Dear Friends,
Thank you so much to the large number of you who tuned in last Wednesday evening for Crebilly II/Toll Brother’s Conditional Use hearing #12. It was a strong turnout of almost 150 people who remained engaged until many succumbed to technical difficulties via zoom, which began sometime during the 9pm break. Originally, public comment was scheduled to begin that evening, after rebuttal from Toll Brothers, but that did not happen due to other matters taking more time than originally expected. It was a rough evening, for many reasons, and it did not end until after 10:30pm.
Here is the most important information you need to know at this time; please share it in every way you can possibly think of:PUBLIC COMMENT BEGINS IN PERSON:
MONDAY, JULY 12TH, 7PM, Rustin High School Auditorium, 1100 Shiloh Road, West Chester, PA 19382
*Public comment will be held in person. I will share more details and any special guidelines as I learn them.
*Please plan to come prepared with written statements to read before the board stating the reasons how and why this development will negatively impact you
*Encourage the Westtown Township Board of Supervisors to vote ‘NO’ to Conditional Use
For those interested, here is the video of hearing #12; I apologize there is about 20 minutes missing right around the 9pm break time: https://crebillyfarmfriends.com/meeting-videos/
To briefly recap, the evening began with Toll’s rebuttal witness, Project Engineer, Jeff Madden. That was a Very. Long. Hour and a half… followed by a zoom crash around 9pm where, unfortunately, the confusion led many to believe the hearing was over. But alas, it was not. For a more detailed recap of the first half of the evening, here is the latest Chadds Ford Live article: https://chaddsfordlive.com/2021/05/27/crebilly-hearings-nearing-a-close/
The second half of the evening, after the zoom issues seemed to be resolved, Toll presented rebuttal from their Traffic Expert, Nicole Kline. Ms. Kline has presented testimony on behalf of Toll Brothers numerous times during these many hearings. I respect her professionalism, intelligence and that she is doing her job, even if I do not agree with what she is saying. What I find terribly offensive is her tone of voice and her condescending attitude, which at times I consider to be down right smug, especially when speaking to party status residents asking honest questions. Even Toll Solicitor Greg Adeleman, though direct and firm, shows respect and kindness, especially to some of the older residents with party status. I commend Richard Pomerantz, Carol De Wolf and Solicitor for the Planning Commission, Kristen Camp for their preparation and great points made by each for the record during their questioning of Ms. Kline. However the one who really nailed it that night was Scott Yaw, the quiet member of the BOS. It is terribly unfortunate that Westminster Church, whose property abuts Crebilly Farm, has granted a sight line easement to Toll Brothers in exchange for money and some evergreens. Mr. Yaw called out Ms. Kline for not sharing docs A90 and A91 (see attachments) with Westtown township’s traffic expert until after his testimony was completed. I found this exchange quite delicious and it woke me up. Thank you, Mr. Yaw.
Exhibit A90
Exhibit A91
We are coming to the end of this particular chapter of the Crebilly II application and now it is time to prepare for the grand finale- public comment. Friends, there is power in Massive Public Outcry. Westtown township’s PC, BOS, solicitors, experts and residents with party status, in addition to nearby townships, their solicitors, HOA’s and residents have completed their parts in this very long journey. This next part is up to us. We need to plan to show up and speak up July 12th. Do not listen to the naysayers- why bother to fight it; it’s already over; Toll always wins; time to give in and accept it. Where would we be if we bought into that kind of attitude five years ago? Thank you, truly, for remaining engaged in this daunting endeavor for so long. Please join me Monday, July 12th for public comment. Sharpen your pencils and get ready to share in your own words why open space, American history, clean waterways, nature and where you live matters.
If not you, then who?
Sincerely,
Mindy Rhodes
Crebilly Farm Friends 
Mindy, I find the in person meetings to be dreadful and we can’t hear (especially the Toll attorney who mumbles) or see the plot plans, etc. Why doesn’t the township also do the meeting on Zoom – so you have the option. Several municipalities are doing this and I believe there is a movement to get PA government approval on this. In fact I will pay for the Zoom session myself!
Doug
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Dear Mr. Marshall,
I appreciate your comment and truly understand, having witnessed some of what you mention for myself. I will look into this further and see what I can learn from the township. Government rules for zoom have been very confusing and challenging to navigate by many municipalities and their solicitors. Thank you for your patience and I will follow up in another update down the road.
Warmly,
Mindy Rhodes
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Mindy,I follow your blog and a wholeheartedly support your endeavor to stop Toll. I am sure you have already pursued this point, but has anyone tried to negotiate an agreement with the landowners and buy the land for openspace/Park. I know we would need to raise an awful lot of money for market value, but it might work. With the Biden administration that wants to preserve 30% of the US land there might be away to get funding, if we can get the Township to turn down their development plan. It might be too late to have this happen, but it is a thought. I worked for Townships in Chester County writing and involved with numerous open space grants. The Township could get the the land through eminent domain giving the landowners market value for the property putting this the bed.ThxSent from Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
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Hello,
Thank you for your comments and questions. Recently, a few others have asked similar questions. I will do my best to answer and explain some of this in my next Crebilly update so that hopefully, others, too, can gain a better understanding.
Sincerely,
Mindy Rhodes
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