I used to love Wayne and North Wayne in particular. North Wayne had all these crazy cool houses from little workingman’s twins on Willow Avenue to the big Victorians on the surrounding streets.
But bit by bit and peace by piece it’s all disappearing. It’s like the Radnor Historical Society might as well not even exist any longer.
I happen to be on N. Aberdeen Ave. today because I got turned around. Not because any roads were close I just hadn’t been back there in forever. So when I was coming around N. Aberdeen I realized something was missing: Jonathan Lengel’s house built in 1888. He was a builder in Wayne when Wayne was becoming what we know her for today, or knew her for it because the houses keep getting torn down. He was the architect on the Wayne Hotel as a matter of fact and there is a suite named for him.
So Jonathan Lengel built himself a house at 236 N. Aberdeen Avenue in Wayne in 1888 or thereabouts.
In 2008 that house was threatened by predatory development:
PUBLISHED: April 30, 2008 at 10:00 p.m.
Radnor planners will consider Lengel house demolition
The Radnor Township Planning Commission Monday will hear a proposal to tear down the home of Jonathan D. Lengel, a builder who constructed a number of significant houses in Wayne around the turn of the 20th century.
The owners of 236 N. Aberdeen Ave. in the “Little Chicago” section of North Wayne are proposing to tear down the single-family house, reportedly built in 1888 by Lengel for his family, and build two twin houses.
The property is in a dense community that suffers stormwater issues from Gulph Creek, which runs through it.
Suburban and Wayne Times
Development comes to ‘Little Chicago,’ where change is seldom
By SAM STRIKE
PUBLISHED: May 14, 2008
On paper, stormwater is all about calculations.
But in real life, it’s a subject of inch-high anecdotes and soggy stories of the worst kind of neighborly offense: problems that flow from multiple sources.
In the North Wayne neighborhood long nicknamed Little Chicago, where a number of people are second-generation residents, a proposed two-lot subdivision is causing concern over density, neighborhood fabric and of course stormwater.
The property in question is on the 200 block of North Aberdeen Avenue, a partially one-way street, where half of the homes (most with front porches and no driveways) have properties that slope down to Gulph Creek.
Across the creek are the back yards of homes on Willow Avenue.
There, a little more than a century ago, was the Wayne Natatorium, a fresh-water pool created there by damming the creek. Today, that history is still evident in soggy yards, flooding basements and an eroding streambank.
The proposed subdivision would cause the teardown of the 1888 home of Jonathan D. Lengel, a builder who constructed many homes and well-known buildings in Wayne during its first naissance.
What the would-be developers want to replace it with are two twin homes, both with two-car garages, which would double the impervious area on the property. To those on Willow, this brings fear of increased flooding. To some on North Aberdeen, it means a large structure with no architectural similarity to the majority of the neighborhood homes and the loss of at least three needed parking spaces.
The twins are reportedly modeled after those in a Chester County development.
What makes doubling the impervious coverage possible in this dense, waterlogged area is the adjustment of floodplain lines originally established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
In this case, the proposed change to the line moves it about 40 feet towards the creek bed, nearly in the creek bed….The commissioners were presented with the proposals, and its opponents, Monday at the caucus section of their meeting, where no votes are taken.
As for the design of the proposed twins, longtime North Aberdeen resident Rose Hyatt told the Planning Commission earlier this month, “To build these homes in our neighborhood, it looks like a joke. This isn’t a neighborhood for big houses and garages like this.”
Suburban & Wayne Times
‘This isn’t a neighborhood for big houses’
By SAM STRIKE
PUBLISHED: May 20, 2008
On paper, stormwater is all about calculations. But in real life, it’s a subject of inch-high anecdotes and soggy stories of the worst kind of neighborly offense: problems that flow from multiple sources.In the North Wayne neighborhood long nicknamed Little Chicago, where a number of people are second-generation residents, a proposed two-lot subdivision is causing concern over density, neighborhood fabric and of course stormwater.
The property in question is on the 200 block of North Aberdeen Avenue, a partially one-way street, where half of the homes (most with front porches and no driveways) have properties that slope down to Gulph Creek.
Across the creek are the back yards of homes on Willow Avenue.
There, a little more than a century ago, was the Wayne Natatorium, a fresh-water pool created there by damming the creek. Today, that history is still evident in soggy yards, flooding basements and an eroding streambank.
The proposed subdivision would cause the tear-down of the 1888 home of Jonathan D. Lengel, a builder who constructed many homes and well-known buildings in Wayne during its first naissance.
What the would-be developers want to replace it with are two twin homes, both with two-car garages, which would double the impervious area on the property. To those on Willow, this brings fear of increased flooding. To some on North Aberdeen, it means a large structure with no architectural similarity to the majority of the neighborhood homes and the loss of at least three needed parking spaces.
The twins are reportedly modeled after those in a Chester County development.
When it comes to development I guess everything old is new again because 236 N. Aberdeen Ave., which was a historic house no longer exists. I have to ask what does the Radnor Historical Society do these days? I also have to ask what changed with stormwater management back there in Little Chicago because it hasn’t gotten better. It’s only gotten worse.
Here are some screenshots pertaining to 236 N. Aberdeen:
I really didn’t think it was possible that what was denied circa 2008/2009 would come back in 2024 and succeed. I mean common sense would dictate that the street hasn’t gotten any wider. The storm water hasn’t gotten any easier and yet here we are another historic house, gone out of Radnor Township, and some big behemoths will take its place which will have greater impact because of impervious surface coverage, parking, etc.
Someone told me when this house came up in meetings, they kept saying how horrible the house was etc. etc. It wasn’t horrible and it meant something and had context in the area where it was.
But then again, look at what happened to the Wayne Bed and Breakfast Inn? I drove past there today and it was horrible. Lots of big, expensive new construction going up with all the character of a Lego set.
And then there are the McMansions going up tremendously fast on Radnor Street Road. Naked acres. North Wayne used to be known for trees on Radnor Street Road and it’s like they just stripped the street and properties of trees and now you have McMansions growing there with lovely and more historic homes with trees and gardens across the street.
It’s really totally depressing going through the Main Line these days. Lower Merion and Radnor continue to lose their allure. Yes, it’s a very expensive suburb and as my one grandmother always said, money doesn’t know who owns it. But it’s so damn disappointing that people get together in the communities to save their communities and then they’re safe for a while and then a few years past and basically the same development plans come back or other development plans show up and it doesn’t matter.
If you want another plug from me for why the state representatives and the state senators in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania need to enact an act of the state constitution and update the Municipalities Planning Code, here you go.
I will leave you with an editorial that I wrote for Main Line Media News May 6, 2008. I think it still resonates. 
Time for sweet scent of lilacs and new development plans
Ahhh Spring! The landscape is lush with greenness and the air heavy with the scents of lilac and old fashioned viburnum. But what else does spring bring us as citizens up and down the Main Line? A full course of new and disturbing smaller development plans to peruse.By the time this column hits the ink of a newspaper, two new and bothersome plans will have made their debut in front of two separate townships: the proposed destruction of 236 N. Aberdeen Ave in North Wayne, and the super sizing of footprint of 106 Cricket Avenue in Ardmore.
The plans for 106 Cricket are being brought to the residents of Ardmore by the fine folks who brought them the plans for 130 Cricket. Suffice it to say, when the township agreed with the residents that 130 Cricket Avenue was a plan that left a lot to be desired, it went to court on appeal.
With regard to 106 Cricket, I will admit I am at a loss: what does a developer or property owner do with a site that contains a mortuary or funeral home when that use is to cease? Personally, I would find it creepy to live atop a former death depot, but it isn’t up to me to judge. I will say that once again, as was the case of 130 Cricket, this plan is just too much plan for my comfort level. What happened to the thought of new development complimenting the surrounding area? Why is it most plans today simply overwhelm an area? No wait, don’t answer that. Profit margins.
In North Wayne, residents recently defeated the proposed inclusion of a public storage facility in their extended neighborhood (or at least for the time being). Now they have received news that a house of serious local historic value faces demolition so someone can build new homes on the site of 236 N. Aberdeen Ave. New development on one of the most congested streets in North Wayne? And what of that little thing called impervious surface coverage and stormwater management?
Why on earth in an utterly flood prone area would anyone with a brain wish to double impervious surface coverage on a fairly steep sloped lot that leads to the Gulph Creek? A plan that could have an immediate and negative effect on residents on the low side of the creek? No wait, don’t answer that. Profit margins.
Who cares about another small neighborhood, anyway? Who cares about the home that builder Joseph Lengel built for his own family in 1888 in North Wayne? Who cares that Joseph Lengel was one of the builders who executed the dreams of the famous architects who brought the fabulous structures to Wayne we all “ohh” and “ahh” over?
And while we are discussing plans, let’s revisit a few gems we have all read about or born witness to: Rugby Road in Bryn Mawr, Allaire on North Buck Lane in Haverford and the Exxon Station in Ardmore on Wood-side and Montgomery. What is occurring with these plans? Are these plans moving forward?
Rugby Road is apparently still alive, and as for Allaire? Who knows. Perhaps people don’t really don’t wish to pay big bucks to overlook an auto body establishment and live across Lancaster Avenue from a mattress store?
Finally, the plan to add a car wash and a mini mart convenience store to the Ardmore Exxon station? Seriously, what is wrong with these people? It’s not only a mostly residential area, but there is a Wawa right behind them, and a car wash already on Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore. Is it our fault that peddling gas isn’t as profitable as it used to be? Well, cry me a river, but I am not all that sympathetic considering what we are paying for gasoline these days.
What happens to small neighborhoods when these plans stall, end up in court, or get approved and simply don’t move forward as planned? Go visit some of these neighborhoods and judge for yourselves. It adds an air of sadness mingled with frustration. In a couple of cases, can it also be said it adds a whisper of true blight?
It is inconceivable that these odd small plans are still moving forward considering the current state of the economy, the real estate market, and the mortgage crisis, but they are. As affected residents, at times it feels like you have barely gotten through one issue, and yet another one arises. Maybe, just maybe, people had best take a look at proposed legislation in Pennsylvania (if it is still alive) that would allow local governments to exercise temporary development moratorias as needed: PA House Bill 904.
House Bill 904 is common sense, bi-partisan proposed legislation you have probably never heard of. Critics will argue that this raises property rights issues, but to them I ask the following questions: What isn’t a property rights issue in Pennsylvania? Don’t residents in an area potentially to be affected by development still have private property rights as well?
Well, enough out of me. I am going for a walk. I want to take every opportunity to enjoy nature before it’s all overdeveloped.
A postscript is a comment left on this very post:
Gosh, I hit a nerve. So is he related to the developer? Someone having something to do with Radnor Township? And why should I get over it because he’s uncomfortable because I’m talking about it? Why is it “best gone”? I’m not alleging anything. The deed is done. The house is gone and I’m expressing my opinion on this and other ugly development and unless they are going to repeal the First Amendment , he can actually just bugger off.
