First Person Singular: Integrity or ‘authoritah’ for Stonebridge

In about a month we should know how the Chadds Ford Zoning Hearing Board decided in the matter of Stonebridge Mansion, the 25-room home on 5 acres on the southwest corner of Webb Road and Route 1.

The owners — Drew and Nicole Barnabei — want to host catered events, weddings and such, for a fee. They would rent use of the first two floors of the house and of the grounds. But Chadds Ford Township says they can’t because the house is in a residential zoning district where commercial use is prohibited. Stonebridge Mansion is permitted to operate as a bed and breakfast, however, but nothing more.

The township has fought the Barnabeis through a county level injunction hearing in June, then through five township zoning hearings from July through November. The township has fought them to a cost to Chadds Ford taxpayers of at least $23,000.

During a public comment period in the supervisors’ December meeting, I asked how much the proceedings had cost the township. I will say that the room grew quiet, very quiet, and the faces at the head table were less than joyful. After the pregnant pause, I was told to file a Right To Know Request.

When I filed that request a week later, I was told that I wouldn’t be getting all the information. Any extra money paid to the township manager, secretary or code enforcement officer related to the hearings would not be included, nor would any extra compensation for the zoning board solicitor.

Based on the RTK material received a month later, between the township solicitor, the township engineer and money paid to the fire marshal and court reporter — along with transcript copying — the township spent $20,000. Other documents obtained show the zoning solicitor’s office being paid $3,000 between the end of July and the end of November.

That’s $23K and the figure could go higher if either side appeals the zoning board’s decision to the court in Media, and could go even higher if that decision is appealed to Commonwealth Court.

The Barnabeis are paying big bucks too, to stand up for what they think is their right, the right to use their property as they see fit.

It all seems pretty cut and dried against them, though. The house is in a residential district where no commercial use is allowed. No contest. No can do.

But things aren’t that simple.

The Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford Historical Society, Brandywine Battlefield Park, the Chadds Ford Plaza — the little strip mall at Heyburn Road with the dry cleaners, a head lice removal business and a caterer with onsite dining — and the adjacent Chadds Ford Tavern are all in a residential district and they all conduct commerce.

And, as was brought up in testimony at the hearings, Stonebridge Mansion was used as an event site under previous ownership. Events for the Chadds Ford Republican Party held were there, so let’s not pretend the supervisors didn’t know about them.

There was also a month-long event for the Oxford Art Alliance in 2011 during which more than 4,500 people traipsed in and out of the property. The supervisors even allowed extra signage. And there were no accidents caused by all that extra traffic.

The Barnabeis want to limit the number of guests at Stonebridge to no more than 150.

And people are permitted to have weddings at their homes. There was a wedding with a tent and outdoor music two properties north of the mansion in August. No permission needed and no hassle from the township.

Weddings are also OK at the Brandywine Battlefield Park. Its Web site — http://brandywinebattlefield.org/?page_id=17 — specifically says: “Weddings and wedding photography use must pay a fee of $50.”

As reported this summer, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission said the park’s friends group had been negotiating with a private company for a wedding tent, and Supervisor George Thorpe, in that same report, said there have been weddings at the park for years.

A former chairman of the Chadds Ford Zoning Hearing Board once said the purpose of that board is “to protect the integrity of the township’s [zoning] ordinances.”

That’s a great idea, but the ordinances need some integrity to begin with. Selective enforcement doesn’t lend itself to respect. If some properties in residential districts can be used for commerce — and the museum, park and historical society do have gift shops and the plaza is in a residential district — then the law is not being uniformly applied. That a previous owner could have events, but the current owner can’t, then there’s an inconsistency that erodes the presumed integrity.

The township brought out that the Chadds Ford Historical Society does have events where admission is charged, and that there is a gift shop, but that’s deemed OK, they say, because the historical society is a non-profit organization.

When did profit become evil? When did a Republican Party-run township board of supervisors decide to outlaw profit?

Part of the township’s case did focus on safety. It was argued that the driveway entrances on Webb Road and Route 1 are too narrow to accommodate fire trucks. However, the previous owner testified that the fire company was called out on two different occasions and had no problem getting onto the property. That testimony was not disputed.

Even the judge at the June injunction hearing said that if the property was too dangerous to have events because the driveways are too narrow for fire trucks when there are guests, those driveways are also too narrow when the Barnabeis are home alone.

People from outside Chadds Ford have said they don’t understand why the township is fighting the request — people within the Republican Party.

When one person asked why the township was fighting the request, I flashed on the Comedy Central TV show “South Park,” in which the character of Eric Cartman (see image) has at times donned a pair of mirrored sunglasses, hopped on a tricycle, pulled motorists over, smacked them in the shins with a nightstick and demand that they respect his “authoritah.”

This zoning battle makes the township look bad. Everything could have been worked out without rancor or costly contest to the Barnabeis and the taxpayers.

It’s a matter of property rights. Not just for the Barnabeis, but for their neighbors as well. Since parties and weddings on private residential property are allowed, then the Barnabeis should be allowed to do so — even for profit — as long as the activity does not interfere with the property rights of their neighbors.

As long as the events don’t cause any type of trespass onto neighboring properties, no physical trespass of guests, no noise or light pollution — since they are also forms of trespass — and as long as everyone is safe, then let them be.

Make it a matter of conditional use, if need be. Put some restrictions on such as limiting the time of day, day of the week, number of guests even the time of year if absolutely necessary, but there’s no need to be so obstructionist as to say they can’t do anything just because they want to earn some extra cash.

The township code zoning is out of date. Most everyone in the township knows that. Business owners sure know that and even members of the ZHB have said the code needs an update. What could be good is that the supervisors are looking for volunteers to help revise that code.

Update the ordinances. Yes, definitely. It’s better for the township to guide from a position of integrity, than to rule by demanding obedience to ‘authoritah.”

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.