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.
It was but a tiny blip on the news radar here, and it was another PA grifter thing. A guy from Paoli named James Keating.
We saw it as a mention in Patch this past summer: Astoundingly but not surprisingly no one else around here picked up the story, not even the Daily Local. This I seem to think was right before the news waves got busy with the Gladwyne grifter, Scott Mason, wasn’t it?
Max Bennett,Patch Staff / Posted Wed, Jul 31, 2024 at 11:51 am ET
PAOLI, PA — A Paoli man has admitted in federal court to fraud, authorities said.
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, said James Keating, 52, of Paoli, pleaded guilty Tuesday in New Haven federal court to an crime stemming from a fraud scheme against his former employer.
So a friend from Connecticut sent me a blip from the Fox news channel in CT a couple of days ago. They quipped something about Southeastern PA and these grifter types. Yeah…sigh…sad…
Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JAMES KEATING, 52, of Paoli, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven to 20 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for defrauding his former employer of more than $1.4 million.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Keating was an Assistant Vice President and surety bond claims handler at Allied World Insurance Company (“Allied World”). He later served in the same capacity at Crum and Forster subsidiary U.S. Fire Insurance Company, where he also handled claims on Allied World surety bonds. All surety bond claims were handled through Allied World’s offices in Farmington, Connecticut.
Between 2017 and 2021, Keating defrauded Allied World in two ways. First, he used a shell company, American Construction & Industrial LLC, to bill Allied World for unnecessary claims work that was not performed and took the proceeds for himself. Second, he solicited and received kickbacks from Allied World vendors through another Keating-owned company, Surety Risk Solutions (also known as “SRS” or “SR5”), without the knowledge of his employer. Keating also caused these vendors to use another company in which he had an undisclosed ownership interest, Kodiak Asset Recovery, for asset searches at vastly inflated prices. Keating profited nearly $1 million through American Construction & Industrial LLC, more than $350,000 in kickbacks through Surety Risk Solutions, and nearly $125,000 through Kodiak Asset Recovery.
Judge Bolden ordered Keating to pay restitution of $1,226,603.97, which represents the loss to Allied World of $1,446,491.95, less $219,887.98 that he previously repaid as part of a civil judgment.
On July 30, 2024, Keating pleaded guilty to wire fraud.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Novick.
Next comes what I could find on the Federal Case. It was just out there for downloading. Just a couple of things is what I am sharing. The “GOVERNMENT’S MEMORANDUM IN AID OF SENTENCING” and “REPLY IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT’S SENTENCING MEMORANDUM”
How sad if you read any of it. As is the case with the 19035 guy, the 19301 guy is also a case of want vs. need. Is it fair to say, greed motivated this? Think of the wasted years of education with this guy, and obvious intelligence. According to the PA Disciplinary Board, her was also once a lawyer.
I don’t understand this. I wish I did. How do you blow up your life like this?
Of course then there is the elephant in the room. Another familiar name who was in the initial insurance company court filings, who was dropped out of it at the end of the day. Keating’s wife.
So we are 100% clear: she was in the filings then dropped out. Claims against her were DISMISSED.
Life is a meandering path. We are given one life and at the end of the day, everyone wants to be loved and happy, right?
Then with some, the basics of life fall along the sidelines as some see what they think is an easy win where no one gets hurt. In this case it was an insurance company, right?
Face it, who can honestly say given the issues insurance companies cause insureds, you don’t wish insurance companies ill? How many have had medical claims denied? Homeowners claims played around with? Say take for another example tree damage. There is a house close to me that has had it’s roof covered in a blue tarp for well over a year an a half would be my guess at this point. Upscale neighborhood, nice properties, and there they are with a giant blue tarp on the roof. What about fires? Take the burned out shell of a historic house in Berwyn at 400 Leopard Road (Leopard and Sugartown.) We drove past there this past Saturday on our way to dinner. An eerie ruin surrounded by cyclone fencing. But that is an arson investigation, right? That has it’s own set of rules and many many players.
BUT we know the difference between right an wrong, right? So what happens when the moral compass falls to the wayside? Bad things. Like this. And yet another family blown up, right?
And I still can’t believe given all of the coverage in Connecticut and nothing really here. News deserts?
Well I know this has been brewing a while but wowza. I feel sorry for the neighbors. I don’t play pickleball, so it means nothing to me. I have friends who play and love it. However I do know that it is unusually noisy.
I did a little nosing around and found out this has been going on for a while (as in more than a year? Maybe two years almost?) AND if you listen to the entire meeting somewhere a neighbor says pickleball courts were built without permits? I did a screen record of the meeting because Easttown has their meeting on You Tube but unlisted so that makes me think they could disappear so….
I found the Upper Main Line Y response ineffective. I am told that the Brandywine Y (which I guess owns them now?) has or has had similar issues? I remember a big issue when they wanted to put pickleball in Lionville a year or so ago.
So things about the meeting that made me laugh out loud: kind of asking Eattown to pay for or pay towards noise mitigation with some special fencing? Umm I am still wondering HOW they built the courts without permits?
Back to the meeting. The residents were well spoken and polite. Many of the Upper Main Line YMCA (“UMLY”) supporters and patrons…less so.
One person, can’t recall her name, was as rude and dismissive as could be…and is the apparent chair of the Willistown Planning Commission? Well we all know how Willistown residents get so wonder how she would be feeling if it was next door to her ?
Some of the patrons of UMLY were pleasant-ish and polite, as I mentioned. But so many of the others? Asshats with a misplaced sense of entitlement. I did not hear any neighbor say take away the pickleball courts, only that the noise HAS to be dealt with. Some of the most immediate neighbors, like on Longcourse Lane (a great street, incidentally) are showing by my research as being in Tredyffrin. So accomplishing anything is harder because UMLY is in Easttown.
Here is where UMLY is on the zoning map. Notice the R-1 AKA Residential:
Here is the another attachment – a land use table- I found in e code 360 on zoning:
So again, not a zoning professional. Not an attorney. But I can read. And I have to ask if UMLY is playing a game they can win? And yes I suggested a land use lawyer to a friend to pass along to the residents. Ask the residents in Narberth and even Willistown who have used this man and they will tell you worth every penny.
I added the lighting component of the zoning code because that is also a consideration. Hypothetically, lights might be on later than needed in part to liability concerns. However, I also have to ask WHY those courts are not locked up at the close of every day and even seasonally when it’s too cold to play pickleball or tennis for example? I am asking because residents said at this meeting where pickleball was continuing AFTER operating hours at UMLY? And I will note at present in Radnor an elite private girls school is being rude to neighbors with super daylight bright lights at night shining into windows of neighbors. They lock their courts but say they have to keep lights on and they are not down shielded so I have been told you can wake up at 1 AM and it’s like noon. That is light pollution and that also has serious environmental impacts. It affects bird migration and other things.
Residents are entitled to a reasonable expectation of quiet enjoyment, and people might like playing pickleball at UMLY but the residents do indeed have to be considered. And they are not being considered. Neighbors have apparently been trying to deal with this for a couple of years? These neighbors are far nicer than UMLY deserves. Personally I would have given them six months.
UMLY needs to be told a cautionary tale: the tale of Dink City Pickleball that opened for a brief time at Valley Forge Military & College….and closed because the neighbors in Tredyffrin had enough of the noise rather quickly.
Dink City Pickleball was forced to close due to a violation of the township’s R1 (residential) zoning code. The business received a notice of violation in July 2023, giving them 30 days to appeal or cease operations. No appeal was filed, and the business announced that August 14, 2023 would be its last day.
Finding the holy grail – a place to play pickle – just got easier, Main Line.
Two enterprising locals just opened what they say is the largest pickleball facility in the northeast: Dink City Pickleball at Valley Forge Military Academy & College.
And unlike YMCAs, country clubs, and Malvern’s new Bounce Pickleball, you pay only for your reserved court time. No need for a membership….With the tagline “community at play,” Dink City is more than cushioned courts, painted lines and regulation nets.
“It’s all the social things around pickleball that we offer – that’s the differentiator,” Norton tells SAVVY.
Think food trucks, corn hole and music on weekends, plus lessons, clinics, leagues, tournaments, pro shop, private events and birthday parties….“I love getting out on the court and getting a good sweat on,” says Norton who’s played pickle for nine years. “But just as much as that, I like hanging out with friends and family afterwards, maybe having a beverage or a taco or something from a food truck. That enhances the experience for everybody.”
The courts have lights for evening play and will be available year-round. “There are some hard core pickle-ballers out there who will play in the cold,” Norton says. “It’s like paddle – once you get moving, you warm up a bit.”…The two decided to cash in on the craze but make it community-oriented rather than an exclusive club. A real estate broker connected them to Valley Forge Military, which has been seeking new revenue streams to offset falling enrollment. (Since 2010, VFMAC has sold 20 acres to Eastern College, five acres to Bentley Homes, and most recently, 23 acres to developer Rockwell Custom for a new senior living complex.)
“The quickest win,” the partners say, was repurposing the lightly-used tennis courts on Radnor Road in the Tredyffrin section of campus. They loved the “heart of Wayne” location – a stone’s throw from St. David’s Golf Club and close to multiple schools, campuses and country clubs.
And if all goes well, outdoor courts in Wayne could just be the beginning for Dink City. VFMAC is in early talks to turn its equestrian center into a sports complex that might include Dink’s first indoor courts. Craft and Norton are also looking at properties in and around Philly and Maryland – although they haven’t yet quit their day jobs.
Yeah and then a few weeks later, it was sayonara Dink City, again I refer to Savvy Main Line:
IN A PiCKLE IN RADNOR. Just two months after they cut the ribbon on a popular new 16-court pickleball facility at Valley Forge Military Academy, Dink City Pickleball is closing.
The trouble began with a “handful of complaints” about noise from neighbors, according to Tredyffrin Zoning Officer Erin McPherson. When she investigated, she found the commercial business was operating in violation of the township’s R1 (residential) zoning code. She sent a notice of violation on July 14, giving Dink City 30 days to appeal for zoning relief or cease operations. No appeal was filed, she says, and today Dink City announced that Monday Aug. 14 will be its last day.
“This is not the end,” wrote owners Bryson Craft and Robbie Norton in an email. “Dink City will be back better and stronger than ever.”
The partners – both young local fathers and pickleball enthusiasts – had leased four lightly used tennis courts from Valley Forge Military Academy and invested big $$ converting them into a state-of-the-art pickleball center with leagues, clinics, “Dink and Drinks” nights, summer camps and more. (See our story in the June SAVVY – link in profile and scroll down.)
“We tried to resolve the issue with the township but they wouldn’t accept our proposals,” co-owner Craft tells SAVVY.
Dink City will refund Open Play memberships and any account balances as of Aug. 15
Pickleball noise is a real problem. There is even a group on Facebook devoted to it – all areas of US and Canada:
IMPULSIVE/IMPACT SOUNDS: By definition, an impact sound is simply the solid collision between two objects, such as hammering, dropped objects, a door slamming shut, metal-to-metal impacts, etc. Impulse sound is defined as the product of a force and duration with which the force is applied. More specifically, impulse is the time integral of force from an initial time to the final time, the force being time dependent and equal to zero before the initial time and after the final time (ANSI S1.1–2013). – ……. The measurement of impulse noise is becoming increasingly common within the industrial hygiene field. Issues for measuring impulse noise issues include dynamic range, frequency range, anti-aliasing, microphone/preamplifier/power supply, sampling rates, etc.. Whether an SLM, dosimeter, or computer-based recording system is used, good impulse noise measurements are not trivial to make. The limits of the microphones may be reached. The influence of nonlinear acoustics can dramatically affect the measurements. – Taken from The Noise Manual, 6th Edition.
Like many pickleball players, when I hear (another) story about how noisy pickleball is, I simply roll my eyes and spew a few snarky remarks about how some people just can’t let others have any fun.
So, you can imagine my response when I discovered there was a Facebook Group called the “Pickleball Noise Relief Group.”
My eyes rolled back, my lips curled, and I prepared to write something blasting a bunch of Karens for wanting to shut down pickleball.However, after a few conversations with the group’s leader, Nalini Lasiewicz, and actually listening to what they had to say, I realized that automatically labeling them as a pickleball hate group that just wanted to ruin our sport was completely off base.
And my preconceived notions about people complaining about pickleball noise couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Basically, I was … I am wrong. And so are many of us who think that pickleball doesn’t actually have a noise problem.
Because for these people and many others who are too afraid to speak up, it’s a serious problem that’s causing them health and mental issues.
Pickleball players: it’s time we admit that there is a pickleball noise problem.
Meet Nalini Lasiewicz
Nalini Lasiewicz is a resident of a Los Angeles suburb who first got involved with pickleball noise issues during the COVID lockdown….Nalini says this exact scenario has played out countless times since she became an administrator of the Facebook Group created by Rob Mastroianni, a Cape Cod resident who had to sell his family home due to the noise becoming too much to deal with.
The group is dedicated to finding and supporting others across the country in similar situations. For many, it’s a platform that allows them to find ways to regain the peace they’ve lost in their neighborhoods.
Look, NO ONE IS SAYING NO PICKLEBALL. But UMLY needs to do right by the neighbors. And that doesn’t mean Easttown Township and taxpayers should be paying for noise mitigation. And If Tredyffrin shut it down at Valley Forge Military Academy and College, zoning is not so different from municipality to municipality given that the Municipalities Planning Code of the Commonwealth of PA guides it all, correct?
I have no horse in this race, but I have been watching pickleball issues out of curiosity for a while. So Easttown and Tredyffrin residents near UMLY, I hear you and I am not hearing anything other than wanting your environment back. You aren’t being unreasonable. But UMLY and Upper Main Line Y? They are. And still I ask…how did they build pickleball courts without permits if that is indeed true?
Easttown Township needs to deal with this and not play kick the can. Tredyffrin Township could step into help residents if the supervisors can stop contemplating their collective navels long enough, yes? Expectation of quiet enjoyment? It’s a real thing. So pickleballers? This is a real issue. It’s not the noise you all are hearing, it’s what the residents are hearing and that is NOT the same thing.
Pay attention to the Model Noise Ordinance video I embedded here. They talk about the expensive anti-noise fences/barriers. They are discussing how it doesn’t work….
Ok Christmas is not going to decorate itself around here. Have a good night.
Tredyffrin Township officials and quasi useless supervisors are your ears burning? First y’all are a hot topic for the better part of an hour on WCHE’s show “All Politics Are Local with Barry Dee”. I’m sure they will want to blame me, but I actually wasn’t a guest this week but it was interesting because one of the things that was layered in the topic of right to know requests and how to file them with the recent swath of development again in Tredyffrin.
People are tired of it and one of the things people are tired of includes were losing not only open space, but our heritage trees. That’s a hot topic in East Whiteland as well because there are two very old sycamores near the old “Importer Barn” or Hibbard Barn. On that property, these trees are crazy old and crazy huge. Giant diameter trunks. One at least dates to close to American Revolutionary era. Will they stay or will they go now? I think in the end they will go because it’s like developers today HATE trees. Trees mean work. I love trees. We spend enough to preserve and care for our old growth heritage trees personally. We don’t have to, we do it because it’s the right thing to do. As humans, we should be better caretakers of nature.
So anyway, sorry small tangent on trees…I love them…and not enough municipalities give a damn. So when I saw a post pop up on social media the other day it was an “a ha” moment because it corresponds to a giant right to know I was sent at some point recently and filed away until I had time to look at it. Truthfully, I had forgotten about it but then it all made sense. I still have not waded through it enough. Here was the moment of clarity:
OMFG. This is what neighbors are becoming increasingly upset about on Vincent Road. And it’s not easy to find anything other than shifting sands on Tredyffrin’s website.
In 2008 residents were upset about stormwater on Vincent and frankly, the then Township Manager was rude enough IMHO that it was reflected in the meeting minutes, which I found:
As a matter of fact there are a LOT of historical documents about stormwater for that area….but nothing about the development plan. And if I am investigating properly, the issue of this parcel has been bandied about like a badminton shuttlecock for a few years already, right? So how is it not really discussed publicly? Did I blink and miss some minutia? I went to the county to see what was filed. A stormwater plan document from 2024 (where’s the flood hazard of it all?), new deed, and a development plan that looks like it came out of a time machine:
But I still wasn’t finding much else. Now don’t forget, Tredyffrin’s current manager is Bill Martin. He was from Radnor Township via Bridgeport…he was in Radnor during the Bashore era. I wrote about it in 2012:
Anyway, Tredyffrin has always had an issue with cloudy days. 105 Vincent being a HUGE surprise to a lot of fairly local residents is but the most recent example. And oy the butchering of the trees. And the loss of open space for what? A super dated subdivision plan which you know will sprout McMansions never intended for the original ideas? So here is what residents who have just realized what was going on are saying, and I am providing a mash-up:
…So sad to see this development taking place at 252 and Central Ave. This area was home to different species of trees, wild raspberries and blackberries, hawks, deer, chipmunks, various species of songbirds not to mention that run off from the top of the hill goes down the road and floods this area. I took pictures before and after the area started being cleared. Yes I get that the township voted on it. Funny I knew nothing about it and live just a few blocks away. If you are running for office and are an advocate for keeping what little greenspace we have left preserved pls let me know so I can vote for you……The township has a new woodland conservation ordinance. Here is a summary of that ordinance: https://static1.squarespace.com/…/Tredyffrin+Woodland… This looks like more than 5 large trees are being removed, in which case the developer would’ve needed to get a permit and to do this and would be required to plant compensatory trees. Please submit a complaint to to code enforcement (with photos) here: https://www.tredyffrin.org/…/df0fde129f454c0d8cc36a…/163 Code enforcement will let you know if it’s legit, or investigate if it’s unlawful……Oh no… More traffic at that horrible bottleneck leading to rt 30….Townships seem to have few boundaries when it comes to approving new building on open land. I have seen this over and over. When our township notifies area homeowners of a proposal and asks for feedback, the decision has often already been made. They don’t represent us in my opinion. Their prime interest is the tax base….I was so upset to see this the other day!
So. The lightbulb. All of a sudden I realized that giant right to know I had not really looked at and filed away was about THIS. The county is super slow updating things so current ownership not showing yet but here’s the now dated ownership info:
According to the new deed I found the land sold for $900,000.
Anyway, Tredyffrin Supervisors need to do better. Waterloo has arrived again, ladies and gentleman. No other way to dance about it.
Here’s the giant right to know. I have not had time to disseminate it, but Tredyffrin residents may find it of value and use:
August 19 featured a hearing at the Tredyffrin Supervisors meeting on 83 Chestnut Rd in Paoli. George Broseman is attorney for the applicant. This is an office building being planned to convert to multi family dwelling units which is apparently a permitted use in the township codes and the building is in the TC “Town Center” district. They would need a zoning variance to add two additional living units, seemingly 1 bedroom apartments.
You have to click on video link because Tredyffrin is a control freakish township and doesn’t allow embedding.
Office building are kind of having problems. So converting to mixed use or residential isn’t unheard of. They mention (the applicant) attainable housing AKA affordable housing. Chester County is lacking that. Either 9 units it sounds like by right or 11 with a zoning variance. Property has sufficient parking supposedly.
So why did this interest me? This thing floating around social media:
The comments along with the post was insane. I think it started on NextDoor but also appeared on Facebook. Enjoy some of the comments. I covered up the names, but maybe I shouldn’t have. So ignorant. What planet are the on? Never mind, we already know (sadly.)
Tredyffrin actually clapped back on social media:
The applicant stated moderate pricing to them if 9 units no more units, something like $1500- $1800 1 BR and $1500- $ 2000 2 BR. They will follow ADA guidelines, sounds like 1 unit would be handicap unit? Their units would be priced (they say) 25% – 30% less than other apartments that are class A. They are considered class B.
The cross examination during the hearing was interesting and somewhat contentious. We’ll see how that all plays out but I will say if an easement affects a neighbor it should be considered, right? You can’t just develop away someone’s rights or can you?
BUT AGAIN….IT’s THE WHOLE CRAZY CONSPIRACY THEORY THING. HOW DO PEOPLE IMAGINE THIS STUFF?
So apparently this issue is being continued until a September meeting? What I keep coming back to is the social media ugliness I captured about this property. You do not have to like an application but WHERE ANYWHERE DOES IT SAY THIS BUILDING WILL BE USED FOR ILLEGAL MIGRANTS?
This is the crap that we need to exterminate from our communities. You don’t have to like an application, but it doesn’t mean you get to poof like magic turn into a bunch of freaks and make things up!
I am not a big fan of Tredyffrin, too many weird things happen there, but to spread misinformation like this is wrong and somewhat disgusting. A few affordable apartments. In an area with seemingly endless townhouse? Seriously?. And the guy who said he was worried about crime because NINE to ELEVEN apartment might go in? Go install a panic room. You can hear all this when people were looking for party status.
I have no horse in this race as to whether or not this get built out and retrofitted as apartments. I don’t really care, truthfully I think it’s pretty unattractive back there. What i care about is finding some totally screwy essentially racist and fear-mongering thing on social media.
So yesterday I wrote once again about the animal house- like- party house located at 985 Mount Pleasant Ave, Wayne PA. It is located in Tredyffrin Township in what they call the “panhandle” of Tredyffrin.
Mt. Pleasant is actually a historic area and it was an early black settlement in Chester County and the Main Line. Every year for years there have quite the collection of students wreaking havoc there off campus most weekends. The residents refer to one house at 985 Mount Pleasant Avenue as the blue tarp house because the students hang blue contactor tarps to shield their keggers from view.
These kids off campus in this neighborhood are horrible from year to year. Everyone expects college kids to be college kids, right? So why is it from year to year the off campus students can’t have fun without trashing this neighborhood?
This weekend’s parties resulted in a lot of neighbor chatter. Kids vomiting in the street, urinating in public (including girls), trash, open containers, driving like crazy, etc.
Again, if they wanted to be good neighbors and have fun, they could. But they don’t. They are terrible. So I wrote about it yesterday.
And dude wasn’t hard to find. He used his real e-mail address and his IP address gave a nice Villanova University location. In Radnor Township no less.
Oh yeah, the IP address of it all:
I will admit that I shot back a snotful reply and called him a twat waffle. I suggested not so bright to use his real email etc. Then I blocked that email address and IP.
Welp, the indignant Villanova student had to leave another comment:
u want my phone number too? social secuirty? ur so cool you can track my IP the FBI should recruit you. Maybe it would give you something better to do than stalk college children during a holiday you predatory creep
And again…the IP address told the Villanova story again:
So I told him I was going to go to Villanova directly. He was harassing me and for what? Because I said college kids going to parties at 985 Mount Pleasant shouldn’t be drunken jerks? Shouldn’t piss in/on the street? Shouldn’t vomit in the street? Shouldn’t leave trash everywhere? Shouldn’t drive recklessly in a neighborhood where there are little kids with their buddies hanging out of the trunks of cars? I told him also he was not quite a child, although definitely acting like one. Then I blocked that IP and fake e-mail.
And I did go to Villanova with the comments and IP addresses etc. Not that anything will probably happen. They still can’t control the off campus student population. I have never thought they tried particularly hard. They do have this nifty off campus booklet now:
Sadly, I do not know where they found the students in the brochure because they obviously don’t hang out at Villa Blue Tarp.
So I hope that college jackass likes his five minutes of fame. I sent it to the Dean of Students at Villanova. I told him what I had written about previously. Maybe it will make an impression and give the residents of Mount Pleasant and other off campus student housing plagued neighborhoods some peace. We were all that age once. Away from home, testing limits and boundaries. But oddly I do not recall trashing people’s neighborhoods and being miserable drunken neighbors.
College students can have fun without acting like every weekend is a reincarnation of animal house. These students don’t get that the neighbors wouldn’t care if they weren’t so damn loud, drunk, and obnoxious. But real people live around these off campus student houses.
I lived next door to one once upon a time, until a slum lord’s cheap roofer decided to do roof repairs on a windy enough day that the roof caught on fire and the house burned to the ground. And you know who contacted Villanova to make sure that the school found them places to stay and contacted parents etc? Oh that would have been me. And that house was horrible with the parties and super rude inhabitants. We would wake up and there would be like 20 cars on their lawn, and then cars on our lawn, neighbors’ lawns etc. But still when those kids needed help, the 24/7/365 neighbors were there. That is what is being part of a community is about. Hopefully they get that some day.
So yes, Happy Saint Patrick’s Day and yo Erin Go Bratty.
Giant college party going on in Mt. Pleasant since 1 PM. Kids keep ubering in. Police as per residents have been called at least 5 times, and well here, read the screen shots off of social media:
Tredyffrin Police? Are you so busy you can’t deal with this, or is it you do not want to deal with it? Tredyffrin Supervisors? Do you have a collective pulse?
So Tredyffrin we KNOW you like to pretend Mt. Pleasant doesn’t exist, except when you and Upper Merion approve ridiculous land development that is. And is that development for college student rentals? Seems a little overpriced for that maybe?
I don’t want to say Tredyffrin is prejudiced or biased against some residents, but hey the optics? Sleazy at a minimum here? These people aren’t good enough to care for or something?
These people, as in the people raising kids and living like normal people in Mt. Pleasant have an expectation of quiet enjoyment legally, correct? I don’t think that includes blue tarps to block keg view for the neighbors etc is part of quiet enjoyment?
How about do your damn jobs Tredyffrin? And media? If you are interested in Mt. Pleasant I can hook you up. It is actually in Chester County, PA.
For years, virtually throughout it’s history, Mt. Pleasant is treated poorly, and poorly is a polite descriptive adjective.
Oh here’s a blue tarp party photo from September. Tredyffrin quite a few OUTSIDE of Mt. Pleasant have been keeping tabs. We want better for them. Even if you don’t give a good god damn.
Just when you think more headaches can’t possibly arise for East Whiteland residents, along comes the possibility of…..BILLBOARDS…BIG ELECTRONIC ones.
So riddle me this East Whiteland— why did you spend ridiculous amounts of taxpayer money on a Route 30 Corridor Study only to allow further deterioration via billboards? I mean What The ever loving F ? is Lancaster Ave / Route 30 / Lincoln Highway supposed to improve by being turned into I-95 in Philadelphia by GIANT television screens that are on 24/7/365? You haven’t even addressed the smaller one that blinds people near Lincoln Court!
So does that mean East Whiteland now has a lot in common with other townships like Tredyffrin, Haverford, Coatesville, and even more? (See the Community Matters Blog in Tredyffrin.)
And hey East Whiteland all those apartment dwellers you want on Route 30? Townhouses, etc? Do you really think these people and future residents want to have to buy blackout shades to avoid the glare of I-95 in Chester County? Because that is what people already face driving by that small non-related overly bright TV in front of part of Lincoln Court, right?
And it looks like East Whiteland zoning for off premises signs doesn’t exactly match the supposed spirit of what they supposedly wish to accomplish with the Route 30 Corridor Study?
I just can’t EVEN with this township. Sign me disgusted. If YOU are disgusted too please go to the Christmas Surprise Planning Commission Meeting. Wednesday December 18th at 7 PM. East Whiteland Township is located at 209 Conestoga Road, Frazer, PA 19355
As my dear friend (and beloved Madame President of The Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust) Pattye Benson said recently:
“The saying goes, ‘If walls could talk what stories they could tell’’ — Held annually since 2004, the Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust arranges for these stories to be told on its annual historic house tour. 15th Annual Historic House Tour tickets now available — www.tredyffrinhistory.org
Join us for another great tour of beautiful historic homes and gardens in Tredyffrin and Easttown Townships. Please support historic preservation and share the information!”
So true! And this year I am once again amazed at the absolutely splendid house tour that Pattye has put together! I was at the Jazz it Up Preview Party last evening at DuPortail and I know which houses are on the tour but I am sworn to secrecy!
You can still buy tickets for the tour which is Saturday, September 28, 2019 12 PM to 5 PM. They are moderately priced at $35 per person and all proceeds benefit historic preservation and the completion of the Jones Log Barn Living History Center at Duportail.
The Jones Log Barn
This tour is so much fun and the properties are always amazing. Seriously, this year is going to be crazy good. Your hint is everyone knows how much I love old farms and farmhouses, right?
The preview party was as always so much fun and I was thrilled to see so many people turn out for historic preservation.
Chester County Commissioners Terence Farrell and Michelle Kichline join my Savvy (and amazing!) friend Caroline O’Halloran and Michael Noone (First Assistant DA and candidate for Chester County District Attorney. Terence and Michelle both support this event annually! History is SO important!!)
Michael Noone with Megan King (Also in Chester County’s DA’s office and candidate for Superior Court Judge), and the ever lovely Elizabeth Mercogliano
The House Tour will be amazing, trust me, and it is a day full of super nice and knowledgeable people. The docents at each tour home know the property inside and out!
You start your day at the Tredyffrin Library (582 Upper Gulph Road, Strafford, PA, starting at 11 AM on Saturday, Sept. 28) where you pick up your tickets and tour package and then you are off!
My husband and I are event sponsors. I do not do as much in the area of volunteerism as I used to and this is my favorite sponsorship. I love historic preservation and I love house tours. Most of all I love house tours in a reasonably sized area where I can visit every home on the tour. This is a quality tour. Always exciting!
I really hope you will join me and other history buffs on September 28th!
DuPortail House in Chesterbrook. The gardens are especially lovely this year. You can rent this amazing historic house for events and they have ample parking.
Change comes to Frazer in leaps and bounds these days. On Sunday, John’s Pizza closes it’s doors and by Labor Day, the Alley Pub will be but a memory.
John’s Pizza closing is by personal choice of the family who owns it . That is a case of a well earned retirement.
But the Alley Pub? That’s development which has come calling. The accumulated parcels which also include the run down mobile home park and the old bowling alley Frazer Lanes according to the developer’s blog will result in over 200 new…apartments.
Now there is no doubt that the mobile home park was in bad shape. But had the township (East Whiteland) allowed that to deteriorate over the years by looking the other way when they should have maybe inspected more and what not? There is another mobile home park down the road from the now closed one. Different owner, better care taken of it. There is a mobile home on Barton Hill Road next to Ebeneezer’s ruins. Also in good shape and is more of a community.
But the thing about this mobile home park going away and it being replaced with apartments leaves me with mixed emotions. How many apartments, townhomes, townhouses, carriage homes do we need?? East Whiteland has soooo many development plans. And all of it except for a small percentage are higher density plans.
If you move west into West Whiteland Township then you have all of their development. And they are putting a lot of apartments on Route 30 and already have a lot of townhomes or carriage homes or whatever the hell you want to call them.
And then what if you head over to West Goshen for a minute? Have you seen what’s going on at Greystone Hall? (Hint, check out the next two photos)
And if you go back into East Whiteland Township has anyone been to Flat Road or that vicinity recently? (Hint: see the next two photos)
So here we are in beautiful Chester County. Or it was beautiful and sadly with all the development it’s less beautiful every day. And our local municipalities all over the county are allowing this one bad plan at a time.
But back to these apartments in Frazer. Are you really going to want to spend a couple thousand dollars to live in an apartment that’s next to a run down gas station and sort of across the street from what used to be a mattress store and Wawa?
Yet there are the slum lord properties that are ignored. These are in East Whiteland along Route 30:
So when you talk about the slumlord housing along Route 30 in East Whiteland combined with whatever is left of mobile home parks you’re talking about the entire supply of affordable housing if it is actually affordable because I don’t know.
And that’s the thing about all of these developments regardless of the municipality in Chester County: where IS the affordable housing?
That is one of the problems I have with all of this development no matter what township. Lack of affordable housing. Look at what’s being proposed in Easttown Township to the east of East Whiteland. More apartments and already cheek to jowl townhouses that are not attractive and not affordable. They are expensive.
And East Goshen. Even once sensible East Goshen is no longer immune from bad development plans.
I just have to keep shaking my head and wondering where are all the regular people who don’t want to live in McMansions or McMansion priced apartments and townhouses supposed to go? Where do retirees go if they can’t afford Hershey’s Mill or the other two places near it in the retirement Bermuda Triangle?
And what about the stress all this development places on our first responders, our school districts, our infrastructure? And when things like entire mobile home parks disappear what happens to the people that used to call it home? People in this country like to talk about helping the disadvantaged and the financially challenged or poor but really do they?
I don’t have those answers. But in my opinion all of this development is going to come back and bite every Chester County resident in the rear someday. This is why we desperately need better planning more sound and competent zoning and elected officials that actually consistently give a damn about their residents.
I am not against change as far as development goes as long as it occurs in moderation. But I am against all of this greedy ass development gobbling up acre after acre of Chester County like Pac-Men. And these plans aren’t even attractive. They are just designed to get each developer the most money possible out of each site.
