Tag Archives: toll brothers sucks

one more night for crebilly! please virtually attend! take a stand! bear witness!

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The battle to save Crebilly in Westtown is perhaps at its crescendo tonight. I am asking if you have the time to be at this virtual meeting, please do so. You don’t have to speak, but please bear witness. Let Troll Brothers and the Robinson family know we are all still out here.

May be an image of text that says 'Time for the People to BE HEARD. PUBLIC COMMENT ON TOLL BROS CREBILLY Il CONDITIONAL USE HEARING #12 Geoa MAY 26, 2021 7T09PM LINK FOR ZOOM INFO SCAN CAMERA HERE NEIGHBORSFOR CREBILLY FARM'
~Courtesy of Neighbors for Crebilly and that scan code is awesome!

Anyone is welcome to virtually attend this meeting. Westtown has provided simple instructions HERE:

Instructions for Westtown Board of Supervisors
Toll Bros./Crebilly Farm Conditional Use Hearing #12
Virtual Public Meeting via the Zoom Platform
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Meeting Start Time is 7:00 PM


Anyone wishing to attend the virtual Conditional Use hearing may do so by calling this phone number: 1-646-558-8656 When your call is answered, you will be required to enter the meeting ID#: 843 6206 3236

If you are prompted for a participant ID, press # (a participant ID is not required).


OR you can watch a live-feed of the meeting by clicking on this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84362063236
When you are prompted for a pass code, enter: 246277


You may connect to the meeting up to 15 minutes prior to the start time. All attendees will be placed in a waiting area before being permitted into the hearing.

The hearing audio and video will be recorded and be used by the Court Reporter to assist in transcribing the testimony. Following the completion of the hearing transcript, the Zoom recording will be destroyed.


If you have party status, please ensure that you enter your full name so that the host will be able to recognize you. The parties will be recognized individually, and given the opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses. If you have party status and join by phone, please indicate your presence by pressing *9 for the hearing host to recognize you. You will then have to press *6 to unmute yourself when prompted by the host. The non-party members of the public will have the opportunity to observe the hearing, but public comment is deferred until the end of the evidentiary portion of the hearing.

Due to the online nature of the system, there is a slight delay, so please take your time and be patient. There will be a slight pause when one person finishes speaking and another person starts. While in this virtual hearing, we ask that you conduct yourself in a civil manner. Any conduct deemed inappropriate (language, etc.) will result in your being removed from the hearing.

No in-person attendance at the Township Building will be permitted.

Now I am going to share thoughts from two women I know and call friends:

From Kathleen Brady Shea:

And from Mindy Rhodes (and I am including a plea she made to the Robinsons back when this first began:)

Dear Friends,

This coming Wednesday, May 26th at 7pm will be the 12th Conditional Use hearing regarding the Crebilly II application and the agreement of sale between Toll Brothers and the owners of Crebilly Farm.  THIS hearing needs all hands on deck because public comment will begin as soon as Toll completes their rebuttal of last hearing’s witnesses.  This is an opportunity for every single one of us to make our voices heard.  It does not matter where you live.  It does not matter whether you have party status.  It does, however, matter that every single one of us rise to this opportunity and speak up by stating how this development will negatively impact our community and why the Westtown Township Board of Supervisors should deny Conditional Use to Toll Brothers.

HEARING #12, WEDNESDAY, MAY 26TH, 7PM to be held virtually

To attend via zoom, click on the link below and enter the passcode if/when prompted:

Link:   https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84362063236

Passcode:  246277

To attend by phone, dial the number below and enter the meeting ID#:

Dial:  1-646-558-8656 

Meeting ID#:  843 6206 3236

*No other ID is required, press # if asked for one

For more information, here is the link from the Westtown Township website:

Click to access 2021-05-26-Toll-CU-Hearing-12-.pdf

Below is the link to my last message about how important Massive Public Outcry is now more than ever; please review and be prepared with written statements to read for public comment; how will you be negatively impacted and why the BOS should deny Conditional Use to Toll Brothers:  https://crebillyfarmfriends.com/2021/04/28/crebilly-farm-update-4-28-21-a-call-to-action/

The time and energy all of us have invested over the last (almost) five years, needless to say, has been substantial.  When compared to the permanent impact a development of this magnitude will have on our community, American history and the devastation it will do to land, nature and nearby waterways- the time and energy is invaluable.  I still believe the owners of Crebilly Farm have every right to sell their land for profit.  However this plan and this developer is simply unacceptable.  And it is up to the rest of us to continue to speak up and stand firm:  Westtown Township must deny Conditional Use to Toll Brothers.

If not you, then who?

Sincerely,

Mindy Rhodes

And one last thing? This YouTube about the history of the land. It’s not just about saving a spectacular swath of land from greedy Toll Brothers and their horrible developments, it’s about our very history:

We all lead busy lives. But it requires nothing of us to spend a little time on a virtual meeting. I don’t have standing, but I will tune in out of solidarity for those who do and who have been valiantly fighting the good fight here. We drove past Crebilly on 202 and 926 not so long ago. You couldn’t help but notice the deterioration of the structures on the edge of Crebilly….and that horrible forest of development signs at the corner of 202 and 926. We need to come together as a county every damn time one of these projects is featured at a meeting. It doesn’t matter what township we are from, we are all affected by this crap.

And all of this new development is crap. Pure and simple. Chester County is losing more and more open space and farmland by the day. And with the potential for more crap coming out of West Chester Borough regarding the Wyeth site, this is even more important from a traffic standpoint alone.

I know, I know, it’s like yes we are coming out of a global pandemic, but apparently it hasn’t slowed down the developers, has it? And with virtual meetings we really can put in an appearance occasionally as residents.

Please make time for Crebilly tonight. It cold be the last time. Take a stand Chester County, Take a Stand. Don’t let Crebilly become the next Foxcatcher Farm/Liseter.

is it possible to STOP toll brothers from destroying crebilly farm in westtown? sadly, probably not. | chestercountyramblings

is it possible to STOP toll brothers from destroying crebilly farm in westtown? sadly, probably not.

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Crebilly Farm, June 2014 (my photo)

Crebilly Farm, June 2014 (my photo)

I know people get tired of hearing me talk about development and the OVER-development of Chester County. So if you don’t want to hear how I feel, turn away now.

ASB stallion Sensation Rex was owned by Crebilly Farms in Pennsylvania during the 1940's (from Pinterest)

ASB stallion Sensation Rex was owned by Crebilly Farms in Pennsylvania during the 1940’s (from Pinterest)

About a week ago I heard Crebilly Farm on 926 in Westtown was possibly going the entire kit and kaboodle to a developer.  I put it out of my head as life was, well, life. It was filed under Tomorrow is Another Day, Miss Scarlett. Until just a little while ago.

Then today thanks to a friend posting an article written by someone else we both know, well here we are: we know Crebilly’s suitor, the ultimate destroyer of farmland and open space everywhere, TOLL BROTHERS.

Toll Brothers has not even sold out the mass annihilation of what was once Foxcatcher Farm the DuPont Estate in Newtown Square (They call it Liseter.)…or the Reserve at Chester Springs or Creekside at Byers Station, or any of the multitude of other crap they have spread over Pennsylvania.  I am always believe they create a false and not actual need. It isn’t about growing our communities, it is about lining Toll Brothers pockets.

I don’t know what it is about farms in particular that draws Toll Brothers in, but Crebilly is another one on the hit list as we now know.  A third (?)  generation astoundingly gorgeous farm, that is so amazing to drive past on 926.

I shudder to think of how it will look like covered in “Toll”. Maybe like this:

8031397502_6320c08fb0_o

Or this:

8031402127_7204479dc7_o

And if the “little people” are really good, some townhouses (see what happens when I go up in balloons? I take development horror show photos):

8031424486_0eda80b164_o

YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So who can stop Toll Brothers? Is it possible to neuter them? Can they go build plastic houses in Afghanistan or something?

What happens to McGregor Stables which I believe to still be on Crebilly?

Crebilly Farm by Richard McFarland http://richardmcfarland.us/

Crebilly Farm by Richard McFarland
http://richardmcfarland.us/

Ok so you get the picture? That this is GORGEOUS and this is a NIGHTMARE?

Who is protecting the beauty and land heritage of Chester County? Certainly not Brian O’Leary and the Chester County Planning Commission. (But I never expect much from “planners” out of Lower Merion Township which is one hot development mess on it’s own.)

The Chester County Planning Commission has a unique mission statement they don’t exactly live up to:

Mission Statement
The mission of the Chester County Planning Commission is to provide future growth and preservation plans to citizens, so that they can enjoy a Chester County that is historic, green, mobile and prosperous.

 

Green we are losing by the acre by the day it feels like. Same with the history, which includes agricultural history.

Crebilly Farm aerial shot courtesy of Crebilly Farm

Crebilly Farm aerial shot courtesy of Crebilly Farm

Two years ago there was a Change.org petition to stop development on Crebilly. In 1987 Crebilly was mentioned in this Inquirer article:

Keeping Developers At Bay When Heart Is On The Farm

By Shelly Phillips, Special to The Inquirer

POSTED: January 04, 1987

Marshall Jones 2d drives across the brown, stubbled hayfield and up a steep ridge, surveying his beloved Maple Shade Farm in Westtown.

From this vantage point, he sees his hayfields and his cornfields. He sees his weathered gray barn, like a great prairie schooner, giving shelter to the herd of black and white Holsteins. And he sees the stone farmhouse that his father covered with white plaster so many years ago.

He sees, too, Shiloh Road that separates two different worlds: On one side are Jones’ 190 acres of rolling farmland; on the other is the Plumly Farm development.

Jones, 77, owns one of the three farms of more than 100 acres that are left in Westtown. Although developers are offering him large sums for his property, he hopes that either the township or the Brandywine Conservancy will someday

purchase his land and keep it as open space.

Township officials say Crebilly Farms has 400 acres, and The Westtown School has 600 acres, although less than half of its property is farmed.

“I get two calls a week from people wanting to buy the place,” Jones said. “The developers want it. They want it bad. But they’re not going to get (all of it) as long as I’m alive.”

Now Marshall Jones was a heck of an interesting gent.  My friend Catherine Quillman actually profiled him in 1992 for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

But back to Crebilly.  It’s what? Still close to 400 acres?

Farms are expensive and developers have lots and lots of money. But we have to do something to preserve some of this land.  I would say that given the noises made by Westtown Township in the article I am about to post that this is pretty much a done deal.   And it doesn’t surprise me that Westtown will do this given the way they rolled over and showed their municipal belly to to Bartkowski The Billboard Baron a few years ago.  You know that thing that is like the size of a 24 hour dirve in movie screen? That was once described as  “a 14-foot-tall, 48-foot-wide digital sign…. gateway for southbound drivers on Route 202 entering the township from West Goshen and the West Chester Bypass.”

When I was little Westtown was this most amazing place of rolling farmland and gorgeous, spacious properties.  No more.  Yet another for whom the bell “Tolls”, right? What happens when Bryn Coed falls to development in West Vincent?  With Bryn Coed I still believe it is not a question of IF but a question of WHEN.

Here is an excerpt from Kathleen Brady Shea’s article (you will want to read every last word):

Chadds Ford Live: Toll Brothers making plans for Crebilly Farm

Posted by Kathleen Brady Shea on July 1st, 2016
A revered Chester County vista – replete with rolling hills, waterways and expansive pastureland – has been endangered for more than a decade.

Bounded by Routes 926 and 202, South New Street, and West Pleasant Grove Road in Westtown Township, Crebilly Farm is no stranger to the threat of development. The third-generation property is owned by the Robinson family, descendants of the founder of a grocery store that evolved into the Acme chain.

Proposals ranging from a 2003 assisted living community to a 2012 apartment complex have failed to pass muster; however, township officials suggested that a massive housing development, discussed for the first time on Thursday, June 30, is much more likely to happen.

During a special public meeting, an audience of about 60 listened as representatives of Toll Brothers presented what Andrew J. Semon, a division president for the developer, described as “a very, very preliminary, conceptual discussion….

Westtown Township Supervisor Mike T. Di Domenico said the township learned on Tuesday, June 28, that Toll had an agreement of sale to purchase the property. Supervisors’ Chairwoman Carol R. De Wolf explained that the township invited Toll to share its plans for the nearly 330-acre tract, prior to submitting any applications, so that the township could get initial insight into the developer’s intentions.

Township solicitor Patrick McKenna pointed out that unlike the Bozzuto Development apartment proposal, which required a zoning change and was withdrawn in 2015, the Toll Brothers project involves a use that is already permitted by the township…..The purchase is contingent upon getting conditional-use approval from the township…

Ok read the article. All of it. It is the Liseter formula:

  • 300 two-story homes
  • 145 single-family
  • 165 carriage-style dwellings, all with basements.

Or a mix of 143 single-family and 204 carriage-style homes. If you all are good little subjects they will save a barn or something as a party space.

It’s the same thing every time. Gross. Just gross.

Buh byes open space.  Sigh.

My photo . June, 2014

My photo . June, 2014

Time to add a postscript. I received this comment:

comment

Unfortunately the Robinson family (who are the owners I am told), have chosen the potential of a cash cow over land conservation.  They need to live with that.  I think that they are doing this is crappy BUT Toll Brothers or ANY developer could choose to do things differently and they never do (just like property owners who are selling these giant tracts of land/open space to the highest bidder.).

As for Westtown Township Officials? My opinion is simple: if this goes through, every supervisor and possibly their manager needs to go. If any Supervisors can be voted out this coming November, start there.  I have no idea about how they spend their open space funds or what they have. I am not a resident of Westtown Township.

Here is their board:

westtown

Everyone should contact them – supervisors@westtown.org

Here is the manager- rpingar@westtown.org

Of special note is the Chair, Carol R. De Wolf.  How ironic is it that she works for Natural Lands Trust as the director of the Schuylkill Highlands???? Maybe residents should be asking her some tough questions?  Has she tried to get any of the land that is Crebilly conserved?

nat lands

Anyway, that is the end of the post script.

barn love/historic preservation/area preservation

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barn 2009So in the fall of 2009, before I lived in Chester County, I got lost on a country road as a passenger in a car and snapped a photo.  I just recently found out I actually know the people who live there now. I thought that was pretty cool and love the way the folks who live there now described living there as being the happy new stewards of the property, not just an owner.

This my friends, is living historic preservation. And it is very, very cool and we need more of it in Chester County, PA and elsewhere. A developer building new plastic Lego developments and calling them “carriage house homes” and other cutesy names doesn’t make them other than plastic Lego boxes.

This barn? The real deal. And rapidly disappearing from our landscape out here.