Tag Archives: west whiteland

oh no…. in west whiteland along w. king road

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We all know that “UHHH OHHH, OHHHH NOOO” feeling when we see something. Like the real estate sign above. It is one of the two parcels that make up Johnson Matthey. To East Whiteland residents, Johnson Matthey is also a familiar name as one of the successor names to Bishop Tube over in General Warren, but I digress…only not really because things all seem to be related around her, right?

another bite at the apple in west whiteland township?

Another bite at the apple above was a post referring to the where’s Waldo as it keeps popping up issue in West Whiteland as to data centers and hydrogen plants etc there. It was a topic for discussion at the West Whiteland Planning Commission this Wednesday (oh and West Whiteland, that person your zoom bouncer didn’t let speak was ummm the chair of East Whiteland Supervisors, and since we all don’t live on islands, maybe learn who is on your calls. A neighboring township being interested should have some sort of professional courtesy, don’t you think?)

So. WHY is this 15.70 acres which is wooded with a cell phone tower of concern? Well Johnson Matthey wants to sell this chunk of their land on West King turning onto Phoenixville Pike is right on border with East Whiteland. Johnson Matthey is TWO parcels totaling 35+ acres.

And this is a real worry as to what kind of developer would snatch it up. Whether industrial or residential the scenario sucks. Because is it someplace they could put an Amazon hub for example? Or try to put a Data center or a hydrogen plant for example ? Or God knows how many townhouses or apartments?

And let us not forget Weston is across W. King Road, correct? And although residential plans have been shopped there it does have the labs and offices thing going on, right? And Johnson Matthey land has industrial going on correct? Is it as simple as 1 + 1 = 2? I hate to be a conspiracy theorist but this area right there in West Whiteland is truly the perfect storm for data centers and hydrogen energy plants, right? Are we wrong worrying about this? Like is the land at Johnson Matthey clean? As in DEP and EPA clean and isn’t that reasonable to ask considering it’s industrial?

The Johnson Matthey land for sale has a sign up and a listing on Loop Net for 15.70 acres. East Whiteland and West Whiteland need to pay close attention. They have to. First of all, how much more stress can W. King Road and that stress of Phoenixville Pike take? People who live on those roads have a hard enough time up and down getting out of their driveways and the ever increasing problematic four way stop sign and intersection of King and Ship is just up from there. It is already a shit show from existing development including West Goshen Township’s development. And next there is the piggy glut of development coming to Ship and 30 (Lancaster Avenue) and the rest of the development on the other side of the traffic light past the old Ship Inn, and east on Lancaster Ave towards the boundary there with East Whiteland.

This could be another bad plan coming our way when this property sells, couldn’t there be?

I also have *heard* via sources the intimation that some of the hierarchy of the Chester County Democrats don’t want to appear business “unfriendly” which is undoubtedly putting pressure on Democrat supervisors locally…like in East Whiteland and West Whiteland, right? But if these honchos are worried about appearing anti-business, are they also worried about appearing anti-resident and anti-environment? I think that could come into play here, sorry not sorry.

I also feel that in West Whiteland there is ONE Supervisor you can count on to do right by residents every time and that is Brian Dunn. Theresa Hogan Santalucia is now an angry lame duck politician, so she won’t care these next few months and Raj Kumbhardare is more pro-development and pro-data centers etc than I am comfortable with. He is not a bad person, however my opinion is at times he just doesn’t get it, and I have watched all of them, and he can dig in his heels and not for the benefit of all. He’s in the data kind of business for example given his career, so he doesn’t see the pitfalls, does he? Or doesn’t want to?

So I find this section of West Whiteland far, far away from not only the West Whiteland Township Building but also where two of the supervisors in West Whiteland live at risk. There are also multiple pipelines running around here including Williams which was mentioned somewhere when the whole data center hydrogen plant came up, right?

While we are on the topic of West Whiteland and data centers, allow me to share an update Ginny Kerslake sent out:

Good news from the data center / power plant zoning ordinance discussion at last night’s Planning Commission meeting in West Whiteland Township!

Over 20 residents attended to listen to the discussion and provide input on the public’s strong, universal opposition to allowing this use near our treasured Exton Park in the Office/Laboratory District. As a result, allowing this use in the O/L District appears to be off the table as far as the WWT Planning Commission is concerned. They are continuing the discussion next month. From there it goes to the Board of Supervisors and a public hearing. It’s important that we stay engaged as this proceeds.

Meanwhile, a proposed southeastern PA “hydrogen hub” called MACH2 would mean the construction of more fossil fuel infrastructure right here in Chester County including power plants, and dangerous, unregulated, CO2 pipelines in existing pipeline easements, including Mariner East and others. And it’s reasonable to assume that the proposed hydrogen power plant near Exton in Park was/is part of MACH2.

The time is now to do what we can to stop MACH2 from being awarded federal and state subsidies which it would require in order to advance.

🌞 I hope you can join me and other community members protecting Exton Park this Sunday, April 23 from 3 to 5 PM at Stolen Sun in Exton for some food and drink (provided) to learn what next step you can take to stop this hydrogen hub …. and also celebrate our community’s recent victory in stopping the hydrogen power plant near Exton Park from progressing! RSVP here

Onward,

Ginny Marcille-Kerslake

MACH 2 is a bit scary. As per West Whiteland Residents for Pipeline Safety:

A proposed southeastern PA “hydrogen hub” called MACH2 would mean the construction of more fossil fuel infrastructure, subsidized by taxpayers, including power plants, and dangerous, unregulated, CO2 pipelines in existing pipeline easements. And guess who’s a key player in MACH2 – Energy Transfer (Mariner East)

West Whiteland and East Whiteland residents need to pay attention here. Big time. We are all at risk from things like data centers because of PA’s tax credits for data centers. And certain political factions are pushing for these things so their besties can get contracts and jobs. And no ones really tales into consideration that a lot of the jobs are much like the jobs for Mariner East / Sunoco / Energy Transfer – out of state workers, not local. And yeah, sadly there are certain Democrats in Chester County push push pushing these things when they should be paying attention to their county row jobs, because what happens if audits on their county row job or a right to know is filed on their hours there happen? What will they show? Of course county row jobs in Chester County are a conversation for another day. Suffice it to say more than a couple should actually be spending more time earning their keep along county row and if they think even Democrats, let alone Republicans are not paying attention? Well that equals sadly mistaken, yes? Quit shilling for law firms, solicitors, and your union buddies from OUT of the area. Be present, be local, be for the residents you serve, not higher ambitions.

I am including photos of the streetscape so people have an idea. Why can’t that be bought and just left open space? A trail park?

Well, think about it people, because a buyer will come, and then potentially this is a fair bit of acreage in play if Weston wakes up again, this is oh hell no again, right?

It is never over in Chester County. And a lot of this is due to….wait for it…the Municipalities Planning Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania which has not been comprehensively updated since 1969. It requires an act of the state constitution which means State Reps and State Senators and they never seem to want to deal with this, do they? It would be nice if they did. It would be nice if residents were protected better and had more of a say as to the way they want their communities to look like.

The Johnson Matthey Land and Weston land if improperly developed could drastically impact our eco system in that area and the environment. And then let’s look at traffic and infrastructure. And more.

Time to pay attention.

Happy weekend.

any fairy godmothers or godfathers out there who can pay it forward for the boys at church farm school so they can go to their very first prom?

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Church Farm School is a wonderful institution. And it gives deserving boys a chance at education and opportunity that might not necessarily find them. So it’s not your average silver spoon private school.

Because they are not your average silver spoon private school, they don’t always get the opportunity to do things a lot of high schoolers get to do, like go to prom. Prom is a right of passage and this year for the first time, they have been invited by a sister school to come to prom.

Prom wear is not int he average budget of a lot of these kids so when I saw a message posted on social media I knew I needed to pay it forward, because while there are tons of organizations to help girls get dressed for prom, they don’t exist for boys. Here’s the message:

Hi Malvern! Please delete if this is not permitted.

I work for Church Farm School, which is an all boys’ Boarding School grades 9-12 in Exton, PA. Our boys have pretty much never had a Prom before. This year we are excited to have been invited to our sister school’s Prom. So we have a group of juniors and seniors who are eager for the chance to attend. However, access to formalwear can be difficult for our student body. If anyone has suits or other formalwear that they would consider donating to our Clothes Closet or has coupons to formalwear stores/rentals, we would be so grateful for any assistance.

The prom is April 29th, 2023

Please email development@gocfs.net if you are willing to help out.

So how about it? Can you help? Even if you can sponsor a tux rental? Any formalwear businesses out there which could help last minute?

We want kids to all have these great experiences, so how about a little Cinderella magic here? They promise to get home at a reasonable pumpkin hour.

Do it for the boys.

Thanks for your consideration!

another bite at the apple in west whiteland township?

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Look lively if you live in West Whiteland because Planning Commission on Tuesday April, 19th has data center/power plant zoning amendment crapola back for another bite at the proverbial apple 🍎 !

Residents need to turn out and say #NO again.

They already have giant data center planned for East Whiteland Township!

Agenda: https://www.westwhiteland.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04182023-1140

You don’t have to have this zoning in your Township and you really don’t want to allow the possibility for it. Just Google data centers and Louden County, Virginia.

Certain factions and developers out for an extra large pay day want this zoning but it does nothing for residents (kind of like the pipelines, truthfully.) it also sucks off your power grid which will eventually send your electricity prices up.

development in west whiteland

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Ship Road and Route 30 in West Whiteland is getting supersized. Eventually the roads won’t even look the same when the “Ship Road Couplet” occurs.

What do I see that concerns me other than MORE development that will be soulless and devoid of charm and things like gardens? That beautiful historic chapel. I fear for it being marooned like a little island in the mess.

I also wish V.K. Brewing could remember the Ship Inn as part of their sign. Why can’t it be V. K. Brewing at the historic Ship Inn or something?

And this development? Naked acres baby. Just the way developers love it.

And there is this house (or twins?) being built right on the edge of Ship Road before the new development mess starts? It’s literally shoehorned in at the edge of the road. I guess they caused the road delays ?

The nice thing about this road work is it FORCED people on Ship Road to slow down.$

Sign me sick of developer-centric development. None of it seems to have anything with the communities the developers are invading.

How many more acres are going to get stripped bare for a cram plan? Now a broken down strip of stores and ugly other commercial structures aren’t going to be missed, but why is everything always about new density?

Why can’t we have good designs? Green space? Something attractive? Less dense ?

sometimes being right sucks: death of a farmhouse coming soon…

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Oaklands Tenant Farmhouse January, 2022

I just posted about the Oaklands Estate Tenant Farm House after driving by a couple of days ago. I said in that post, I feared it would just be torn down. I didn’t know. Now I know that it’s actually true I am going to say that out loud.

as the old houses rot….in west whiteland…

A bit after I posted my post, some of the family that used to live in that beautiful farmhouse posted some photos. Of a pool refurbished in 2021 and things like that. The house had huge beautiful gardens and a wonderful library in the house. It was a home, a much loved home.

The refurbished pool around 2021
1-28-1950 .. looking down Whitford Rd towards the house
1-28-1950 in front of the barn looking
west on Rt 30

Some McIlvaine family members were living on site until they had to leave after the sale. They have been kind enough to give me these photos to show all of you.

Our farm sign selling milk. I still have all the Oakland’s farm milk containers. My granddad started selling turkeys too.

I get that a car dealership probably doesn’t care about an old farmhouse but we in Chester County should care about our old farmhouses, and I want the memories to survive through photos. The descriptions on the photos have been provided by a family member and I would like to thank Shane McIlvaine in for sharing his precious memories. And these are precious memories for these people.

My Grandad in the middle with his brothers at a farm show in the 50’s – Shane McIlvaine

But when estates have to be settled and there are a bunch of relatives involved, properties sometimes have to be sold. And given the absolute insanity of the real estate market and how developers on a quest to play PAC MAN and gobble up land all over, it makes it hard for individuals to compete to try to save these properties, let alone family members who want to hang on to familial homesteads and be able to afford to buy out other family members.

Shane McIlvaine : “ this was closing day last spring… My final picture at the house. Couldn’t believe they still wanted to buy it since it had 4ft of water in the basement. I have pictures of the property in all its stages dating back to 1707 and kept all the old farm equipment. Storing it across Rt30 at the main house and barn (Oakland’s farm). We still sell honey here!”

So when someone else asked Shane McIlvaine about the situation, we all learned some interesting information and the reality of the damage overdevelopment does over time:

“I moved out last year when we sold it to Exton Nissan. The chimney never caught on fire…it was an electrical fire from a poor stucco job exposing a wire…Even though I had just recently refinished the pool, the property was slowly sinking into the wetlands because of surrounding development. It needed hundreds of thousands in repairs. Decided it was time to go when yellow jackets were discovered within the entire back wall of the home. In the 70’s it never flooded and it had a useable pasture for farm animals.…Brand new pool put in 2021. It does make me a bit sad since it had been in the family since the 1700’s. My grandmother lived in the guest house and was the owner. When she recently passed her estate was divided, and I couldn’t afford to buy everyone out of their share of the acreage.”

Property around the farm house 1950s

The house and/or the spring house is sinking slowly into wetlands because of surrounding development. That old phrase you hear about water seeking it’s own level strikes me as apropos in a sad way. This is a real cost of over-development, which sadly is somethings the West Whiteland corridor has plenty of. Water no longer has anywhere to go because of all of the development. And with climate change and increasingly obnoxious weather patterns, where we never had flooding, we have flooding.

And if there was more open space, water would have a place to go. They can engineer stormwater basins and whatnot all they want, but it doesn’t really replace old fashioned open space with room for water to go.

Back to death of a farmhouse….

So Shane McIlvaine is the nephew of former State Representative Barbara McIlvaine Smith who was also Vice President of West Chester Borough Council once upon a time. Shane’s father was her older brother. His dad passed away in 2012, so his aunt became the Executrix.

Other information: Shane McIlvaine has the original deed, William Penn land grant paperwork, and some pictures of the farm workers from long ago.

Let that sink in: this is yet another property that was a William Penn land grant being destroyed for development. (Yes, that is my opinion that too much land, too many farmhouses, farms, open space, etc are being destroyed.) Lloyd Farm in Caln is also crumbling by the minute, was a William Penn land grant. Our history of Chester County, of Pennsylvania, of this very country is lbeing destroyed and for what?

1-28-1950 ..corner of Whitford Rd & Rt 30 looking down at that house

If you look at other countries like the one we spring from originally, England, they value their heritage. In this country, it’s super sad but we do not. Not all of us, but too many decision makers for sure in Harrisburg, for example.

So maybe, just maybe if state representatives and state senators could get off their collective political asses in Harrisburg and do their jobs, which includes updating the Municipalities Planning Code comprehensively to protect the constituency they are supposed to serve as opposed to special interests, that would be awesome. And it’s not all of the state representatives and state senators, but there are so many that are in with all sorts of obvious that they forget whom they’re there to serve.

So hypothetically, speaking, maybe if the Municipalities Planning Code had been updated, there might not be so much development in West Whiteland, and this farmhouse and William Penn Land grant remainder would be worth maybe saving?

We all need to do better. We can’t keep standing idly by as our very history disappears.

Here in Chester County we keep losing what makes this county special. Farms, land, open space, history. We loose it with every devil of a development project we don’t really need – you know like that warehouse development project being discussed at present in Uwchlan Township? Or any of the apartment and townhouse developments we don’t actually need more of in a county once known for farms and open space. It’s all bullshit being shoved at residents as the latest and greatest until it’s not. And it’s not.

I don’t think any bells can be unrung here with this historic farmhouse that’s part of a historic William Penn land grant. That actually upsets me. To follow in screenshots is all the West Whiteland stuff talking about the demolition execution timeline.

One last comment from Shane McIlvaine about all of this development. It makes me sad. He literally has been someone in a farming family who has grown up watching farms disappear. Imagine what he has seen. Chester County has lost so much. When will it stop?

“ It is sad. In the early 90’s when my Grandad and his brothers sold the 300 or so acres between Whitford and Rt100 (becoming Waterloo Blvd and a bunch of condos), I knew it was all downhill for Exton as peaceful farmland. A few yrs later Waterloo gardens sold to a developer when the matriarch of the Le’Bouttlier family passed and that property had to be split between siblings. So will go every other last chunk of Chester County land. Honey Brook is the next target for developers. Our other family farm called Springton Manor towards that direction was sold as well but partially preserved luckily.”

as the old houses rot….in west whiteland…

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I have written about both houses before and they are neighbors. First is the Joseph Price House at 401 Clover Mill Road in Exton. It’s on the corner of S. Whitford Rd.

Supposedly it has a caretaker, but there seem to be so many holes in the house as it sits and rots, that you have to wonder if it’s safe. There are constant rumors that the guys who own it have sold it, but it never seems any sales go through, so are they just a pair of house hoarders? (You can look up the owners, it’s public record.)

Then there is the neighboring and equally rotting old farmhouse at 105 S. Whitford Road in Exton. It’s an old tenant farm from what was the Oaklands estate once upon a time. Supposedly dates from 1750 and this is the respect it gets? (Again, you can look this house up, it’s public record.)

Yes fuzzy photos taken in the rain as a passenger in a car yesterday and there was traffic, so not the best photos.

I don’t really have much more to add. I’ve written about these properties before. And it always gets me when you go up S.Whitford Road that these two historic properties are so close to each other. I will note that the white farmhouse looks like something is going on to the side- the right side when driving by to meet Route 30.

Both of these houses in my opinion are demolition by neglect. What is happening to both of these houses is criminal. The Joseph Price house in particular will shortly reach the point of no return if someone can’t convince those owners to sell to preservation minded people. I don’t think there’s any hope for the beautiful old farmhouse and My guess is that will be torn down. I predict with both these houses someday we will all say to one another “Do you remember those really cool houses?”

I really hope that the West Whiteland Historic Commission is able to fully document these properties inside and out before it’s too late.

Happy soggy Saturday.

art theft in chester county from fedex ground location!

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OMG it’s an art heist right here in Chester County!

Another CrimeWatch PA announcement for West Whiteland Police Department caught my eye today:

West Whiteland Police Department:

THEFT OF PAINTING

The West Whiteland Township Police Department is investigating the theft of a painting. The painting was shipped by a woman from Beverly Hills to a auction business in Downingtown. An unknown person picked the item up at the FedEx Ground facility in Exton.

The painting has not been recovered.

A photo of the painting is attached.

Call Sgt. McCloskey or Det. Pezick if you have any information. Date:

Friday, January 27, 2023 – 7:15am

Incident Type: Theft Reference ID: WW-23-01853 Case

Type: Criminal Source: West Whiteland Police Department

Sourced via CRIMEWATCH®: https://chester.crimewatchpa.com/westwhitelandpd/14787/cases/theft-painting

OK so the date up there is January 27, 2023? why has it been so long before we would find out about this if it was a theft and I’m presuming it’s a pretty tasty, art theft, right?

So how many auction houses are considered to be in Downingtown, Pennsylvania? Two?

I went and looked up this FedEx Ground location. It’s on Creamery Way in Exton. It has a shockingly bad rating on Google of 2.3! And there are reviewers who accuse this location of theft. All you have to do is go read the reviews if you don’t believe me.

So I wonder did they really just give it to a random person or is this an inside job?

And if this occurred in January why is it only being reported now is it because the sender of the painting and whichever auction house it is have exhausted all avenues with FedEx and they went to the police?

I just also wonder how the FedEx could just kind of let a big piece of art walk out of the door? Don’t they have security cameras? Don’t they ask people for ID? Don’t they sign for a package?

I am totally fascinated by this and I hope the media picks up on it and runs with it. And I hope somebody goes to FedEx and FedEx corporate and ask them how paintings just kind of go missing? I would also like to know which auction house it was because I feel sorry for them.

I have posted the painting a few different times throughout this post because I tried lighting it differently so you could see the image better.

This is literally a Nancy Drew Mystery. I would love to know who the portrait is supposed to be and what it’s perceived value is? And is this one of those things were they get the FBI art theft unit involved?

Stay tuned.

is something up at benjamin pennypacker house?

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Well blow me over! At the very end of the West Whiteland Township Meeting this evening there were two little bits of information I found quite interesting. Justin Smiley who is in Planning & Zoning (his title is “Capital & Special Projects”) announced two things.

One was whomever had wanted to build apartments at The Exton Square Mall no longer wants to. That is not to say that couldn’t ever be proposed again, but for now it’s a dead plan.

But the other tidbit really made me listen: apparently the people who bought the Benjamin Pennypacker House contacted Justin Smiley and asked if West Whiteland wanted it back? Mind you I am paraphrasing, we will have to wait for the meeting recording for the exact verbiage.

Now I know the current owners who bought it from Church Farm School don’t live there. So I do not know what they had intended for the home. Was it too much of a money pit? Well, to be fair the years West Whiteland owned it (2006-2022) it was pretty much let go, and then given back to Church Farm School, who then sold it for $400,000 in April 2022…..

Everyone knew it was in beyond rough shape and I think it needed pretty much everything. The current owners have indeed been working on it. The house looks tremendously better.

BUT we have to file this under curious and curiouser.

Below is the post I wrote ironically a year ago this time, give or take a few days.

Never a dull moment in Chester County, that’s for sure. Here’s hoping this poor house continues to survive.

benjamin pennypacker house, exton: future unknown

a victory for residents in west whiteland….for now

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A victory for East and West Whiteland residents. However, a caveat: FOR NOW.

In my humble opinion this is far from over. This meeting is still a regular public meeting and it would behoove concerned residents to go and still express their opinions on this.

And as I was driving on Swedesford Road today near Malvern Hunt, I am still very curious as to how the approved data center in East Whiteland is not going to bother the development dwellers there and even possibly a little further up where the townhouse development is, that’s new.

I will also note that a certain stupidvisor in West Whiteland who is now a lame duck with a bad attitude dodged comment when asked by a reporter from the Daily Local about this. I wonder why she is being silent? Is it pure ignorance on the topic, or did someone tell her not to say anything? I think when it comes to these projects, there’s always more than meets the eye, and it’s not just local involvement, is it?

$6 billion data center proposed for East Whiteland

It’s a very big article in the Daily Local and it’s worth reading.

Residents take a victory lap, but don’t get complacent. Please. And why am I saying that? Because at the end of the day this also has a lot to do with politics. This is a battle won, not the war.

buh buh byeeee ?

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It’s oddly Darth Vader -like this new “selfie”

BREAKING NEWS FROM WEST WHITELAND: Theresa Hogan Santalucia has announced she is NOT seeking re-election! However she is backing a pinch hitter. Sadly to me, that is the same as Theresa. Her name is Jo Ann P Kelton.

Pinch hitting for Theresa is a big “meh” – if I voted in West Whiteland, that would be a turn off.

So actual health issues or disdain for the plurality? Maybe that disdain for the plurality is a medical condition? Sorry not sorry, she’s not someone I have a great deal of compassion for .

Theresa Hogam Santalucia won’t go quietly into the night will she? Can we wonder how much havoc she will wreak between now and end of term?

She posted on her politician page a bunch of times. She means B-I-bizness. Thanks be to everything holy that she’s done. Here’s hoping she doesn’t get it into her head to run for State Rep if her gal pal Kristine Howard is indeed running for judge.

Let the (updated) games begin. Where is this one on the power plant/data center issue and pipelines?

Anyway, that’s all. Theresa Hogan Santalucia knows she can’t win another supervisor race, so she’s done.