Part of the February 18, 2025 board of supervisors meeting in Tredyffrin contained members of Mount Pleasant community coming forward and asking for help from their township. Tredyffrin Township…again…
First of all, I would like to commend the residents of Mount Pleasant for coming forward again. They have come forward so many times over the years and I have been following this issue personally for about 20 years now.
Second of all, I would like to know what the zoning gal in Tredyffrin actually does? all I really heard out of her mouth is what she couldn’t do or excuses. A no-no queen. What does it take for this employee paid by the taxpayers to get off her ass? This woman talks about needing evidence how much evidence does she need? How about she goes and looks for herself? How about she does her job?
It’s everywhere. People post photos on social media. They call the police. They contact the township.
This has literally been going on for years.
Why is it that the public has to carry the burden of proving all of this? Where has the Township manager been all of these years? And as far as the parking issues on the street? Maybe it’s time for a South Philly lawn chairs movement?
Years ago, when this Township did not, and at that point was not putting in a student housing ordinance I had friends that were homeowners that moved out of this township to other municipalities because of that.
And for the supervisor Carlotta Johnston-Pugh who wanted to know about just calling up Villanova University and finding out if it was a student house, is she for real? Everyone knows that for years Villanova really doesn’t have a clue as to where their kids are living off campus. And if Ms. Johnston-Pugh went there, did she show bias last night ?
Let’s talk about the latest off campus student house. Residents remarked a car from NY, CT, and I forget where. You can watch the video I have embedded. You know it would be really nice if municipalities paid attention to off-campus student housing and rentals the way they are supposed to wouldn’t it? So for what it’s worth for this to have 927 Mt. Pleasant to have become a student house it should have possibly gone through zoning except for the holes in the freaking ordinance that Tredyffrin that Tredyffrin has known about since they created this ordinance reluctantly years ago, correct? Does this house even have a certificate of occupancy as a rental?
Mazie B. Hall’s home before it came down years ago. Now this where I have always been puzzled about Tredyffrin. They have bragging rights to Mazie Hall since she lived in Mt. Pleasant. I think they named a park after her. So why have they never honored her 103 years on this earth by trying to preserve the community she fought for and called home? Every time I hear anything about Mt. Pleasant I feel like they are trying to erase it.
Get off your asses, Tredyffrin Township supervisors and staff. Quit making excuses, saying what you can’t do, quit ignoring the people of Mt. Pleasant. Last night, Tredyffrin Township supervisors and staff, you were seen. Clearly. And get yourselves a new manager and zoning Chiquita. It’s well past time.
Mt. Pleasant is truly a historically important part of Tredyffrin. And so undervalued it’s horrible.
Because Tredyffrin did not deal with student rentals for so long, this is also where student housing slumlords have set up quite the slumlord student rental shop going back years and years. Suffice it to say, the college students who rent there have historically treated an entire historic area like animal house.
I would like Tredyffrin to take a look at the historic value of Mount Pleasant. They never really have.
The Carr House on the corner of Upper Gulph and Radnor Street Road was built c. 1774. The Carr School was built in 1833. Another house close by according to the deed was built around 1789. 961 Mt. Pleasant Avenue was built around 1810. 941 Mt. Pleasant was built around 1860.
And what about the significance of Mount Pleasant over the past 100 years plus as a historic black neighborhood? Let alone a community which survives to this day? Generational residents? I think that’s pretty freaking cool.
You notice a house in a photo above. I don’t even know if it’s still standing, because it was targeted for demolition years ago. It was the home of revered community leader and civil rights activist, Mazie B. Hall.
Now this where I have always been puzzled about Tredyffrin. They have bragging rights to Mazie Hall since she lived in Mt. Pleasant. I think they even named a park after her. So why not honor her 103 years on this earth by trying to preserve the community she fought for and called home? Every time I hear anything about Mt. Pleasant I feel like they are trying to erase what it is, or just deny it’s existence.
Now I knew Miss Collins as I called her. I used to wait on her when I worked at Bryn Mawr Feed & Seed a million years ago. She loved to garden. She would show up in her crazy beat up old station wagon and I was the one who would wait on her. I worked there at that nursery after I stopped working in New York. I was totally disenchanted at that time by the financial services industry and decided to explore my passion for gardening professionally. (Suffice it to say working for the widow who inherited and eventually shuttered the business almost killed my joy of gardening for a while, but that is a story for another day.)
So sorry for going off on a tangent, but when I think of Mazie Hall and all that she accomplished, I think of Miss Collins. And when I think of Mt. Pleasant, I think of Mazie Hall. And that’s part of the historical context of Mt. Pleasant. The history matters.
Back to Mt. Pleasant. It still suffers from off campus student housing woes and 2022 is no exception. Now depending on the year there are some houses that aren’t so bad, and then there are other years where all the off-campus houses in Mt. Pleasant are bad. This year I’m going to start with one house in particular.
This house is a real party palace. and if they were smart college students and just didn’t throw ragers seemingly every Friday afternoon, maybe they wouldn’t bother their neighbors so much? The house is the student rental at 985 Mt. Pleasant.
I am told the Tredyffrin Police were there around 5 PM. And then I think a bit after that. And apparently again at some point after 8 PM. I am told the first two visits were just one officer, but the third visit around eight was at least two officers.
The kids put up blue tarps so neighbors can’t see in the back, but you can hear them just fine. Super loud.
And the thing is this, there are some college students who coexist in residential neighborhoods with absolutely not a problem. They do their thing, their neighbors do their own thing and it’s fine. But then you have the ones who do the animal house. And the sad thing is Mt. Pleasant is one of those areas that is victimized by the student houses every year.
Like I said before, some years are better than others. This year I’m only hearing about this house so far . I actually heard that there were a couple of other rentals that the landlords stopped renting to students and started renting to regular people, and residents in Mt. Pleasant think it is so nice to see flowers outside instead of old beer cans.
It’s time for Tredyffrin Township to show Mt. Pleasant some respect. They also need to actually pay attention to off-campus student housing, not just pay it lipservice.
And the kids that live off campus? Do we really think the majority of them would behave this way where they grew up? I mean there’s no knowing for sure, we know they want freedom and they want to have fun, but they just need to remember they’re living and co-existing with people who have real jobs, have families, and are entitled to a reasonable expectation of quiet enjoyment where they live.
And to off campus student housing landlords? Just because you don’t live there, it should still be a little bit more than an income investment. You have also invested in another community. Try to give a damn once in a while, eh?
Of all the photos I took yesterday this is the one getting the most attention. I knew it was S. Walnut St. but I could not remember where until one of my readers wrote in that it was Walnut and Lacey.
This looks like Dr. Suess built it, doesn’t it?
So West Chester Borough: tag you are it. People seem super concerned about this construction project at S. Walnut and Lacey and are you all concerned as the borough?
I mean this SHOULD have gone to planning or something right?
Is this something that has gone through planning? And possibly zoning? Because doesn’t it look like an extra room is being added on?
I am not an engineer, I don’t pretend play an engineer or architect, but if you look at the building, is everything the way it should be?
Is this student housing? Because if it is don’t you want those kids to be safe?
