In the first half of the Aug. 30 West Marlborough township double-header hearing, the supervisors approved a zoning change that would allow The Whip to seek an off-site parking area, helping to alleviate the parking problems that have plagued the popular Springdell tavern.
Harry Roth, the township's engineer, described the ordinance change as reasonable and said it would have a minimal impact on neighbors. And the Whip's attorney, Neil Land, said the change will give his client "the opportunity to fix what has been a problem for some time."
But many of the residents said they were worried about the unforeseen, "unintended consequences" of the new rules, which would affect not only Springdell village but also the village of London Grove.
Planning commission member Jeb Hannum said he would have voted against recommending the change had he been at the meeting where it was discussed, and fellow commission member Jake Chalfin said he had changed his mind since the meeting and wished he had opposed it too.
But at the end of the 90-minute hearing, Supervisor Michael Ledyard said he was satisfied that those "unintended consequences" had been anticipated as much as possible and "I'm much more confident than I was coming in." Supervisor Hugh Lofting said he too was comfortable with making the change, and Board Chairman Bill Wylie said the fact that the change affects "very few properties greatly limits the opportunity for unintended consequences."
Although the ordinance change affects both villages, it was clear that the focus was on Springdell and the Whip. "We cannot stand in the way of progress," said Springdell resident Bernie Langer, who suggested that the Whip is a much better neighbor than its rougher predecessors were. Yes, he said, there are more cars, "but at least they have mufflers" and "I have yet to hear a gunshot."
Now, of course, the big questions are:
1. Will the Whip be able to find a lot in Springdell that meets the criteria in the revised ordinance and could be used for parking?
2. How will the Whip's notoriously litigious neighbors, the "Springdell 8" (or however many of them there are these days), react to this decision?
What did Tilda think of Ms Camp's letter to the Kennett Paper's latest issue?
ReplyDeleteBT was firmly in the camp opposed to activist local protesters, and now finds herself wobbling to the side of the rule of law...
This is the saddest problem. How to choose between two essentials: lively public hangouts ~ peace+quiet? And now it is pretext to raise taxes alarmingly on the industrious.
One might conclude that the lack of consensus or compromise shows that Unionville is only very superficially "country" now. Sic transit...
Tilda is bending over backwards to craft a thoughtful and non-snarky response to Ms. Camp's letter; she knows better than to argue with such an able attorney. But really, nothing says "we're not litigious!" like having your attorney write a letter to the editor blaming everyone else for the problems you've caused.
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