’ll build a Walmart wasn’t that kind of the gist of it?
Then again, one of these East Whiteland Supervisors also told us who he was last week didn’t he? ⬇️
Nothing about this since at first began has felt normal has it?
Why should we have to deal with this and can we deal with this on an EPA super fund site that was polluted with lithium and more? And what good will the EPA prove in this given the fact that they have been gutted by the Trump administration? And then there is the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection our good old PA DEP? (Somebody explain to me what they do exactly that is substantive because as an adult I’m still wondering.)
I know, I know. The eternal conversation of what do you do with old super fund sites, but is a data center really it?
And neighbors have really worked hard to bring up valid points. And I’m going to turn it over to residents.
Listen to these people who I excerpted out of the whole meeting:
East Whiteland should say no to this giant expansion but will they? I think Peter Fixler the data center apologist will vote yes, I’m not sure about the other two votes just now, and it pains me to say that, but they have to decide whether they’re going to have the balls to say no to something or just capitulate?
And then there are the people that work at the township. My biggest area of concern lies with the assistant township manager. Her name is Catherine Ricardo. I haven’t interacted with her personally, but she always has concerned me. She came to East Whiteland from East Vincent Township where she was the township manager. I’ve always wondered why someone would leave a manager’s job for the underling’s job of assistant manager?
Note what I highlighted. Note her comment as a manager, saying once the zoning hearing board approved something they are locked in to that amount and nothing more. Yes, I’m paraphrasing, but you can read it yourself in the screenshot or the hyperlink by clicking on it. It makes you wonder why she could say that there yet they couldn’t say something similar in East Whiteland when Green Fig kept coming back to the pot for more porridge before even getting a shovel in the ground?
There’s also something about data centers being mentioned in 2022 if you read the same minutes.
There’s this old Parch article from way before then 2011 actually. About Pennhurst before it was sold I guess to the current owners? Read it and tell me if a familiar name shows up, or should I be more specific, a more familiar name sitting on the East Whiteland bench?
I will freely admit I think the Pennhurst site should be cleared of all of those buildings because it was literally a campus of horrors, but that’s not for me to say. What I don’t think should happen there is a giant data center. What I’m eternally curious about is if that land was supposed to be cleaned up because there are toxic issues there as well why hasn’t it been cleaned up and they’re talking about building a data center on top of it?
And whether we like it or not the whole data center issue in East Vincent is something East Whiteland needs to pay attention to in my opinion because East Vincent’s old manager became East Whiteland’s current assistant manager. Actually in the overall scheme of things it might be helpful if East Vincent data center fighters and East Whiteland data center fighters joined forces and then there’s Upper Merion and Limerick also facing giant data centers. And then we move upstate don’t we?
So everyone who says this is a NIMBY issue to people in each community facing this horror show needs to buy a clue. Data centers are being shoved into everyone’s backyard and isn’t that the truth? It’s not NIMBY. It’s everywhere and it doesn’t matter what political persuasion you are if you live in one of these affected areas, we’re all affected.
My final thoughts include still trying to figure out why it is that Green Fig got approved and never did anything except try to change everything after the initial approvals? I will also note that last meeting, Charlie Lyddane was uncharacteristically quiet and why was that?
Above is their proposed Valhalla, but that’s not the residents Valhalla is it? I mean it was former Supervisor Sue Drummond’s idea of Valhalla was it not? Did we ever send her a thank you note?
Aren’t we tired of these discussions of do the opinions of residents matter yet? When do our voices matter here? Do our voices matter?
I think because no one knows enough about data centers, they shouldn’t just be plugged into our communities. Why do we have to havethem? But who am I but a mere mortal and a female?
Along that vein, I will never understand as a plain old ordinary person a site that was a superfund site got approved for a nursing home or whatever that once proposed senior facility was could have the same zoning for a monster data center? Like many other things in involving this topic in East Whiteland, it does not compute.
Here are some links to recent media about the East Whiteland data center issue and other communities somewhat close by and a website that seems to be pure propaganda about data centers in East Whiteland:
For years, we have watched the former faculty housing for Church Farm teachers deteriorate. No that’s not the fault of the school, the land was sold decades ago at this point.
I have followed it here on my blog and so have many in the community. The land has been for sale and vacant forever and we knew this development was coming.
The development is 55 and over so it won’t be putting kids in the school district. It’ll be like a Hershey’s Mill in West Whiteland. However it’s rather dense, and it is yet another reason why in my opinion, whatever happens at the Exton Square Mall needs to have less density. It’s so much development not too far apart.
And even if the mall developer and his attorney, don’t like my opinion, I’m allowed to have it.
Anyway, it’s New Year’s Eve 2025 and the development has begun. 
I wish this was less density here because I do not know where all these developers think we are going to put and care for all these additional people? We don’t even have a hospitals to care for our residents now. (Of course this is also why I think that the Exton Square Mall would be the perfect site for a new hospital but developers won’t make enough money on a new hospital will they? What do they care about us getting sick? )
So again, it’s not like this wasn’t approved or we didn’t know it was coming. It’s been very much out there. But it is quite jarring to see the land stripped bare bit by bit as this development begins.
On New Year’s Eve I’m going to make my last play of the year for lawmakers and Harrisburg to get off their asses and do a comprehensive update of the municipalities planning code. There hasn’t been one since it arrived circa 1969 and as I have said innumerable times before, that’s what gave us Chesterbrook.
I’m going to share some of my old photos taken over years past for many years, and a little video compilation.
First the photos:
These were at one time really nice little houses. They could’ve remained nice little houses as starter homes or step down homes for people downsizing.
Developer Eli Kahn at 12/1/25 Tredyffrin Supervisors Meeting
So this is an interesting one at the end of the supervisors’ meeting last evening, Tredyffrin Township’s bumbling and inefficient zoning officer (I am entitled to my opinion and I’m being understated because I don’t understand why she has a job, but I digress) pops up rather nervously to announce to the supervisors that are developer was there with essentially a problem.
What was the problem? Something to do with the sewer and how his workforce housing project was essentially being potentially charged too much if it goes forward the way it is for sewer capacity they’re not going to use, right?
Here is the recording of that portion of the meeting:
I don’t understand how it was just sort of popped on the agenda like this do you? I’m not saying he shouldn’t be heard because he should be heard, and this is a developer whose projects I am not generally speaking fond of, but when you listen to this meeting snippet, do you really think he’s wrong? I actually don’t. (Shocker, right?)
This project was introduced at the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025:
So this is a trend we’ve seen being proposed in other municipalities and not just by this developer. It’s all about redeveloping these old commercial properties and these office buildings that have become obsolete whales and making them into living units, and in some cases, schools?
So I have to ask are we potentially replacing one problem with another problem? To be clear l, I’m not saying I’m against workforce housing if it actually happens. But I also look at these plans for this housing and so many of the units are these little itty-bitty things so what about workforce housing for families?
But I’m not going off on that tangent today that’s just something I think about. We definitely need affordable housing for all stages of life, but do we really need more apartments? I keep asking that question.
So the reason Eli Kahn went to Tredyffrin has to do with sewer. And sewer capacity and what he is paying for. It’s an interesting conversation. Listen to the video. So he’s telling the supervisors that they have problems in their sewer fee structures I guess? Basically he’s saying it’s not a one-size-fits-all?
I find it interesting, just like I find it. Interesting how it all kind of got plopped at the end of this meeting.
What is it with sewer fees and sewer capacity and municipalities out here so you have the thing that West Goshen Sunshine uncovered that’s on her Facebook page about fees paying health insurance bills of supervisors?
And then, of course, we have West Whiteland Township, trying to do the right thing for residents being sued by the Exton Mall developer and why? If there isn’t really sewer capacity, how should they be able to build as much? I don’t understand. it’s not like that’s the only problem on that site is there? Not enough parking correct? Too many houses for the area because of the density already existing correct?
I took the above photo around August 18, 2025. In Delaware a LLC was filed August 21, 2025. On August 22, 2025 the deed transferred from the old dude from Ambler and his buddy. It kind of took until now for Chester County to upload everything. I have been checking rather frequently.
Note that Downingtown address for where mail goes for this new 401 Clover Mill LLC:
Oh wait? Really? County Propane which is a great company incidentally is owned by the guy Harry Miller who owns Regal Builders and all of the constant years long guyak or chiacchiere surrounding Lloyd Farm in Caln, right?
Allow me to set the stage. A few months ago I was told a name of rumored interest in the Joseph Price House. That name was Justin Olear. Why did I remember that name? From Lloyd Farm and Regal Builders and isn’t he Harry’s nephew? According to Regal’s website and a 2018 post on their website, he is isn’t he?
What is Lloyd farm and Lloyd Farmhouse? How quickly people forget. Next are shots someone did for some zoom thing according to Cheryl Spaulding who has led a courageous battle to preserve Lloyd Farmhouse which did not look like this when the developer purchased the property did it? Also below is a screenshot of plans for part of this property in Caln Township. Main Line Health is adding some sort of campus, but not a hospital.
But what I do not know is what happens to the farm house? People have been watching it just ROT for years, and the land was part of a William Penn Land Grant as in the gent who settled PA, right? And Caln residents have not forgotten that a demolition permit was filed in 2019 for Lloyd, have they? And who was the media trying to get a comment out of then? Harry Miller and Justin Olear?
Also interesting is people who live in Caln have been told that Justin Olear wants to preserve the Lloyd farm house at this point. He is now the president of Regal Builders, and I was told that he (Olear) wants to preserve the Joseph Price House a few months ago when I first heard his name in the Joseph Price of it all. I have literally been holding my breath hoping it was sold to someone who will preserve it and are we here? Remember, the Joseph Price House is a federally state and locally recognized historic asset.
Time will tell but the house is sold. I am hopeful that she stands a better chance of survival now. I don’t have a problem with someone restoring this for an office as an adaptive reuse
I actually drove by on Monday and they were ripping off one of the add on wood frame additions that had been rotting. Here are a couple of rear photos from March 2025 and the deed transfer, and thanks for stopping by.
Soooo….last year I had posted about this odd triangle parcel off Old Swedesford/Swedesford Road in East Whiteland. It looks like it was sold at some point in 2024 and I got a note today from someone that says:
Keeping you updated. Looks the property sold in October. We just noticed some people out there holding what looks like site plans. We really hope they aren’t planning on putting some commercial property in there in such a small residential community.
Coincidentally, it seemed to have shown up on an East Whiteland agenda for this week. Last evening‘s meeting as a matter of fact. 3a.
If anyone has any answers as to what is happening with this property, people are all ears. What seems to be happening on the video snippet that I am about to share, is a potential acquisition by East Whiteland Township to keep it as open space, which would be great because there are residential neighborhoods back there. So I don’t know if that would mean passive open space leaving it wooded or creating a more park like setting in part of it maybe throwing in a small playground? If what said on the video is true I would say that some township residents over there have possibly dodged a bullet, right?
Before properties were sold last October is above – and note technically there are two parcels. I only had the bigger parcel information from before it was sold in 2024.
Below are both parcels, large and small. I have also included a little screenshot of the bare bones schematic of ChescoPin, so people can visualize the area better.
Where the new property owners potentially selling to East Whiteland have correspondence sent is 120 Pennsylvania Ave Malvern PA 19355. Now that address is in the Borough of Malvern that’s tucked out of the way. But it’s whose address that is that I found potentially interesting and will anyone else?
That area is back on the other side of the train tracks from what you know is King Street or the main drag of Malvern Borough. It’s back off Bridge Street and that Old Lancaster Road area. Of course that address comes up on Malvern Borough’s website.
Life is so interestingly connected, isn’t it?
Anyway, good on East Whiteland if they’re stopping development there by a land purchase. If this is what has happened this of course means the open space referendum is working some more, doesn’t it? I guess now the East Whiteland Open Space Committee or someone review things?
Oh Tredyffrin, the chatter is flying. What does Tredyffrin Township know about the future fate of Paoli Shopping Center? Manager Bill Martin shouldn’t be coy here, should he? I pay very little attention to Tredyffrin over all, and when rumors like this reach me, I just have to ask what’s the truth?
I got a text this morning asking if I had heard the latest about Paoli Shopping center….
So Tredyffrin where’s the beef? What is the truth? 700 living units there is enough to give one a fit of the vapors, right? So time to spill the tea and tell people the truth. Residential development there would affect so much and not positively. Think overcrowded school district, overburdened infrastructure, and more…..
These rumors have been floating for a couple of years, but this time there was a rather large number attached to it and why?
Can’t someone just tell people what the truth actually is? Is it so hard? Is redevelopment planned and if so, what and how large? 
Gosh, I love developers they’re so lovely and community-centric around here, aren’t they? This is what is supposed to be “Berwyn Square.”
What it is, is Berwyn weed patch/ shantytown/ rundown/ shithole. Take your pick. all adjectives, even vulgar apply.
Residents are once again concerned because this affects their surrounding property values while this developer decides whatever it is that is magical that is supposed to happen here. I think this was the same developer that once had Knickerbocker and now Toll Brothers does?
All I know is he likes to tell everyone he’s a local guy and he cares, so if he is a local guy and he cares go deal with your goddamn weeds, right?
Yes, we all know he is waiting to develop his property into a mythical Shangri-La. Hopefully it will look better than the behemoth hanging over the Berwyn Tavern, right?
This is Easttown Township, they should be dealing with this because they would NEVER allow a resident to not maintain a property like this would they?
And hey, this is Berwyn and technically the Main Line, not Manayunk or Roxborough, right ?
I mean they’ve been talking about Berwyn Square for years. At this point it’s time to either you know what or get off the pot. And regardless, the property should not remain a blight in the area and isn’t it interesting it became that whole blighted, icky look it has today as soon as it was kind of announced for development, right?
Enough already. Developer created blight is as bad as ugly developments, if not worse.
So the other night was a meeting of the West Whiteland historic commission. (Zoom link HERE.)
On the April 8th, 2024 agenda is this planned development that will literally destroy a small neighborhood on Old Phoenixville Pike . It is the plan for the 20 Schiffer Farm acres that are 15 in West Whiteland and 5 in East Goshen. It’s on their agenda because there’s a historic asset being discussed.
Discussing the historic asset is in the purview of the West Whiteland historic commission. The chair opining obnoxiously about the neighbors is definitely not.
At around the 32:00 minute meeting mark, this man calls concerned neighbors “whiners” and denigrates and mocks them. At around 38:20 minute mark again mocking residents about not having them pick a street name. Boaty McBoat face? I have to ask is that code for he’s an asshat ?
I don’t know this guy. But if that’s the attitude he takes about the residents and he’s in a volunteer appointed position serving a municipality, perhaps he should step down, because if this isn’t a clear-cut example of conduct unbecoming in an elected or appointed official, and he’s an appointed official I don’t know what is, do you?
Audio segment showing jerky boy behavior beginning at 3:04 or so…just press play.
Of course, this meeting was very interesting to me because other things fell into place. I noticed on the corner of the plans being shown to the township, the name of the engineering firm.
And I wonder, is it just coincidence that this is the same engineering firm where I had to block someone on LinkedIn for comments on my timeline since I started talking about development here and off West King Road? It was kind of obnoxious comments and mansplaining that I had chosen to ignore on things I had posted or shared until today when I decided I didn’t invite this man, so I blocked him.
As an amusing also maybe related fact, I’ve had at least three other people from Howell Engineering studying me. LinkedIn tells you who has been playing peek a boo. I just never knew this was in the job category of engineers? I wonder if they are the ones that showed up at my friend’s back deck incorrectly surveying his property as part of Schiffer farm a couple months ago maybe?
So it’s painfully obvious that this whole situation concerning those poor beleaguered residents and their lovely neighborhood on Old Phoenixville Pike is just going to be ugly until it’s settled.
But the guy from the historic commission, and it sounds like the guy who basically started the meeting who research indicates is the chair, was out of line. His job is history. His job is not opining on what kind of a development this is and how it will affect or not affect the neighbors and it begs the question is this guy a realtor? If so, when he’s sitting on the historic commission in West Whiteland, he needs to take his realtor had off and leave only his history hat on. And if he can’t be polite and professional, when referring to residents in the township he is supposed to be serving then he needs to sit down, shut up, and get off any commissions in West Whiteland, doesn’t he?
I personally find this recording of this meeting beyond disappointing. And the reason I say that is, this is a historic commission that until this point, I actually held in high regard. They seemed much more proactive than a lot of other historic commissions, and they’ve done some really good work. BUT for all the good work they do, any member being obnoxious about the residents they are supposed to be serving to the best of their volunteer ability takes it all away.
This guy needs to apologize to those neighbors. He’s not in their shoes, he has no idea how they feel and if he can only mock fellow residents then he should step down from the historic commission.
As a matter of fact, officials at West Whiteland Township need to look into that. This is not acceptable behavior. He can say it’s a joke, but this is where these people live. Essentially, if this development gets built, it will destroy this entire neighborhood. People will potentially lose equity in their homes when a development comes rolling through their teeny weenie, narrow street.
The residents in this neighborhood on Old Phoenixville Pike, and the neighboring streets love where they live. They are fighting for their survival and rights much like other small neighborhoods all over.
This whole thing is very uncomfortable, especially for the people who will be most directly impacted. And it’s really disheartening when as residents they are just starting to go to meetings in some cases for the first time ever since they moved into the township to learn about what their rights are, and what this plan will do and how they will be impacted, and then they’re basically put down by this guy on the historic commission.
And what made it even worse is there’s a supervisor who is the liaison to the historic commission. This supervisor should have politely corrected him about not mocking residents who are also HER constituents. I did not hear her say anything in defense of those poor residents.
The strange tale of development behind Old Phoenixville Pike continues.
