Tag Archives: East Whiteland Township

what bishop tube looks like (and more legal stuff filed)

Posted on by

DSC_8760I went to Malin Road and stood outside the fences of Bishop Tube today.  Totally creepy and deserted.  I was glad to see an unmarked police car do a drive by a couple minutes after I got there, the place gave me the willies.

DSC_0009

I took photos from outside the fencing on the road. What a weird feeling to be out on such a gloriously beautiful day, yet there was the overwhelming creepiness of the Bishop Tube Site, all abandoned and the only way to describe it was the place seems to radiate negative energy.  Don’t see how that feeling will be eradicated by plastic townhouses marching row after row.  The site doesn’t appear to be particularly secure and given what appears to be vandalism, nor does itappear as if it has been for years has it?

DSC_0013

Staring at the site, I couldn’t help but wonder where the PA DEP was on this? I can find on the Internet where they were in the past, but not in the present. Or the EPA, which is so screwed up just read THIS and THIS and THIS.  Here let me share this:

The EPA Should Resign in Shame over Orange River

Let States Step Up to the Plate on the Environment

August 11, 2015 at 9:54 am

The scene was otherworldly. A river tinted orange by a toxic brew of heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, and other pollutants. Three million gallons of wastewater from an abandoned gold mine in rural southwestern Colorado flows slowly downstream. Communities are shutting off drinking water collection. Vacationers are being warned to avoid contact with the contaminated water.

The cause? None other than a mistake by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The Wall Street Journal reported details on the incident Sunday, noting that the spill was initially downplayed by the EPA, and that it was much larger than first reported. Most importantly, as of Sunday, the mine is still releasing wastewater at a rate of about 500 gallons per minute. The pollution incident is ongoing.

This latest toxic release is yet another example of the EPA spectacularly failing at its primary mission. As I’ve expressed in this space before, the government is not particularly competent at environmental remediation and management.

When you read things written by critics of the PA DEP, it is often not much better. Look these government agencies have good intentions but they all seem to get in their own way and in the end are the accomplishing their goals of protecting all of us?

Just check out this article from 2014 about fracking contaminating drinking water :

The Pennsylvania DEP has been criticized for its poor record of providing information on fracking-related contamination to state residents. In April, a Pennsylvania Superior Court case claimed that due to the way DEP operates and its lack of public record, it’s impossible for citizens to know about cases where private wells, groundwater and springs are contaminated by drilling and fracking.

“The DEP must provide citizens with information about the potential harm coming their way,” John Smith, one of the attorneys representing municipalities in the lawsuit, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “If it doesn’t record and make available the violations records then it is denying the public accurate information, which is unconscionable.”

When is the last time the PA DEP or EPA took a good look at sites like Bishop Tube in Pennsylvania?  These aren’t new sexy disasters, they are plodding along existing trouble spots so now that there don’t appear to be lots of  government money floating around for clean up ( a la “Growing Greener“) who cares about these toxic sites like Bishop Tube?

Now the PA DEP mentions Bishop Tube in it’s 2014 report, yes but it isn’t in so much detail is it? I found the annual reports on the DEP website which crashes a lot. So where are State Representative Duane Milne and State Senator Andy Dinniman on Bishop Tube?  Aren’t they supposed to be looking after Chester County residents on this topic as well?

I happened to check the court dockets on the Bishop Tube litigation mention in prior posts when I came home and there are a few more filings on the case of ordinary hard-working people vs, everyone involved around Bishop Tube.  Here are the two most interesting:

Plaintiff Memorandum Response Bishop Tube 2015

Amended Complaint With Jury Demand Bishop Tube 2015 Aug 12

Apparently although The Daily Local did that curtain raiser of an article a couple of weeks ago, no other media seems interested in a toxic superfund site in bucolic Chester County? Or are there media inquiries and other inquiries starting to foment and ferment behind the scenes?

DSC_8764

Here are a couple of gems from all this legal stuff:

From the plaintiffs’ memorandum (2:15-cv-01919 (GJP) filed 8/10/15):

Table of Auth

Page 4: “The Plaintiffs have alleged that, during the Defendants’ respective ownership and operation thereof, they discharged hazardous substances into the environmental which have migrated onto and into the Plaintiffs’ property including the Plaintiffs’ drinking water. It is further alleged that the Defendants have failed to remediate the contamination, the regulatory authorities have failed to require the Defendants to remediate the contamination and additional response work will be necessary.”

Page 6 “It is alleged in the Complaint that, during their respective periods of ownership and operation of the Bishop Tube site, the Defendants used or permitted the use of hazardous substances, including trichloroethylene (“TCE”), during the manufacturing processes for their seamless stainless steel and other products and that, as a result of the Defendants’ ownership and operations at the Bishop Tube site, hazardous substances, including TCE, were disposed into the environment, including the Bishop Tube site’s soils and groundwater. See Complaint,¶¶34-35. It is further alleged that subsurface migration of contaminated groundwater from the Bishop Tube site has and continues to contaminate the aquifer beneath the Bishop Tube site and beneath off-site premises including the Plaintiffs’ home. See Complaint, ¶36.”

Page 7 “Accordingly, in or about 1999, the PADEP took over response actions at the Bishop Tube site, which included periodic sampling of soil, surface water, groundwater, vapor intrusion pathway analysis and maintenance of monitoring wells in the contaminated aquifer as well as the installation of a soil vapor extraction and air sparging system designed to capture and remove contamination from subsurface soils at the Bishop Tube site. See Complaint, ¶¶42-43.

However, none of the Defendants have taken any steps to actively remediate the contamination that originated on the Bishop Tube site, which has and continues to migrate onto the Warren property and neither the EPA nor the PADEP have taken any steps to compel such remedial activity. See Complaint, ¶44. Further response action is necessary to abate the release of the hazardous substances at the Bishop Tube site which have and continue to migrate onto the Warren property. See Complaint, ¶45.”

A Notice of Intent to Sue was served on all Defendants as well as the EPA and PADEPon December 8, 2014, to which no one responded”

Page 11: “III. Plaintiffs’ RCRA Claim Must Not Be Dismissed

Johnson Matthey next argues that the Plaintiffs’ RCRA claim must be dismissed because it does not adequately allege an “imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment” and because the State is diligently addressing the contamination.

However, as described in detail above, the Complaint alleges that TCE contamination from the Bishop Tube site has migrated into the Plaintiffs’ well water. TCE is a volatile organic compound “used mainly as a solvent to remove grease from metal parts, but it is also an ingredient in adhesives, paint removers, typewriter correction fluids, and spot removers.

Trichloroethylene is not thought to occur naturally in the environment. However, it has been found in underground water sources and many surface waters as a result of the manufacture,use, and disposal of the chemical.” There is evidence that TCE affects the developmental and nervous systems in humans and is also carcinogenic. Specifically, there is evidence that TCE can cause kidney cancer and limited evidence for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and liver cancer as well as various tumors in animals. See United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Toxic Substances Portal for TCE, http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/substances/toxsubstance.asp?toxid=30 (last visited August 7,2015).

Accordingly, it is respectfully submitted that it is disingenuous for Johnson Matthey to claim that Plaintiffs have not adequately alleged sufficient imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment to sustain a RCRA claim.”

Page 13: “Conclusion

Simply stated, in support of their federal CERCLA and RCRA claims, the Plaintiffs have alleged that: (1) the Defendants, including Johnson Matthey, discharged hazardous substances, including TCE, into the environment at the Bishop Tube site which have migrated onto the Plaintiffs’ property and, specifically, into their drinking water; (2) that the Defendants have failed to remediate the contamination; (3) that the regulatory authorities have failed to require the Case 2:15-cv-01919-GJP Document 6 Filed 08/10/15 Page 12 of 13 10 Defendants to remediate the contamination; and (4) that additional response work will be necessary. Indeed, TCE is a carcinogenic. Based on the foregoing, it is respectfully submitted that the Plaintiffs have alleged sufficient facts, which must be presumed true for purposes of this Motion, to withstand a Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the FRCP”

From First Amended Complaint With Jury Demand:

Page 5: 37: “During their respective periods of ownership and operation of the Bishop Tubesite, the Defendants used or permitted the use of hazardous substances, including trichloroethylene (”TCE”), during the manufacturing processes for their seamless stainless steel and other products.”

 TCE

const dr ptnerbish tuNegligence Bishop Tube80 81Ok above are just snippets of the legal documents, quotes, excerpts. You can read for yourself the entire thing as they are uploaded in this post:

Amended Complaint With Jury Demand Bishop Tube 2015 Aug 12

Plaintiff Memorandum Response Bishop Tube 2015

I did not create any of this it is all on the court record.

I am a cancer survivor. I would not wish that on anyone. I have also known people who have seen their children through cancer and trust me, it is too gut wrenching for words. In my opinion based on the research available to publicly peruse, this is site is toxic is it not? And then there is General Warren Village.  Those residents deserve peace of mind don’t they?  They have always been directly affected by Bishop Tube haven’t they?

I am a realist. This might be a creepy site but it is this chunk of land that developers are salivating over (don’t know if they are glowing in the dark from walking around it, however.) This site will be made into something although really it should be cleaned up and left alone since it is also my opinion that this site will take years to properly remediate, and can’t you agree that is reasonable?

But the thing is this: a plan like that not only affects people who want their piece of the American Dream and want to live in gorgeous Chester County who might purchase these cram plan slab on grade no basement wonders if they are built, but potentially every east Whiteland resident in the future, correct?

How can East Whiteland say for certain they would not ever become a party over litigation surrounding this site?  They can’t, can they?  And they have an obligation to current and future residents to see beyond the shiny promises of developers oh so familiar to them, see beyond and some new ratables  down the road, and must put their heads down and see that this site is properly remediated and even get alternate land uses investigated, right? The bottom line is the owner of the land knows how to remediate this properly, they have the experience, correct?

Approving a development plan here while this litigation is ongoing and remediation isn’t complete can be considered a case of putting the cart before the horse, yes? And why is it all we hear is about the developer planning on “capping vapors” with the concrete slabs for the townhouses, yet the current litigation mentions aquifer again and again which is ground water, drinking water, and so on, right? A little different from vapors, right?

East Whiteland has a lot of development balls in the air and should we worry about how the land planning with all the developer driven zoning overlays are getting done?

East Whiteland, you have to do this right. Lives depend upon it. Please.

DSC_0015

bishop tube in malvern up for huge residential development – discussion at east whiteland meeting july 22nd

Posted on by
Abandoned Bishop Tube in Frazer PA as found on Abandoned But Not Forgotten Website

Abandoned Bishop Tube in Frazer PA as found on Abandoned But Not Forgotten Website

My late father always told me that I should check the Saturday papers for news that is meant to escape most and that if someone wants to slip important things past a populous, do it in the dead of summer.

Maybe it is just a coincidence, but one of the most notorious toxic waste sites around is being discussed in East Whiteland Township tomorrow, July 22nd – Bishop Tube on Malin Road in Frazer:

 PLANNING COMMISSION
EAST WHITELAND TOWNSHIP
REVISED MEETING AGENDA
July 22, 2015
Workshop – 7:00 p.m.…
Public Meeting – 7:30 p.m.

4.  Malin Road Development – former Bishop Tube Site – Sketch Plan
S. Malin Rd & Route 30 – RRD – Residential Revitalization
District – to permit 264 townhouses

The abandoned Bishop Tube Company of Malin Road in Frazer (East Whiteland) as featured on Abandoned but Not Forgotten website

The abandoned Bishop Tube Company of Malin Road in Frazer (East Whiteland) as featured on Abandoned but Not Forgotten website

Ok yes, it is abandoned. I assume these buildings are still there? I have never gone back there. But I remember reading about this site dating back to the 1980s and 1990s.

As a matter of fact and more than a little alarming is the fact that a law suit was filed this past April as in 2015 about Bishop Tube. And it has been closed, empty, abandoned for YEARS now, right?

Of course this never made the news around here did it? Or was it some little tiny mention that evaporated?

Homeowners allege leeching of hazardous chemicals into aquifer under home

Monday, Apr 20, 2015 @ 1:27pm by Dan Harkins PennRecord.com

Bradley and Paula Gay Warren filed a lawsuit filed April 19 in U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania against: Johnson Matthey Inc.; Bishop Tire Co.; Whittaker Corp.; Christiana Metals Corp.; Central and Western Chester County Industrial Development Authority; Electralloy Corp.; Marcegaglia SPA; Marcegaglia USA Inc.; and Constitution Drive Partners.   According to the lawsuit ….the defendants used and disposed the environment of hazardous chemicals, including trichloroethylene, during the manufacturing of seamless stainless steel and other products.

“As a result of the defendants’ ownership and operations at the Bishop Tube site,” the lawsuit states, “hazardous substances, including TCE, were disposed into the environment, including the Bishop Tube site’s soils and groundwater. Subsurface migration of contaminated groundwater from the Bishop Tube site has and continues to contaminate the aquifer beneath the Bishop Tube site and beneath off-site premises including the plaintiffs’ home.”

In 1980, the lawsuit states, the Bishop Tube site was included in a liability information list by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Warrens seek the court’s assistance in making Bishop Tube’s subsequent owners “prevent any further endangerment and also all costs, including attorney and expert witness fees.”

The case is real and active – click on Bishop Tube et al 2015 litigation

Ok so can they go forward with land development discussions while litigation like this is pending? And read what the article is saying.

Bishop Tube was something I was aware of before I lived out here. They were marked by the EPA in 1980 , and was mentioned in an article in 1992 in the Philadelphia Inquirer when President George Bush (as in the father) was in the area touring tube plants.

Then in 2007 there was an article in The Daily Local

Bishop Tube facility started in 1951, now abandoned

The Daily Local By ANNE PICKERING Posted: 06/02/07

EAST WHITELAND — The Bishop Tube Co., now abandoned, is located on a 13-acre tract off Malin Road south of Business Route 30. It started operations at the site in 1951 manufacturing platinum and other precious metals as well as stainless steel. The plant was classified as a redraw mill that reduced stainless steel tubes to specific diameters.

The plant came to the attention of state environmental regulators in 1972, when high levels of flouride were detected in Little Valley Creek, a stream that flows next to the plant, and was later traced to discharges from the plant. There were two operations at the plant that utilized hazardous chemicals in large quantities in the manufacturing of stainless steel tubing.

One was the pickling operation that used nitric acid, hydrofluoric acid and other acids and the other was the degreasing operation that used trichlorethylene (TCE). In the pickling operation, the stainless steel was immersed in large tanks of acid to clean it prior to fabrication. The degreasing was a final step and the finished pipe was immersed in a large vat of TCE, a solvent, to remove grease….

In a 1985 report by a firm hired by Christiana, BCM Inc., one of the earliest reports in the DEP’s files, the company found TCE in groundwater up to 20,120 parts per billion. After the plant was abandoned in 1999 and the state started its own investigation, it found TCE in groundwater at greater than 1,000,000 parts per billion, according to a 2002 Baker Environmental Inc. report.

Trichlorethylene is one of the most pervasive pollutants found in contaminated sites across the country. According to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)

Ok so I found this report online from I think ATSDR:

BISHOP TUBE SITE
EAST WHITELAND TOWNSHIP, CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Division of Health Assessment and Consultation Atlanta, Georgia 30333

On June 11, 2007, ATSDR received a petition to conduct “public health assessment activities” for the community surrounding the former Bishop Tube manufacturing facility in East Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania…..The 13.7 acre Bishop Tube site (Site) is located on the east side of Malin Road, south of US Route 30, in Frazier, East Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania….

…..In June 2007, East Whiteland Township petitioned ATSDR requesting that the agency perform a “public health assessment” to gauge the impact the former Bishop Tube manufacturing facility has had on the health of former employees and residents who live in the neighborhood surrounding the facility. ATSDR spoke with a former Bishop Tube employee that worked at the facility as a mill wright and in plant maintenance. He reported experiencing acute TCE toxicity symptoms, including a “drunk feeling” and a tingly feeling on his skin.

This former employee is now being treated for asthma which he never suffered from before. ATSDR did refer the former employee and an additional former employee to the regional Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics (AOEC) at the University of Pennsylvania for expertise in environmental and occupational health medicine. This former employee also informed ATSDR that (1) many employees from the facility have nueromuscular conditions and cancer, (2) his father worked at the facility and has Parkinson’s disease and respiratory problems, and, (3) hydrofluoric acid and nitric acid fumes were a problem at the site, in addition to asbestos in piping and the poor ventilation at the facility.

[READ ENTIRE REPORT BY CLICKING HERE:ATSDR Report on Bishop Tube]

So…Ok look but the thing is this – that health report thing says a LOT about Bishop Tube. The site has been targeted as toxic and been investigated a bunch of time since 1972 correct?  A cancer cluster was alleged in March 2007 by the community correct?  Community folks reported 1-2 cancer cases in every household correct? A plume of contaminants from on-site has spread and is in the groundwater and local wells, correct?  A creek flows through there. Traces of the crud have been discovered a mile away, correct? There has been activity to clean up the contaminants at the site, but is it REALLY complete? Until it is complete, crud will continue to move in the plume, correct?

Ok so in 2008 another article was in the local papers – here it is in The Phoenix

Ex-owner agrees to clean up Bishop Tube site

By ANNE PICKERING, Special to The Phoenix Posted: 08/23/08

 

EAST WHITELAND — An agreement has been reached with one of the former operators of the Bishop Tube Co. that will lead to the start of groundwater testing off site, possibly in the residential neighborhoods close to the former plant.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has been pursuing former owners of the now-defunct plant to get them to pay for cleanup of the soil and groundwater at the heavily contaminated site….Johnson Matthey operated at the site in the 1960s and sold the plant in 1969. The company no longer manufactures stainless-steel tubing.

….In the course of stainless-steel tube manufacturing, TCE was used as a degreaser. At the time, it was thought to be harmless, but it leached into the groundwater and soil over the years and contaminated area wells. Everyone in the vicinity has municipal water. One family down from Bishop Tube drank the contaminated well water for a number of years before a filter was installed.

A connection between cancer and exposure to TCE is suspected but not proven, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a federal public health agency.

The current clean water standard for TCE is five parts per billion.

Tests of groundwater at Bishop Tube have found levels of TCE as great at 20,000 parts per billion. The levels of TCE in Little Valley Creek are thought to be between 30 parts per billion and 70 parts per billion…..

Then after that I can’t find much. I found photos of the site mostly on Abandoned But Not Forgotten.    I found them in 2005 litigation involving Action Manufacturing v. Simon Wrecking Co. and listed on a website that lists Superfund Sites. There was an article in 2011 in Patch discussing putting playing fields on the Bishop Tube site

The EPA had a report in 2008 . And then I saw it pop up in a DVPRC Malin Road Extension Feasibility Study in 2010.

Now they did show up in an Uptown Worthington Tax Increment Funding or “TIF” Proposal on East Whiteland’s website from 2008:

Bishop Tube Uptown Worthington

TIF equates to what are you going to give a developer in breaks to build:

Tax increment financing, or TIF, is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects in many countries, including the United States. Similar or related value capture strategies are used around the world.

So look, I don’t know about you but a sketch plan with this description for THIS site makes me nervous:

 Malin Road Development – former Bishop Tube Site – Sketch Plan
S. Malin Rd & Route 30 – RRD – Residential Revitalization District – to permit 264 townhouses

I have heard long term residents say this site shouldn’t be developed and well, yeah I concur. What the heck does East Whiteland need with another 264 townhouses on top of all the other development coming down the pike? Especially HERE?

And again, if there is active and current litigation involving this site and the heath hazards how is this even progressing right now?

If you live near Bishop Tube, I hope you attend the meeting. Anyone living in East Whiteland should contemplate attending. This is not a site where they can pour concrete on the ground and say all contaminants are capped. It might not mean anything to us in our lifetimes, but as a society of human beings I think we owe it to future residents to voice concern.

As a cancer survivor this is a very real fear: to move into an area with a lot of Super Fund sites that aren’t really all settled and cleaned up.  When is the last time anything was comprehensively tested at Bishop Tube?

Constitution Drive Partners is owner by a GP named CONSTITUTION DRIVE PARTNERS ACQUISITION CORPORATION . This entity of course is in actually part of what? O’Neill Properties? Doesn’t this company have enough empty units to fill at that Royal Worthington in the back of Uptown Worthington with that million dollar view of Route 202?

Pa. Court Says Landowner Can’t Appeal DEP Agreement’s End

By Dan Packel

Law360, Philadelphia (July 18, 2014, 5:09 PM ET) — A Pennsylvania court ruled Thursday that the owner of a contaminated tract of Chester County land could not appeal a Department of Environmental Protection letter ending an agreement in which the landowner agreed to take measures to rehabilitate the site in exchange for protection from liability.
The Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board said that the letter the DEP sent to Constitution Drive Partners LP — which purchased the site of a former precious metals and steel processing facility in 2005 — was not appealable because the letter itself had no effect on the company.

When CDP bought the former Bishop Tube site in East Whiteland Township, it reached an agreement with DEP to take certain steps to remediate the existing soil and groundwater contamination, according to the opinion.

Then, in 2011, an independent contractor hired by CDP damaged piping and protective covering on a soil vapor extraction and air sparging system while conducting salvage operations on the site.

According to the opinion, CDP said that DEP had agreed that the repairs could be delayed until DEP was prepared to operate the system or the company intended to start redevelopment work on the site.

But in January, DEP sent the company the letter citing the 2011 damage and accusing the company of breaking the 2005 agreement….The case is Constitution Drive Partners LLC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, case number 2014-019-M, in the Environmental Hearing Board.

The last thing on this for this post is this startling 2007 Daily Local article:

For Bishop Tube workers, danger lurked for decades

By Anne Pickering Posted: 06/04/07

Second of two parts

EAST WHITELAND — Keith Hartman and Dave Worst have many things in common.

They were both born in the 1950s, two years apart. They both grew up in General Warren Village, the modest, working class subdivision located south of Lancaster Avenue near the intersection of Route 29, and named for the historic General Warren Inne.

Like many of their neighbors in General Warren, Hartman and Worst worked at the nearby Bishop Tube Co.

Most significantly, the two men know of former Bishop employees who suffer from potentially fatal illnesses that they believe may have been caused by their exposure to trichlorethylene (TCE), a suspected carcinogen, during their tenure at the plant….

Hartman and Worst can also run off a list of fellow Bishop Tube workers who either died from cancer or nerve diseases, or currently suffer from them.

“The sad thing is I wish we knew then what we know now,” said Hartman in a recent interview.

Over the past several months, the Daily Local News has examined the story of a former manufacturing plant that has left a legacy of pollution in East Whiteland.

The Bishop Tube Co. was a plant that was abandoned by its owner possibly because of fear over liability for the pollution it created….In 2005, Brian O’Neill of O’Neill Property Group purchased the site for $700,000 through his affiliate, Constitution Drive Partners, and signed an agreement with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to jointly clean it up. The plan is to keep the buildings and convert it for light industrial use.

 How did “the plan is to keep the buildings and convert it for light industrial use” become 264 townhouses?

If ever there was a time for a municipality to hit the PAUSE button, this could be that project, right? This is the potential for all sorts of yikes. And apparently this isn’t an O’Neill project any longer? It is a Benson project? As in the guy who was going to build behind Linden Hall in Frazer on Route 30 and save it? Only it is a little held up in DEP approvals or something?

But according to this the actual land hasn’t changed hands? So who is responsible for what??

bishop tube tax thing

Thanks for stopping by.

PS Remember the 2001 Inquirer article? When Sam Katz was going to put a sports center in? He never did and that is what they did with the former bubblegum factory/Superfund site in Havertown – they built a new YMCA.

Here is that article:

Katz seeks to build sports center in Chester County

By Susan Weidener and Sandy Bauers INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

Posted: March 21, 2001

Using public and private financing, a development company owned by Sam Katz, the former Philadelphia mayoral candidate, wants to build a $17 million sports center on a contaminated industrial site along Route 30 in Chester County.

The center, with ice-skating rinks, indoor soccer fields and a wellness center, would be on the former Bishop Tube manufacturing site in Frazer, in East Whiteland Township.

Abandoned two years ago, the 17-acre property – a brownfield, or environmentally contaminated site – is near the Route 202 high-tech corridor….

saving heritage: the ruins of ebenezer ame on bacton hill road

Posted on by

ebenezer ame

Two years ago, I wrote three posts on an abandoned church I had stumbled upon:

ebenezer ame church – bacton hill road

it’s palm sunday, so why not post about an abandoned church?

on good friday, remember the churches abandoned by time and man e1

Well, interestingly enough there has been renewed interest in this church, formerly located on Bacton Hill Road in East Whiteland Township, Chester County. Yes, I am writing again about Ebenezer AME Church.

e3For me, this all began as a fascination of a ruined structure that I later received more information on.  Ebenezer AME in Frazer was built in 1835.

e9Apparently the oldest grave stones in the cemetery date back to the 1830s. An Eagle Scout named Matthew Nehring did a project a few years ago now  uncovering the gravestones. (Have no idea if his project is finished.) According to the photos it appears some of the dead buried here are soldiers and veterans.e8

One gravestone is for a Joshua Johnson  (Pvt., Co. K, 45th Reg., United States Colored Troops (USCT) (Civil War). I find this to be incredibly historically significant as the army began to organize African Americans into regimental units known as the United States Colored Troops (USCT) in 1863.

e4According to the East Whiteland Historical Society  this church used to serve as a “hub” of African American society in Frazer. Also according to East Whiteland Historical Society:

Members of this community have been documented as former slaves.  Their ability to construct this church demonstrates the e5prosperity and commitment of this community.

The trustees of the Ebenezer AME church purchased the land in 1831 from James Malin.  The oldest gravestones found in the cemetery date from the early 1830’s.  The congregation disbanded for a time between 1848 and 1871 during which time the building fell into disrepair.  By June 22, 1873 the church had been rebuilt and rededicated.  It continued to be used until 1970; then intermittently until the 1940’s.  Now it is abandoned.

I will note that when Patch covered this in 2012 they showed a lot more gravestones than I was able to locate in 2013.  It is now 2015. The Eagle Scout (Matthew Nehring) put what he found on Find A Grave. On that website it is listed as Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Cemetery (Also known as: Chester Valley African Methodist Episcopal Cemetery, Valley Hill Cemetery).e6

On Memorial Day I thought of Joshua Johnson, the  Civil War soldier buried there. He is a valid part of our soldiering and military history in this country, yet who remembers him? Does the East Whiteland Historical Society remember him? Does anyone? Does he have any ancestors still living in Chester County who may not know his grave exists?

On Pennsylvania Gen Web I do not even find this church or cemetery mentioned. Its not listed on other websites on which you would go to look up information. I do not know how to look the property up on Chester County property records to attempt to track a deed, I have tried.

I would venture a guess that this church once upon a time was part of The First Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. But once again, locally some of us know this church existed, but it is very hard to find information.

This church is a definite candidate for a Pennsylvania Historical Marker but in addition wouldn’t it be great to get this site preserved in some way? The graveyard cleaned up and preserved? I think the land is still owned by the AME church, but how to find the records and get them to acknowledge this sacred place escapes me.

This place should MATTER. I have no idea if the National Trust for Historic Places would be interested but they should be.  #thisplacematters

East Whiteland has some fascinating history.  And if we are not careful, it will all fade away.  East Whiteland isn’t just home to business parks along 29 and 202. Between this crumbling church and places like Loch Aerie and Linden Hall, shouldn’t the historical commission  be reaching out to national and state wide preservationists?

If you have any information on Ebenezer AME Church please feel free to post it on a Facebook Page called Living in East Whiteland. Living in East Whiteland is a closed page, but you may request to join. You may also post information on Chester County Ramblings’ Facebook Page.

Together we can try to not only preserve the beauty that is Chester County, PA but the history as well.

Thanks for stopping by.

e7

surprise! east whiteland is getting a new township manager april 8

Posted on by

nagel east whitelandThe thing about East Whiteland Township that is so marvelous   is that you rarely know what is going on until it is done. You can purportedly sign up to get meeting notices and what not, only you never get them.

Well lo and behold a NEW Township Manager is being sworn in TOMORROW April 8th. You would think they would notify residents of things like this, or in their case send up a smoke signal as no meetings are televised. (I have personally signed up three times for township newsletters and such including today but have yet to receive any notice of meeting agendas and so on.)

His name is John Nagel and here is his Linked In Profile – which was updated already to reflect his new gig for which he gets sworn in tomorrow. I will reserve judgment but I sure hope he makes East Whiteland more user friendly – better communication, maybe even televised meetings???

Here is what I just read (which was echoed on Patch late yesterday only who really read Patch anymore?):

East Whiteland Township Announces Appointment of New Township Manager

East Whiteland Township Supervisors announced today that have agreed to hire John B. Nagel as the Manager of the Township. Mr. Nagel is replacing Terry Woodman who is retiring from the position she has held since 2001.

Mr. Nagel joins EWT from Whitpain Township, Montgomery County where he was the Director of Finance. Prior to that position, Mr. Nagel served as Director of Administrative Services for the City of Reading and as Township Manager of Montgomery Township and in various other positions over a career of more than 26 years in local government.

Bill Holmes, Chairman of the East Whiteland Township Board of Supervisors, “We are very pleased and excited to have John Nagel join our organization. East Whiteland is a vibrant, dynamic community and we believe our efforts have resulted in our selection in the best possible candidate to lead the Township.” John Mott, Vice Chairman of the Board added, “John Nagel is an accomplished individual with a proven track record of successfully guiding business growth and process improvement, and we are confident that he is the right person to lead the Township in achieving our goals.”

In commenting on his appointment, Mr. Nagel indicated, “I am excited about this new challenge and look forward to joining East Whiteland as Township Manager. I am confident that working with our elected officials and dedicated employees, we can achieve our true potential as a premier local government serving the needs of our residents, employers and employees who call East Whiteland home.” Mr. Nagel commended Ms. Woodman for establishing a strong, results-oriented staff and a community and economic center in EWT. “It is an honor to succeed Terry Woodman as Township Manager.”

Mr. Nagel will be sworn in as Township Manager at the Board’s April 8th meeting.

 

And by the way….read the township website about interesting zoning related updates. And this gen in PhillyDeals caught my eye:

Meanwhile, out in the suburbs: Instead of reskinning aging 1970s buildings and tacking on skylit public areas and shops, Liberty Property Trust last week presented plans to knock down a largely vacant 300,000-square-foot group of buildings that formerly housed drugmaker Sanofi in the Great Valley Corporate Center.

The plan is to get East Whiteland Township approval for “600,000, 700,000, 800,000 square feet of offices, six or seven stories high, a 130-room hotel, 25,000 square feet of retail, 600 apartment units,” said Jim Mazzarelli, head of Liberty’s suburban East Coast operations.

Aye yay yay. East Whiteland as Mall of America? Sweet.

community

Posted on by

lavenderLast evening I went to my first ever municipal meeting in Chester County.  It was the East Whiteland Zoning Hearing Board.  CubeSmart was supposed to be on it, but apparently the applicant continued it until September 23rd.

The meeting started a little late and the room was packed, even for August.  I estimate that maybe 100 people can be seated and truthfully it wasn’t far off capacity. The first order of business was they announced the retirement of one of the members – I think it was the guy who fell asleep during the last Zoning Hearing Board Meeting where CubeSmart was discussed.

The most contentious discussion of the evening was the application that requested a single variance.  1535 Morstein Road in Malvern. They needed the variance on the frontage so they can shoehorn in two McMansions on what looks to me to be a flag lot.  They got it.  In a perfect world the variance would have been denied. But just like Lower Merion, Radnor, Tredyffrin, and so on they throw it back to the public that commissioners and supervisors create the zoning. And we all know the zoning and everything else is based on what? The outdated Municipalities Planning Code of Pennsylvania.

Yes it is a cycle, and we elect the people who perpetuate the cycle. So in order to break the cycle we have to change the players enough until we get people willing to enact the changes on a top down basis that better reflects what we want in our communities as residents.

But politics of municipalities is not the conversation I am having today.  The conversation I am having is about community. And I saw it last night and it was terrific. First a little recap and a couple observations.

1535 Morstein

This Morstein application and discussion on the property was interesting.  The applicant’s attorney put up several witnesses, including the daughter of the deceased who I presume was the executor of the estate. The guy has been dead a few years so who knows if there were other executors or not, but for someone who wants to sell and move on in my opinion the property has sat a long time in an area where they don’t sit too long.  Now this lady grew up there and on some level it must be darn difficult to go through this.  Obviously she lives someplace else and needs to settle the estate but I still find it hard to believe some of what she said.

When quizzed about the property by the Zoning Hearing Board and even residents she said that she had tried to interest a realtor in selling the property but couldn’t find one and that no neighbors had ever expressed interest in the property.  I find that hard to believe.  It is quite a desirable area.

The house itself is a wreck. The property is so overgrown and neglected that you almost expect Charles Dickens’ character Miss Havisham from Great Expectations to come wandering out of the woods.   It did not get that way overnight. That takes years.  I am always fascinated when people let a family home sort of crumble year by year.  I have seen it out here, have seen it on the Main Line.  Saw it some more in and around Berwyn yesterday when I was cruising around photographing historic homes for a fall house tour.

The proposed plan seems as if it has a few more hoops to go through (and wow look at the drawing below – light green looks like proposed lawn area and dark green forest. That to me looks like a LOT of trees will go) before it can become reality including things like septic testing, storm water considerations  and so on. It is not a done deal yet.  They have to pay close attention to the septic as apparently back there a lot of septic systems have failed and if the area went to municipal/public sewer well as I understand it the sewage plant or whatever that is closest is at or near capacity and where would they pump to? And the cost of adding public sewer is also quite expensive.

What I saw last evening that I REALLY liked and totally respect was a community which came together to morstein1appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board.  All they want is their way of life and neighborhoods protected.  They were realists.  Many said if you have to build one house we get that, but why do you have to cram two into the space? The other thing I liked is they did this in a respectful manner.  There was some drama but not to the extent you see in similar Main Line meetings I used to attend.

Community that comes together is awesome.  I am glad to see a sense of community is alive and well.  It is so important. What I also liked is I discovered that a lot of these people had lived around there for decades in some cases.  That is a positive sign for any community and what has changed on the Main Line, for example.  A lot of areas (the Main Line included) can get quite transient and that is not good for a community necessarily.  Not everything can always stay the same but when you check out a community that has lots of comings and goings of residents to me that always makes you wonder what is wrong, doesn’t it?

We don’t need to all be in each other’s pockets and we don’t need local governments that micromanage every little thing. But a sense of community along with a sense of place is so important.  It was so very nice to see neighbors who care about each other.  That is something I saw less and less of on the Main Line before I moved.

People define community often as “community events”.  Events are nice, but they don’t make the community, people do.  And when people do embrace a true sense of community it is very cool and I think marvelous. And that is something no developer can replicate. It either just is or isn’t.

 

east whiteland zoning alert: malvern issues

Posted on by

abandoned house on morsteinI have been waiting for East Whiteland’s CubeSmart drama to pop up again, and it is…on Monday. Remember the last meeting on Cube Smart this summer? The one where one of the board members fell asleep? The zoning hearing board agenda for Monday is posted, check it out.

Appeal No. 13-15 Application of Old Lancaster Venture, LP, c/o CubeSmart (continuation of the hearing commenced at the July 22nd meeting of the Board).

I say this is a meeting worth attending for CubeSmart alone.

Of course while I was perusing the agenda (which I have loaded for you here: East Whiteland Zoning Hearing Board Agenda Aug 26 ), something else caught my eye that people anywhere near (or on) Morstein Road or Collegeview in Malvern should sit up and take note.

You know that derelict to the point of abandoned home on Morstein just before Collegeview (if you are coming up Morstein from King Road – grainy photo above)? The driveway is overgrown and trees have fallen down, yet if you look closely when you go by it appears it is still full of stuff although obviously not inhabited? Well apparently the property is in play and up for subdivision:

Appeal No. 13-17 Application of Pennfield Properties, LP as equitable owner, and the Estate of George F. Donahue as the title owner, for a variance from the minimum lot width at the street right-of-way line (75 feet required) in order to reduce the lot width at the street line to 49 feet, in conjunction with a proposed two-lot subdivision of property located at 1535 Morstein Road (tax parcel 42-6-51) in an R-1 zoning district.

I would say given the verbiage that the sale might be contingent upon zoning approval. If you live near this home or merely care about residential zoning in East Whiteland, I think this is an important thing – if this applicant gets approval for a variance in minimum lot width the barn door is WIDE open to questionable development where a lot more gets crammed onto a lot less space than used to be allowed.

The word of the day is precedence. As in you do not want it happening with this application.

Being allowed to go from 75 feet to 49 feet is a very big deal. Trust me, I came off the Main Line where no one is happy until every nook and cranny is developed and people are squished into neighborhoods like lemmings. (Which of course leads to other issues with things like infrastructure, roads, traffic, and so on and so forth.)

I figured from the first time I saw that house that the lot was just a goner and someone was waiting for a developer to put jingle in their pocket. However, I think if a developer overpays for land it is their personal issue. That being said, yeah ok, a developer bought it, but East Whiteland can say no to what they are requesting and have these applicants stick to developing more along the size and scale of other homes in the neighborhood. This property has a lot of woods. Once a neighborhood eco system is changed and open space is obliterated, it is not coming back. Please, if you are going to go to this meeting ask East Whiteland to deny the variance request. Preserve a very pretty stretch of road and neighborhood.

Pennfield Properties was unknown to me, so I looked them up:

pennfield 1

pennfield2

cubesmart application causes east whiteland zoning officer to doze off?

Posted on by

cube smart

The above photo is old.  Can’t find recent photos I snapped of CubeSmart’s giant box being built on the edge of Malvern overlooking Route 30.

It is a BIG, UGLY box.  I hate when areas are de-forested so Tyvec boxes can be built, don’t you?  And this is now your landmark when going to the General Warren Inne, which is a place I know and love.  I have seconded a wedding photographer there as well as having just been there as a dinner guest over the years. I also fully admit that I do not understand the lack of planning and general mish-mosh of conflicting zoning throughout Chester County.  You have residential often quite close to the most awful commercial zoning.  To me this is another one of those situations.

So CubeSmart, another fine project brought to you by Eli Kahn who to me seems to want to take over Chester County, has been a contentious project by comments I have seen on Malvern Patch every time it comes up. I think part of what is the problem is that this particular Malvern project, which is located in East Whiteland is not only due to what the project it (in essence a big box with more self-storage and then offices), but because it seems like East Whiteland doesn’t do much putting it out there as far as notification except to the letter of what they are supposed to do and do they have a public access channel for televised meetings or not?

So a zoning notice went up on the CubeSmart property like late last week regarding their application in East Whiteland. The notice said:

Appeal No. 13-15 Application of Old Lancaster Venture, LP, c/o CubeSmart for a special exception pursuant to Section 200-89 of the Township Zoning Ordinance, which authorizes exceptions to the otherwise applicable signage regulations under special circumstances, in order to permit the Applicant to install two wall signs and three free-standing signs having a total collective square footage of 223.5 square feet on its property located at 5 Old Lancaster Road (UPI 42-4-338) in an R-3 Residential Zoning District, in conjunction with the construction of an 86,400 square foot office building.

That got posted on one of those neighborhood bulletin board things on Malvern Patch (and not as a regular media coverage, either – some of the media coverage seems in flux to be polite since Pete Kennedy left the editorial spot there – he was very on top of things and diligent.)

Immediately the comments started.  Residents with immediate standing to this project seem VERY upset.  With good reason – the hearing on GIANT, yes GIANT billboard-y signage was scheduled in the middle of a July heat wave – you know when people are either dying from the heat or on summer vacation? Apparently East Whiteland doesn’t have a billboard policy? Or good signage policy? I don’t know so someone else will have to fill in that question via a comment. I would have thought they would because I noticed at the bottom of the notice posted on Pennsylvania Public Notices that Fronefield Crawford, Jr was listed as the Zoning Hearing Board Solicitor and well he made a stink at Radnor Township a few years ago in 2009 about their billboard and signage policies, but maybe that was because his church might have been affected – Wayne Presbyterian.  (Interestingly his name also surfaced in a literal “turf war” in Radnor too.)

Now no joke, off premises signs and billboards are big problem I think throughout Chester County and Chester County has a ton of the ugliest billboards from municipality to municipality.  I don’t like billboards and billboard-like signs.

Anyway, from what it sounds like a bunch of folks from the “General Warren Village” neighborhoods in Malvern/Frazer showed up at this meeting.

cube3I hear there were fireworks.  A resident named Jim rolled up on Malvern Patch today and left a stunning comment:

Jim McVeigh                July 23, 2013 at 10:36 am
         Well, sparks flew at the Zoning Ordinace meeting last night. During the first presentation myself and other residents witnessed Jeffery Freeman , a member of the Board, first dozing off and on, then shortly he was out fast asleep. I interrupted the presentation to bring it to the other members of the boards attention. I was responded to by Mr. freeman with the comment B**lS**T. I guess he does not like being interrupted during his nap time. For bringing this to the boards’ attention I was chastised for speaking out of order, even though I asked the audience if they had witnessed Freeman napping and 7- 8 residents raised thier hand. Of course nothing was said publicly to Freeman. If you are not aware of exactly the members of the boards duties include, I have included information from thier website. **************** Zoning Hearing Board **************  The Zoning Hearing Board is a five-member appeals board appointed by the Board of Supervisors for staggered, five-year terms. The Zoning Hearing Board hears applications for: special exceptions;  nonconforming uses;  variance requests.  It also hears appeals of decisions made by the zoning officer. The Board gathers facts by taking testimony and by reviewing evidence from affected parties at public hearings. It is charged with the legal responsibility of approving or denying applications and appeals.  In rendering a decision, the Board considers all testimony, presented under oath at public hearings, and evaluates an application’s impact on the community. When necessary, the Board can require special stipulations in allowing special exceptions and variances. The Board interprets, but does not set, the zoning ordinance. The zoning ordinance and any revisions are prepared by the Planning Commission and adopted by the Board of Supervisors following a public hearing. The zoning ordinance was last adopted in February 2007. ************************************************

cube2

Wow. I have attended a lot of zoning hearing board meetings in various municipalities in my day, but I have *NEVER* heard of a Zoning Hearing Board Member dozing off have you?  Does East Whiteland have any comment? Any media following up on this?

I am asking for input here because my curiosity on this development leads me to the following question: can a fair and equitable zoning decision be reached when member of the board are seen dozing off in the middle of the hearing?  And the public, the residents with standing who had the courage to speak up and point this out were chastised for being out of order? REALLY?  What if this were a capital murder trial and the judge dozed off? I realize that using a murder trial is an extreme parallel of sorts but aren’t Zoning hearings mini legal proceedings?  Did a court stenographer catch all this?

Seems to me residents may deserve a little TLC here.

Again, thoughts on zoning naptime at the oasis?

(Update I am told East Whiteland doesn’t televise meetings – there seem to be a lot of Chester County municipalities that do *not* televise or videotape their meetings which I find *odd* since I know they all have access to public access TV if they want it, right?)

on good friday, remember the churches abandoned by time and man

Posted on by

DSC_0053Sounds a bit dramatic, but it got your attention, didn’t it? On Good friday, one of the holiest of holy days, I ask you to remember a small but historically significant church that is rotting in Frazer in East Whiteland Township, Chester County.  It is on Bacton Hill Road and it is Ebenezer AME Church.DSC_0006

It started as a fascination of a ruined structure that I later received more information on.  Ebenezer AME in Frazer was built in 1835.

Apparently the oldest grave stones in the cemetery date back to the 1830s. An Eagle Scout named Matthew Nehring had been working on uncovering the gravestones. (Have no idea if his project is finished.) DSC_0041According to the photos it appears some of the dead buried here are soldiers and veterans. One gravestone is for a Joshua Johnson  (Pvt., Co. K, 45th Reg., United States Colored Troops (USCT) (Civil War). I find this to be incredibly historically significant as the army began to organize African Americans into regimental units known as the United States Colored Troops (USCT) in 1863.

DSC_0022According to the East Whiteland Historical Society (which I am not sure what they do because all I see are historic structures rotting in East Whiteland) this church used to serve as a “hub” of African American society in Frazer.  So again on Good Friday I ask again why isn’t any of it being protected?

In any Christian religion, Easter is a very big deal.  Imagine Easters of the past in this little church.  Ladies and gents in their Sunday best, the ladies sporting spring hats.  The laughter and joyful sounds of children outside after services have concluded? The pastor standing outside wishing his congregation well and God speed?

DSC_0007A reader of my blog tells me County records indicate that the lot is owned by the “African Methodist Episcopal Church”.  This online directory shows the a church in Malvern – St. Paul’s.

The headquarters of the AMEC church are as follows:

500 8th Avenue South Nashville, TN 37203 Phone:(615)254-0911 Fax:(615)254-0912 Email:cio@ame-church.com

I am going to e-mail these posts to AMEC and see if they will care.  Certainly no one else I have e-mailed to date has appeared to care.

East Whiteland always seems to be Johnny on the Spot for historical data yet all thisDSC_0051 stuff just rots.  Peter H. Spengeman, a member of the East Whiteland Township Historical Commission wrote to me recently in part:

I appreciate the writer’s interest and concern about the considerable historical resources in the Township , and the ongoing need for protection of structures such as the Ebenezer AME Church, a recent focus of beginning conservation planning.   All of us shudder when we pass a formerly stately structure crying for help.

He continues with what East Whiteland has done in the past, and well, the past is the past.  What is going on today? I am going to not try to sound harsh, but what is it they do besides bemoan the fact that a heck of a lot of history in East Whiteland is rotting?  Loch Aerie, Linden House, and more?  For example (I do not know all the municipal boundaries so feel free to correct me) but isn’t part of Duffy’s Cut that Amtrak won’t allow any more archeological digs on in East Whiteland?  Is the mass grave important enough that maybe another marker closer to the actual site is in order?DSC_0093

I get that part of the problem is East Whiteland has probably more commercial zones than residential so why not get smart with zoning and planning?  Is it possible to write into ordinances and make conditions of approval that not only include  these developers to improve the roads and infrastructure, but to kick in towards the preservation?  I mean seriously they have developers with huge, deep pockets like DSC_0072Brian O’Neill and Eli Kahn, right? I mean Brian O’Neill is Catholic with a sense of religion, right?  Why couldn’t they ask someone like him to save a church?  Help get another historical marker closer to the actual location of Duffy’s Cut mass grave (Where AMTRAK halted archeological digging) ? Or help find a conservation minded buyer for say Linden Hall or Loch Aerie?

Both developers and their partners have made noises out here and elsewhere about how their developments add to the character of an area, so why not have them put their money where there mouths are on historic sites? Paoli Battlefield and Battle of the Clouds are important, but why is it I see neighboring municipalities succeeding with preservation efforts? Historic Sugartown, Historic Goshenville, and even though sometimes I think they need to do more, Historic Yellow Springs?

DSC_0095

And again, when you go to East Whiteland’s really poorly designed website and pull up the historical commission you get a big bowl of nothing.

This church meant something to residents of Chester County for generation upon generation.  I was also told (and I quote) “Some of the family names on the gravestones are the same as families still living in Malvern Borough.  I can’t blame the Township when the church and the families don’t seem to care.”

DSC_0029I will tell you what, if some of my people were buried in an abandoned churchyard I sure would care.

So here is wishing on Good Friday that apathy dies an untimely death and people remember this site before my photos are the only things left standing.

Again, I am happy to share the photos I have taken to date.  If the African Methodist Episcopal Church were to roll up with East Whiteland to save it, I would continue to offer my photographic skills as a donation as well as my PR talents.  But someone other than I has to care, first.

Blessed Easter all.

 DSC_0100

 

 

hedges might make good neighbors, but can be hard on drivers

Posted on by

whitelands chiroA couple of weeks ago I called up East Whiteland Township and spoke with the Township Manager Terry Woodman. I guess people around here don’t just call up Township Managers because Manager Woodman seemed a little surprised to get a call from a random citizen, but I am new enough to the area that I do not know who handles what.

I had called East Whiteland about Whitelands Chiropractic on the corner of Church Road and Lancaster Avenue in Frazer.   This is the business immediately next to PNC Bank in Frazer.  pnc

The reason I called is because it is very hard making a left hand turn into PNC bank off of the eastbound side of Lancaster Avenue due to the people who take the right turn on red light out of Church/Markley School Road.  Even though you sit up higher than they do waiting to turn into PNC Bank’s parking lot, it is quite difficult to see the cars waiting to turn right and head west on Lancaster from Church/Markley School Road (see photo at top as an example.)

The flip side is having been a person waiting to turn right (Westbound) onto Lancaster from Church and Markley School Road, it is also often difficult to see people waiting to turn into PNC.4

A BIG part of the reason it is hard to see are the hedges in my humble opinion.  I don’t see why it should be so hard to TRIM them properly.  That is what I asked East Whiteland about a couple of weeks ago. The hedges form an upside down and backward L for lack of a better description.  The other thing I wondered is if the right turn was marked “No right turn on red” or could be considered for such a thing?

Anyway, this isn’t East Whiteland’s fault, but it is something that I noted again today needed to be addressed.

I have no way of knowing if Whitelands Chiropractic owns the property or has a landlord responsible for the hedges but I thought perhaps if someone SAW what I was talking about they could better understand the need to at a minimum trim the hedges back.

another view