The open space funds
Pennsbury Township gave to the Mendenhall family did not go down the drain.
Supervisors, in 2007, voted
to give $900,000 to the Mendenhall family in exchange for development rights on
the family farm. The family has since filed for bankruptcy, but the township
still retains the rights even if the property is sold.
“The township has the easement in perpetuity,” said MaryAnna Ralph, the supervisors’ chairman in 2007.
The 88-acre Mendenhall
property, Springdale Farm, is near Hillendale Elementary School. The township
bought development rights for 58 acres to prevent a housing or other type of development
from going in while allowing the family to keep the property and build a horse
farm.
Part of the debt, as
reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer, stems from the construction, also in 2007,
of an indoor riding rink and a stable for 24 horses. The total obligation is
$1.76 million.
That amount comes fromborrowing $710,500 from
Stonebridge in June 2007, $660,000 from Aston-based CFP Associates L.L.C. in
May 2008, and an additional $50,000 from Stonebridge in October 2008, plus
delinquent payments of principal and interest and fees.
Springdale Farm has been the oldest continuously
operating farm in Pennsylvania.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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So we citizens of Pennsbury, through our “open space tax” gave the now bankrupt owners of this property $900,000. How nice. To call this monstrosity of a farm “open space” is a perversion of the term. The space is NOT open. There is a large, modern, and not very attactive farm that one can hardly see from the the roads that border it. All we have done is give the owners $900,000 for nothing.
When MaryAnna Ralph was the Chairperson of the Board of Supervisors, she used Township Open Space funds to purchase the development rights of this property. The development rights could have been purchased with Chester County funds, but she did not to make the Mendenhalls adhere to the County’s rules for personal reasons.
One critic has complained about the poor view of a farm. One thing he DOESN’T see is a whole development of 1/2 to 1 acre sites with development homes on them! You can’t have everything! This writer thinks Pennsbury got quid pro quo.
Fred DeVries