Resident: Opinions 'Vital' on Ardrossan 'While There's Still Time'

Villanova residents Phil and Anne Graham sent the following letter to the Radnor Board of Commissioners and all members of the Radnor Planning Commission on Wednesday, August 28. Patch is running that letter with permission from the Grahams.

We are true believers that the value of where we live is in its unique beauty. Take that away, the perceived value will plummet and we'll be left with much less of a reason to be here. We know there will be many meetings discussing the future of what remains of the Ardrossan Estate & Farm. However we'd like to call your attention now to some concerns which should be addressed before decisions are made which have a long term, irreversible effect on Radnor residents. Any amount of new residential dwellings in large quantity has a serious knock-on so your opinions and power to influence the situation are vital to us all while there's still time.

1. It is in the majority of Radnor residents' interest that everything is done to encourage Ardrossan's Trust to sell lots as large as possible to limit future increases in traffic and whatever Township powers exist should be invoked to keep these lot numbers to the minimum, i.e. maximum acreage. The higher the number of dwellings the more service vehicles will be visiting on a daily basis. The more vehicles driven on access roads, the more agitated drivers will become as building, service & new residents' vehicles and additional school buses wait to turn into the Estate. Surrounding roads will quickly become congested and drivers will take more risks to get where they're going. Existing traffic levels and behavior are no indication of what they will become. Every few years new proposals are issued by the Trust but it seems that each time the number of lots (and therefore ultimately residences) creeps higher.

2. Building lots should be located towards the (less visible) center of the Estate for aesthetic purposes. Current plans indicate this practice to some extent but more can always be done to encourage developers further, especially to preserve outer woodland in its totality and sight lines in all seasons. Roofline height restrictions should be requested on lots that might be even slightly visible (particularly in winter) from the all-important Darby Paoli/Newtown corner. We despair each time a new development occurs as the fashion seems to be to clear entire sites unnecessarily of ancient woodland so new housing is completely exposed to roadways, e.g. the latest Atterbury Estate (Newtown Rd/Van Leers Run) development.

3. Current plans for development show entrances/exits exclusively on Newtown Road. Even the so-called Phase 5 part of the latest plan will only (very late in the development schedule) give access to Darby Paoli Rd for a handful of older, more prestigious residences, not the main clusters. The existing entrance and exit on Newtown road constitute two of these access roads (currently a single loop), while two more are indicated nearby at this time making a total of four exclusively to/from Newtown Road. There are no through routes planned at this time ANYWHERE on Darby Paoli Rd, Godfrey Rd or Camp Woods Rd, all of which might be viable additions to the plan in order to spread the traffic load fairly around the perimeter of the Estate. There are many existing tracks across Ardrossan, most notably the one across the middle from Abrahams Lane (Newtown Rd) in the north right across a bridge over Camp Run to Abrahams Drive (Godfrey Rd) in the south. All existing easements in and around what was (or still is) Ardrossan must be detailed, considered and made use of and some of the many tracks following the contours of the land could be linked with each other to meet surrounding roads in order to rationalize and equalize the traffic load.

4. There is no logic to the priorities given at the STOP sign on the Darby Paoli/Newtown T-junction if traffic is not informed of these priorities from EVERY direction. We have witnessed almost daily near-accidents by the constant confusion caused by the lack of proper signage and an increase in traffic from the Ardrossan development will make this potential disaster reach critical mass sooner rather than later. The danger will be all-the-greater because of the significant increase in the number of weighty builders' vehicles from day one. Unless one lives here and has prior knowledge there is absolutely no way for southbound traffic on Darby Paoli to know it has precedence over northbound traffic at this Newtown Rd junction. We all know this to be a danger spot and waiting for another traffic survey would be further pointless procrastination. Let us make the sensible decision to rectify this today. Tomorrow may be too late for someone's life.

5. While a new access road into Ardrossan, approximately facing Saw Mill Road on a straighter stretch of Darby Paoli Rd, may require some excavation of a bank it would only be for a short distance before reaching an existing track/contour connected to the entire property.

6. The Darby Paoli Rd entrance to the Dairy could also provide a viable connection to all parts of the Estate, as could the driveway at Holly Tree House slightly to the north-west which already goes right through to the main loop in front of the Mansion. Although Darby Paoli Rd has a bend at this point traffic could be limited to turning right (north-west) on exiting, or it could exclusively be a one-way entrance to the Estate. There are many possibilities that haven't been drawn on existing plans but definitely should be investigated, sooner rather than later.

7. There must be an ENFORCEABLE and monitored plan of routes and frequency for building site traffic to avoid a build-up of waiting delivery/excavation vehicles on Newtown Road as happened recently for just one single new construction there.

8. Everything possible should be done to retain the many existing older and historical properties on Ardrossan, including the extensive, beautiful stone walls and barns, the Springhouse of Elizabeth (Iddings) Wayne's birthplace, the Water Tower, Stone Duplex on Newtown, Holly Tree House, Murray House, and so on - not least the main Trumbauer-designed Mansion and the glorious outer woods that border our roads. (A detailed inventory of all the buildings can be provided and many photos are available as detailed below.) Although in private ownership these are significant Radnor assets which pre-date existing ownership and as part of our shared history must be preserved.

9. As much of the visible land as possible should be acquired by the Township, as previously voted by the majority of residents. The views from adjacent roads have not changed in hundreds of years and there is no reason to lose them now because of a lack of consideration of the existing beauty of where we live. Trusts and Conservancies can help where Township funds are insufficient while good money should not be wasted on acquiring tracts which cannot legally be built on because of flood plains etc. They will surely remain open land by default.

10. We were recently informed by Commissioner John Nagle, "200 kids would mean a new school but 100 would not". Ardrossan is not the only family housing development in the area so every development must be considered cumulatively, not in isolation.

11. We recall that around 15-20 years ago Newtown Rd residents were required to share the cost of installation of a main sewer line to replace our septic tanks. The highest point of Newtown Road is Ardrossan (specifically the Water Tower) so will we be required to pay more in order to upgrade that line to allow for at least double capacity or will a new system, at the developer's expense, be directed westward towards the Darby Creek valley?

12. In our opinion any person on the BOC, Planning Commission or any other committee concerned with the Ardrossan development should openly declare whether they have a financial, or benefit-in-kind, incentive to support any part of the development. This is a moral issue and should be quite separate to whatever is legally in place. We don't wish to offend anyone but feel this is highly important to ensure a majority of residents' views are the priority.

So in summary we have two main concerns: traffic volume and visible change of our environment. We hope you will make sure that the various Township committee meetings will be used to ask and answer some of our questions while we still have time. While it may sometimes seem that the Township does not have the right or the power under existing ordinances there may well be a very good argument for those rules to be changed now to favor the majority of residents, many of whom share at least some of our views. It may be that our representatives should insist on a delay while State or Federal bodies consider the Estate's qualification for preservation assistance. Once the development has been rubber-stamped by our Township it may be too late to act.

For reference there is a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ArdrossanViews primarily to remind ourselves of the many fabulous views we currently drive/walk/cycle/jog by and proudly share around Ardrossan.