Tredyffrin Supervisors Reverse Decision on St. Davids
...But Suspend Compliance For New Study

At the February 22 meeting, the Tredyffrin Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to "reverse and rescind" their January 25th decision to return sidewalk escrow funds to St. Davids Golf Club. In the wake of a month-long public outcry, Supervisors Lamina, Olson, Richter and Kampf stepped back from their original vote, acknowledging that established policy and procedure had not been followed. Supervisors DiBuonaventuro, Kichline and Donahue, who had opposed the return of St. Davids’ escrow in the first place, joined in this vote.

However, the motion put forward on Monday night does far more than reinstate the escrow requirement. It simultaneously relieves St. Davids of its obligation to build a sidewalk, pending a recommendation by a not-yet-formed subcommittee, OR until the Township decides to build sidewalks on either side of the St. David’s property.

The February 22 vote came after resident John Petersen threatened to file suit against Lamina, Olson, Richter and Kampf to seek a declaratory judgment of wrongdoing.

BOS Chair Bob Lamina read the lengthy motion. It is as follows:
I hereby move that the Board’s motion of January 25 regarding St. David’s (sic) be reversed and rescinded, and do hereby further resolve that the Board of Supervisors form a subcommittee with the Planning Commission and the STAP (Sidewalks, Trails and Paths) to begin a process to re-examine where the community wants and needs sidewalks, with the goal that this Board may adopt more formal policies and procedures to provide additional guidelines relative to design, development and construction of the sidewalks and paths in the township at large.
At a minimum, this reassessment should address both the timing, prioritization, funding sources, and the conditions upon which the Planning Commission may from time to time grant relief from our land development ordinance and recommend any new changes which this prospective policy might require.
While the subcommittee process takes place, neither the Board nor the Township will be formally moving to compel St. David’s to build the path until the new policies are adopted or the Township has put in place the designs or funding for sidewalks or paths that would connect to the proposed St. David’s pathway.
The subcommittee, in carrying out its reassessment, will seek input from the public and committees involved, which will necessarily include the Planning Commission and STAP.
Note that the authority of the Planning Commission will be reassessed and presumably limited by ordinance – an intention made clear by board Chair Lamina at the January 25 meeting.

In essence, our supervisors have hoodwinked the community once again. In one motion, they reversed and simultaneously reinstated a special favor to St. Davids. In addition, they suspended the obligation of all developers who currently have contracts to build sidewalks in Tredyffrin. Plus, in the future the Board of Supervisors will limit the actions of the Planning Commission regarding land development deals.

Please stay informed, and hold your elected officials accountable.
If interested in watching the most recent Board of Supervisors’ meeting, here is a schedule of the rebroadcast times on Ch.2 (Comcast) or Ch. 24 (Verizon).

Note on government transparency. The supervisors seemed to be working from a single copy of the 210-word motion, which Mr. Lamina read once. Many in the audience were scratching their heads over the motion's lengthy sentences and clauses. Suspicious of its intent, much of the public comment included requests to split the motion, or at least re-read it.
The township has a state-of-the-art audio-visual system in the board meeting room. Later in the evening the Great Valley Association used the projector to present a statistical summary of a survey. In the interest of transparency in government, the board of supervisors should avail themselves of the visual resources purchased by taxpayers.