Crebilly Farm Update 8/28/22: Call to Action!

Dear Friends,

I can hardly believe the end of Summer is upon us… where does the time go?  Thank you ever so much for continuing to follow the Chronicles of Crebilly.  By now, hopefully you have learned how important and necessary it is for Westtown township residents to vote YES! to the open space referendum in the November 8th election, in order to save Crebilly Farm and preserve the land forever.  If you are not familiar with the following developments, please take a drive by at your earliest convenience:  Toll on Tigue and route 52 in West Chester near the Book Barn;  loathly Liseter in Newtown Square; Greystone Hall horrific housing just off 322 in West Chester; the Daily Local disaster on the corner of North Bradford and Strasburg Road.  It matters not the developer.  Those are a mere handful of examples of what will happen to Crebilly Farm if she is not conserved.  Westtown residents must vote YES! to the open space referendum in November.  If this does not happen, it is inevitable, Crebilly Farm will be developed, and all of us will pay the ultimate price monetarily, physically, mentally and environmentally.  Forever.  

Understanding what it means to pass an open space referendum can be confusing, especially when one isn’t familiar with the process.  There are a few opportunities, listed below, to learn more about this.  Please don’t be afraid to ask questions.  Making an informed decision is important so that you know what you are voting for and why.  I am including this link again, to the Chester County Planning Commission ‘Return on Environment’ because I think it sums up the facts very well:  https://chescoplanning.org/openspace/roe.cfm

You may have heard of a new group called:  Vote Yes to Save Crebilly:  www.VoteYesCrebilly.com.  When in doubt, I like to go straight to the horse’s mouth and decide for myself whether something is legit or not.  So glad I did!  After attending their latest meeting I am relieved and very impressed by the members of this group and what they are organizing.  The group is calling for volunteers to help them campaign over the next 8 weeks to vote YES! to the open space referendum.  In addition, any monetary donations to this group are greatly appreciated as that will pay for their marketing expenses.  Leftover funds will be given to Natural Lands.  I am certain you will recognize some familiar faces if you get involved with this group, and I hope you do.   

FRIENDS, THIS IS A CALL TO ACTION: www.VoteYesCrebilly.com will be hosting an informational volunteer meeting:

THIS COMING WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31st, 7pm Westminster Presbyterian Church (10 West Pleasant Grove Road, West Chester, PA  19382).

Please do what you can to reach out to this group and help.  These are volunteers and they need many more volunteers.  You do not need to be a Westtown resident to help.

Monetary donations may be made through their website via a credit card (www.VoteYesCrebilly.com) or you may mail a check made payable to ‘Vote Yes to Save Crebilly’ to:

P.O. Box 111

Westtown, PA  19395

For questions, email:  voteyes2crebilly@gmail.com

*Westtown Township will hold an informational meeting regarding the upcoming November 8th referendum; again, you can go right to the horse’s mouth, get the facts and ask questions:

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12th, 7pm, Bayard Rustin High School Auditorium (1100 Shiloh Road, West Chester, PA 19382)

https://www.westtownpa.org/event/informational-meeting-on-the-open-space-tax-referendum/

Saving land saves money.  That is the simple truth.  If Crebilly Farm is developed, we all lose.  If Crebilly Farm is preserved, we all gain.  And one day, the township will own the land, at which point, Crebilly Farm will be protected in perpetuity, never to be developed or sold again.  What a huge value to Westtown township, its residents and Chester County!!!  Thank you to nearby townships Birmingham and Thornbury who have had legal standing throughout many years of hearings with Toll Brothers.  Birmingham, Thornbury and even Pennsbury- all of you will be affected by whatever the outcome of Crebilly Farm.  Westtown township cannot pull off this daunting task of conservation without your help.  Please do what you can to contribute.  No part is too small.  Whether a monetary donation to the vote Yes! to the open space referendum campaign (www.VoteYesCrebilly.com) or Natural Lands (https://natlands.org/crebillyfarm/support/) or spreading the word to encourage residents to volunteer their time to help the campaigning group- this is what is needed right now.

This is it, friends.  The willing landowner and the Knights in shining armor are finally here, on the white horse, in the eleventh hour.  We cannot let them down.  It will take all of us working together- all the king’s horses and all the king’s men- to get Crebilly Farm preserved in the end. 

If not you, then who?

Sincerely,

Mindy Rhodes