Haverford State News
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The “Original plan” by Goldenberg Group and Pohlig Builders was one of the first 20 development proposals the township received in November 2003. It features a bid of about $17.7 million for development rights to 38 acres, with 292 housing units-all age restricted. (Age-restricted housing helps keep down the cost of running our schools). The plan also includes a comprehensive, integrated recreational component, including a pad for a 60,000 square-foot community center similar to the Greater Plymouth Community Center in Plymouth Township. 



By Jeff Price
Inquirer Staff Writer

    An era of good feeling is washing over Haverford Township. After eight years of struggle, it has a plan in place to
develop the 209-acre Haverford State Hospital site and, not inconsequently, new political leadership on the Board of
Commissioners.The hospital closed in 1997, and in 2002 the township bought the largely undeveloped site, at Marple
and Darby Roads and the Blue Route, for $3.5 million.
    On Nov. 14, commissioners voted, 7-1, to approve Haverford Reserve, a community of 100 carriage houses and
198 condominiums. A joint venture of Pohlig Builders and the Goldenberg Group would pay the township $17.5
million for 40 acres to build on. That's a long way from the $30.6 million for a proposed 61-acre development the
board voted for in December 2003, when Republicans controlled the nine-member board. Since then, control began
shifting to a group of Democrats and independent Republicans until a new majority rescinded the 2003 plan late last
year. "We were headed for a cliff; it would have been disastrous for the township," said Andy Lewis, who joined the
board in early January 2004. "We are fortunate we were able to stop that plan from being implemented. It would have
developed virtually every available developable acre."
     The new plan, two years in the making, will bring in about the same revenue per acre as the old - $400,000,
Lewis said this week. "The difference is we picked up 32 acres more," he said, which would allow more ball fields and
more open space and move away from a development that had been characterized as a "house farm." The total
developed acreage under the old plan was 76 when roads and storm-water-management systems were added, he
said, compared with a total of 40 under the new plan. "This plan has some balance," he said. "We're looking for tax
ratables, of course, but also looking for quality of life."
     Robert Freedman, a Goldenberg senior vice president, said yesterday that "what we ended up with, to everyone's
delight, is 40 acres for residences, 124 acres of passive open space - natural woodlands, hiking and biking trails -
and 45 acres earmarked for active recreation."
     Outdoor recreation will include four multiuse fields for baseball, soccer and lacrosse; two basketball courts; and
splash parks. Other amenities include a dog run, an amphitheater, and play and picnic areas. A spot will be reserved
for a possible indoor recreation facility.
    The township will use money from the $17.5 million from the developers to build the recreation facilities, but exact
spending plans are to be decided, Lewis said. He estimated the developers would also spend at least $4 million
under the agreement for demolition, site cleanup, road construction, parking spaces, utility lines and grading.The 198
condo units, in six four-story buildings, will be restricted to adults 55 and older. The 100 carriage homes, though not
age-restricted, will be designed to appeal to empty nesters, Freedman said. Haverford wants to minimize the
development's impact on roads and schools.
    The first activity at the site, demolition of the 20 or so hospital buildings - "depends on how you count a building,"
Freedman said - could begin as early as the first quarter of next year. The development is expected to be finished in
four to five years, he said.
    Still to be put together in the next 60 days, Freedman said, is the more detailed "final land development plan,"
which must be submitted to the commissioners for approval. Nov. 14, 2007, has been set as the sale's tentative
closing date. Fred Moran, the commissioner who voted against the sale, cited two reasons: parking and the loss of
$13 million more in revenue that the original sale would have provided, the difference between $30.6 million and
$17.5 million.He said that he feared not enough parking spaces were being planned for the recreation areas, and
that therefore the township would have to pay to fix the problem, not the developers.
     Tim Denny, Haverford director of parks and recreation, said that he understood Moran's concern, but that from
the beginning the township had sought "to make sure parking up there is adequate." To that end, the agreement
calls for the township to provide an estimated 175 spaces, "well in excess of what is required in the township code,"
and areas for overflow parking have been designated. But more than the bricks and mortar, the ball fields and open
space, the battle to come up with a smaller footprint for residential development - along with one over redistricting
township wards - has wrought a new political majority in a township renowned for what Lewis called "pure down-and-
dirty politics at its worst. It's been that way for 25 years."I think the tide is turning in our favor," he said of the new
majority of Democrats and independent Republicans. "People are appreciative of our getting redistricting corrected
and appreciative of how we've gotten Haverford State back on track." The old plan was "just awful," said Jan Marie
Rushforth, a community activist who ran for commissioner in 2005 and lost to Moran. "In comparison, this plan will
give 170 acres for posterity. People will be able to walk in the woods and to play sports. And a small development
parcel will pay for those things. It's wonderful."




    Original hospital plans get OK   
    News of Delaware County (view story) By Kyle Hopewell,
    November 16, 2005   

    HAVERFORD TWP. - Residents at the Lynnewood School cheered last night as the Haverford Township Board
    of Commissioners voted, 7-0 with two obstaining, to approve the "original plan" to develop the 209-acre
    Haverford State Hospital site that has been closed since 1998.   
    The dream can now become a reality," said Board President Steve D'Emilio (R-1).    The plan will provide 292
    age-restricted residential units and cost $17 million to develop. There will be 192 condominiums, 100 carriage
    houses and almost 165 acres of recreation space. The expected real-estate profit from this plan is almost $4
    million. One change made before approval was to allow the carriage houses to be marked as "age-targeted"
    instead of "age-restricted," giving the builders more flexibility in finding residents.    
    As part of the plan, the Goldenberg Group/Pohlig Brothers will also donate $500,000 for an interpretive nature
    center and open space trails.    
    "This is about the future of Haverford Township," said Commissioner Jim McGarrity (R-7). "If we don't develop
    this land for our own children, I consider us all failures."    
    Commissioners Carol McDonald (R-9) and Joe Kelly (R-2) said that they weren't against the proposal and were
    happy things were moving forward, they obstained because they didn't have exact figures and wanted to know
    how it would affect taxpayers.    
    The "original plan" was one of two plans unveiled to the public at a Nov. 10 meeting. The other option was the
    "community plan." It would have provided 334 residential units and cost more than $23 million to develop.
    There would have been 212 age-restricted condominiums, 78 age-restricted carriage houses. The plan also
    would have included 46-1/3 acre single-family homes and more than 148 acres of recreation space. The
    expected real-estate profit from this plan would have been almost $5 million. The plans were devised by a joint
    effort of the Goldenberg Group and Pohlig Builders.    
    Currently at the site, there are "26 abandoned and contaminated buildings," said Michael Lawry, development
    director for the Goldenberg Group, at the public meeting.    
    Tim Denny, director of parks and recreation, also spoke at the public meeting. He said in 1998, a survey was
    done to see what people in Haverford Township wanted done with this land. Nine out of 10 people wanted more
    recreation and open space.    
    "We don't have enough field space for all of the sports that are going on," Denny said. "If this decision is made
    by January, we will have some fields to play on in the spring of 2008."