Ithan in the News
Response to Main Line Life Editorial
To The Editor,
Tom Murray's Main Line Life editorial of June 7, "We Should Blame The Rules and Regulations" contains some factual and logical errors.
The Save Ithan Coalition has not "vowed to stop plans along Conestoga Road", as Mr. Murray stated in the editorial. What Save Ithan has tried to do is to organize community support so that the development process involves the whole community and its values from the start. That community includes the voters, taxpayers, and all those who have invested their families and lives in forming Radnor. Save Ithan has developed a vision paper on how Ithan could develop.
Save Ithan is not against development. We simply want whatever is done to reflect the community's plans and values.
Mr. Murray quoted from the minutes of a single Save Ithan Coalition informational meeting, and has drawn far-reaching conclusions from those minutes without ever even trying to communicate directly with the author of those minutes. (I know, because I wrote those minutes).
Mr. Murray says he "believes in the rule of law and that you can't change the rules in the middle of the game". He says that he really wants to see "people step up and change the process the correct way, and not wait until plans are unveiled." Yet he also proposes a six month moratorium on development "while towns along the Main Line tweaked codes and regulations".
But he never says what the "correct way" is. Nor does he explain how the whole process is supposed to happen in six months - or what happens if the needed changes are not completed in that time, or if they involve more than "tweaking" codes and regulations.
Radnor's Commissoners have given the Planning Commission the go-ahead to change the process which a developer must follow. The emphasis is to be on putting planning first, before any zoning changes are requested, so that any major changes in Radnor will have to follow the Comprehensive Plan, with input from the community. The idea is to insure that all proposed zoning changes or variances follow the Comprehensive Plan before they are submitted to the Zoning Hearing Board.
In other words, the rules and regulations are in the process of being fixed, and Ithan is an example of this change. But it's more than simple tweaking, and the process will take more than six months to do correctly.
Most of all, if the changes suggested by Mr. Murray are done, wouldn't that be changing the rules in the middle of the game?
What Save Ithan has requested is that the zoning codes, environmental regulations, and other long-established community values (such as the Comprehensive Plan) be preserved and enforced.
Let's get right down to specifics.
Go to the old gas station, sometimes known as "Gus' Garage", on the northwest corner of the intersection of Route 320 and Conestoga Road.
Note how close it is to the Blue Route. Note that if two people tried to walk around the old gas station building side-by-side, one of them will wind up in Ithan Creek - it's that close.
Do a rough estimate of how much of that property's 1.09 acres are in the floodplain, the riparian buffer zone, and Ithan Creek itself. Remember that the 1.09 acres is measured from the center of Conestoga Road, not from the edge of the road.
Did it ever make sense to build a gas station there, with underground tanks, so close to the creek? This, by itself, led to water contamination which affected numerous down stream neighbors.
Does it make sense now for Radnor Township to issue several major variances so that the new owner of the property, who bought the site with full knowledge of the existing rules and regulations, and all the problems, can build 20 condo units there?
One bad decision many years ago doesn't justify more bad decisions today.
It's not a case of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) nor a case of BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything). We need gas stations and we need condo units. But we also need good planning and good judgement, with rules and regulations to back them up. We also need an open and public process before major development occurs.
That's what the Save Ithan Coalition is all about.
Sincerely,
Jim Miccolis, on behalf of the Save Ithan Coalition
To the members of the Save Ithan Coalition who recently met with Radnor Planning Commission chair Al Murphy to clear some proverbial air about Murphy's ...
The latest update from the Save Ithan Coalition, regarding proposed redevelopment of a property located in the heart of historic Radnor, ...
No new plans for Ithan, but group remains active
Murphy said he is planning on meeting with members of the Save Ithan Coalition Thursday. The coalition is on the agenda for the Planning Commission's June 4 ...
Waiting for the wind to blow in Ithan
He said he has a meeting with members of the Save Ithan Coalition Thursday. Also, the coalition is on the agenda for the Planning Commission's June 4 ...
Main Line Life's latest on the battle to save Ithan
A column in Main Line Life by Anne Minicozzi
The Suburban and Wayne Times on the battle to save Ithan.
Press Releases
"Save Ithan Coalition Releases Vision Report and Overlay Concept for Ithan/Radnorville" - 4/9/2007
"Citizens Band Together to Challenge Development That Threatens Historic Community and Ithan Creek" - 2/9/2007
Fact sheet on the O'Neill Development - 2/8/07