WEST BRADFORD — Two massive properties in Chester County, both once home to state hospitals, are readying to be placed in the hands of their respective townships.
If everything goes according to plan, 96 acres at Pennhurst State Hospital will be given to East Vincent to be used for recreation, and 200 acres at Embreeville Center will be acquired by West Bradford, some for open space and recreation, and some to be developed by the township.
"It is a win situation for everyone," said state Sen. Andrew Dinniman, D-19th, of West Whiteland.
At Embreeville Center, 120 acres are to be used for passive and active recreation, including land used by West Bradford Youth Athletics. The remaining 80 acres are planned to be developed by the township, which had considered building a continuing care-retirement community, along with office and retail space.
A retirement community is no longer a viable option, said Jack Hines, township manager, noting that other such communities have growing vacancy rates as seniors, who would like to move in, have difficulties selling their homes in the ongoing sour economy.
"We've not determined what it will be," Hines said, "but we have to redevelop it to pay for it. We want to do something that will complement the community and not impact the school district."
In the commercial center, Hines said there is thought to put doctor or dentist's offices, or perhaps neighborhood shops.
The buildings, previously used by the state, contain asbestos, among other problems, and will be torn down since remediating them would be prohibitively expensive, he said.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Embreeville was best known as the site of the county poorhouse and the Chester County Asylum for the Insane. It was renamed to a more politically correct Embreeville State Hospital in 1938, then closed by the state in the 1980s.
It is owned by the Pennsylvania Department of General Services and was operated by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare.
In recent years, some buildings were leased to private agencies. Hines said Vision Quest plans to leave, the Chester County Intermediate Unit's C.A.S.E. program has left and the Pennsylvania Clinical Schools will either build a new facility or leave.
In its storied past, two cemeteries were established on Embreeville's grounds. The cemetery for the hospital's residents is on county park land on Route 162 and the cemetery for the poor house is on Leeds Road and already taken care of by the township, Hines said.
"It is a matter of respect," Dinniman said. He added that even though the markers are without names, it is important to protect the historic grave sites.
The original 1,200-acre Pennhurst property was divided and sold into a number of parcels over the years for several different uses, said Mary E. Flagg, East Vincent township manager.
Flagg said the township will initially get 79 acres and will receive the balance of the property once the housing that is now part of Pennsylvania's Southeastern Veterans Center housing is replaced by new housing being planned in another location.
The steep slopes, wetlands and woods will remain natural, to be used for passive recreation such as hiking. The flat land that borders densely populated Spring City will be a park with ball fields and other active recreation, Flagg said.
The township has a recreation area behind the township building but it is such a distance from Spring City that children have to be driven there.
Flagg said Spring City's Borough Council members have shown a lot of interest in the project.
Like Embreeville, Pennhurst has a cemetery on its grounds. Flagg said she is hopeful that a young person, such as an Eagle Scout candidate, would take on the cemetery's restoration and ongoing care.
East Vincent, which is further along in the process than West Bradford, has spent $16,000 in legal, survey and other document fees. Because the land will be given to to the township, it is willing to pay the fees, Flagg said.
Dinniman said East Vincent will be given the land because it has provided free fire and police services to the property for a number of years.
Being state-owned properties, both need to be conveyed to the townships through land transfer legislation. The legislation for Pennhurst, introduced by Dinniman, was passed by the state Senate last month. The legislation will next be taken up by the State Government Committee in the House and then brought to the floor of the House for a vote. State Rep. Tim Hennessey, R-26th, of North Coventry, will handle it there.
Finally, it goes to Gov. Ed Rendell's desk to be signed.
Dinniman expressed confidence that would happen because Rendell's administration, in the form of the Department of General Services, has already endorsed the idea.
Dinniman said he is currently preparing similar legislation for Embreeville and will introduce it to the state Senate at the next session, which begins today.
At the same time, state Rep. Chris Ross, R-158th, of East Marlborough, will introduce similar legislation in the state House..
"It is key that the townships are involved in the uses of these sites," Ross said. "They have to approve the use anyway."
Having the townships involved means that nearby residents will have a voice in the land use from "very, very early on in the process," Ross said.
The representative said in the case of Embreeville, he wants to make sure the township is not saddled with environmental problems when the land is turned over to it.
"I don't want any surprises," he said. "I want to make darn sure before we go forward. I don't want to rush."
Putting the land in the township's hands will ensure that future uses will fit into the community property, and at the same time eliminate the financial bleeding at the state level, Ross said.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Pennhurst Land To Be Given To East Vincent
Friday, May 29, 2009
Original map of campus
Pennhurst buyer open on plans
EAST VINCENT � Although the company that recently purchased 111 acres of the Pennhurst property has no reported plans, a key partner has a history of proposing mixed developments of office, retail and housing on old state hospital sites.
Together, Richard N. Chakejian and Mark Mendelson bought Eastern State School and Hospital in Bensalem for $8.5 million back in 1997. Chakejian of West Vincent is a partner of Pennhurst Acquisition, the company that bought a portion of the abandoned Pennhurst site for $2 million from the state.Mendelson, an Allentown developer, is not involved with Pennhurst Acquisition, although he was a partner in Pennhurst Associates, Chakejian said. The two businesses are separate entities, according to Chakejian.
The two men paired with O�Neill Properties of King of Prussia to turn the decaying Eastern State School and Hospital into the Horizon Corporate Center. Located off Route 1 in Bucks County, the complex also features businesses, restaurants and both a Lowe�s and a Wal-Mart.Asked if Horizon could be a model for Pennhurst, Chakejian said, �Bensalem was a completely different demographic and location.�
He looks forward to having a �positive dialogue� with the township and seeing what kinds of developments they would like to see. He wants the final product to be something the township, its residents and neighbors can be proud of. But the project should also be �fiscally responsible,� Chakejian stated.�We have no proposals for what we would like to do there,� said the West Vincent developer, adding that big boxes have not been closely considered.
For the 101-acre Bensalem development, Mendelson and Chakejian were doing business as Hampton NE Associates, a company which has since dissolved. They were also in the running for the purchase of Philadelphia�s Byberry State Hospital in the late 1990s, only to eventually lose out to Westrum Byberry LP of Fort Washington. Demolished in 2006, this former psychiatric hospital still sits largely abandoned today.On the preservation side of things, Chakejian said he would �love to� pursue an �adaptive reuse� of Pennhurst buildings. Much of the property is overrun with brush and fallen trees. Pavement is laden with potholes and broken asphalt.
The developer acknowledged that Pennhurst was largely �left to rot,� but a reuse might be able to preserve some of the buildings.�Some are very beautiful,� Chakejian said.
At a township supervisors� meeting last week, the topic of code enforcement at Pennhurst surfaced. Responding to questions from the supervisors about the possibility of boarding up buildings, Solicitor Stuart Cohen recommended the board talk to Chakejian and make their wishes known. After all, he will be coming before the supervisors at some time in the future to ask for development approvals, Cohen said.It was reported last month that East Vincent supervisors met in executive session Feb. 20 to discuss the possible purchase of Pennhurst property by the township. Supervisors Christine McNeil and John Funk both stated the closed door meeting was not about Pennhurst, but rather other real estate matters.
Environmental remediation for asbestos and other harmful elements was necessary at Byberry State Hospital. Pennhurst may have some issues as well. Chakejian said he is aware of an environmental review conducted at Pennhurst in the 1990s. He intends to look again at the property�s bill of health, including possible further study.The next step toward construction is the land development process. Despite receiving waivers back in November when Pennhurst was subdivided into four parcels, Chakejian expects to complete all studies �that are necessary and required � I�m happy to do so.�
The 111 acres now under the control of Chakejian and his partners are zoned rural conservation, low-density residential and agricultural preservation.Doing business as Pennhurst Associates in November, he received the following waivers at the public hearing: a statement of intended use of all non-residential lots and parcels, performance guarantees, conservation plan, stormwater management plan, improvements and construction plan, landscaping plan, wetlands survey and all required impact studies, according to township documents.
Funk, the current board chairman, voted against the November subdivision, criticizing Pennhurst Associates for not being more forthcoming about their intended use. Former supervisors Walter Zaremba and Ryan Costello provided the two �yes� votes.Costello, who is now Chester County�s recorder of deeds, said recently that all such reviews and plans will be part of the land development process.
�Just because we waived that stuff, it doesn�t give them anything. They�ll have to go through that process,� he said. �The plan must comply with zoning ordinances, then as they go through land development, they�ll have to comply with that.�A benefit of the state�s sale to Pennhurst Acquisition is a new opportunity for township recreational land.
East Vincent residents will likely receive at least 70 acres to use as they see fit, said state Sen. Andrew Dinniman, D-19th Dist. A legislative bill for 70 to 80 acres, along with other land dedications throughout the state, could be finalized this spring, Dinniman said recently.Costello added that this added perk would never have been realized without last November�s subdivision approval.
Calling the project a �sizable challenge,� Chakejian said he looks forward to a meaningful dialogue with the township going forward.Keeping track of all the Pennhurst businesses incorporated in Pennsylvania can be tricky. There are 21 active businesses throughout the state that start with �Pennhurst,� according to the Department of State.
Among them are Pennhurst Corporation, Pennhurst Burial Co., and Pennhurst Food Distributors.Chakejian�s partnership, Pennhurst Acquisition, is headquartered at 30 Valley Stream Parkway in Malvern, the law offices of Stradley Ronon. Pennhurst Acquisition partners include South Morton Properties and East Vincent Acquisition LLC, Chakejian said.This well known former hospital first opened in 1908 as a state facility for the severely mentally disabled, under the operation of the Department of Public Welfare. In the beginning, the site had 40 buildings spread across 1,200 acres. Today, the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs runs the Southeastern Veterans Center on an adjacent parcel.
Pennhurst proposals
For two decades, the tattered remnants of the Pennhurst State Hospital have haunted 100 acres of hillside in the northern corner of East Vincent Township.
The site has been a tough sell due to extensive environmental problems, restrictive development laws and limited access. Nonetheless, there has been significant interest in the property recently.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) named Pennhurst as one of five potential sites for the proposed veterans cemetery in Southeastern Pennsylvania. West Chester-based Alliance Environmental also made a presentation to the township supervisors in May. The group wants to undertake the massive environmental cleanup of the site, and believes they can do it at no cost to the township.
Alliance co-founder Senya Isayeff explained the process to the board at a May meeting. He said his company would form a corporation that would take title to the land by purchasing it from the Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DSG). Isayeff said a series of tax credits available to the owner of the land would make it feasible for the private company to complete the work. The only thing the group needs, according to Isayeff, is the blessing of the township. While the DSG is eager to make surplus state properties like Pennhurst viable projects, it also insists on honoring the wishes of the community.
"We want to do what the local municipality wants. We want them to be happy with the decision," said DSG Press Secretary Frank Kane. "We'd like to sell them (surplus properties) and get them back on the tax rolls."
Isayeff said he has made his case, and is waiting for the township to make a move.
"I would characterize it more in terms of that we have had to step back from the active effort of brining this to fruition because there's really nothing else we can do," he said Friday. "It's really up to others to see if they want this project to go forward."
Supervisor Ryan Costello said the board's hands are tied by potential legal issues right now.
"It's not our property, and so in that regard, if and when we would ever review any sort of plan or proposal it would likely be in connection with whomever it is that has some sort of interest in the property that would allow us to review it in our capacity as supervisors," he said Friday. "We don't have any answers right now."
If Alliance Environmental were to rehabilitate the site, the work would be extensive. There is asbestos in the buildings, and hanging from pipes on the property. There are no trespassing signs and doors on abandon structures swinging open. The property has also become a safety hazard as area youth have gotten into the buildings and vandalized the property. The expensive cost of asbestos abatement would drive the total cost of the project up, but Isayeff is confident it cannot only be done, but that some of the buildings could be saved.
After the environmental cleanup, there would be two primary possibilities for the site. Zoning restrictions prevent substantial development, but there is support for a park on the site. There could also be support for a veterans cemetery. In recommending Southeastern Pennsylvania, the VA had to explore five potential sites. Valley Forge National Park is the preferred choice of veterans and area congressman, however, they could face an uphill battle from the National Park Service and conservation groups. The other three sites are the Norristown State Hospital grounds, the former Embreeville State Hospital site and Graterford State Prison. Veterans have largely balked at the latter two sites, meaning Pennhurst and Norristown could be in the running if Valley Forge falls through.
Alliance Environmental specializes in asbestos abatement, air quality control and demolition. The company was named business of the year by the West Chester Chamber of Commerce in June.
9 suspected of trespassing at Pennhurst
,EAST VINCENT — Police cited nine individuals for trespassing on the Pennhurst property during the late evening hours of July 10.
One male dressed in camouflage threatened a representative of the property with a butterfly knife, according to the East Vincent Police Department incident report.
Jeffrey Gavin, who was threatened with the knife, and Daniel Harr are identified in the report as "employers." Sgt. Matthew Williams of East Vincent said the men represent Pennhurst's new owners — Pennhurst Acquisition, a development company.
This incident report was obtained through the state's open records law.
A resident of Rapps Dam Road in Phoenixville called police at approximately 11:20 p.m. to register a complaint.
Officers from East Vincent, Spring City and East Coventry responded.
According to the report, those trespassing fled the "dietary building" while another 15 people were led out from the Commonwealth Drive area by a Spring City police officer.
According to Williams, both juveniles and adults received trespassing citations.
Their dates of birth were redacted from the incident report. Officers cleared the scene at approximately 1:30 a.m., July 11.
Receiving citations were: Jeff Melczko, of Delta; John Falk, of Lancaster; Keely Millbourne, of New Castle, Del.; Julia Millbourne, of New Castle, Del.; David Imhoff Jr., of Felton; Tylar Faust, of Hamburg; Joseph Smith Jr., of Philadelphia; Kyle Christopher Kale, of Shoemakersville; and Dustin Cody Nerger, of Bethel.
The individual who threatened Gavin with a knife fled the dietary building with a female, who was described as wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and jeans. They were not located by police.
The caller wishes to press charges against all of those involved, the report states.
In February, Pennsylvania sold the 111-acre former Pennhurst State School and Hospital to a company called Pennhurst Acquisition for $2 million. Partner Richard Chakejian has not announced development plans.
How the end started.
Pennhurst State School & Hospital v Halderman
465 U. S. 89 (1984)
Author: Sam Biers
11th AMENDMENT-ENFORCE FED RIGHTS IN SUITS AGAINST STATE OFFICERS
Facts: Respondent Halderman, a resident of petitioner Pennhurst State School and Hospital. Pennh is a hospital that cares for the mentally retarded. Conditions at Pennh are not only dangerous, with the residents often physically abused or drugged by staff members, but also inadequate for the 'habilitation' of the retarded. Indeed, the court found that the physical, intellectual, and emotional skills of some residents have deteriorated at Penn. Suit alleged Pennh. violated various federal constitutional and statutory rights of the class members as well as their rights under the Penn Mental Health and Mental Retardation Act of 1966 (MH/MR Act). Ultimately, the District Court awarded injunctive relief based in part on the Act, which was held to provide a right to adequate habilitation.
Issue: Whether Petitioner violated the state law in carrying out their official duties at Pennhurst and in doing so, is a violation against the State and therefore barred by the 11th Amnedment?
Holding: Judgment could not be upheld against county officials on basis of their state law obligations where any relief granted against county officials alone on basis of state statute would be partial and incomplete at best.
Procedure: Class action was brought by mentally retarded citizens D Ct judgment for PL, (damages and injunctive relief were sought), and DF, (various state and local officials and institutions), appealed. Ct of App, substantially affirmed, and certiorari was granted. The S Ct, reversed and remanded. On remand, the Ct of App, affirmed its prior judgment in its entirety. Certiorari was granted. Reversed and remanded.
Rule: The Judicial Power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.
Ct. Majority: When a suit is brought against a state official, it is brought against the State itself. Whether the parties are seeking injunctive relief or actual damages before a Fed. Ct., a suit against state officials on the basis of state law, cannot be entertained. The state is the real and substantial party at interest, and therefor, the state immunity under the 11th is preserved.
Minority: Petitioner’s conduct was prohibited by state law, and the protections of sovereign immunity do not extend to them. Conduct that exceeds the scope of an official’s legal discretion is not conduct the sovereign has authorized.
PL A :(Resp) The suit is not against the State and only seeks injunctive relief against future instances and financial relief. The state officials violated state and federal constitutions.
Def A: (Pet) 11th Amendment prohibits Fed. D. Ct. from ordering State officials to conform their conduct to state law.
Notes to Case
S. Ct held that: (1) Eleventh Amendment prohibited federal district court from ordering state officials to conform their conduct to state law with respect to conditions of confinement at institution, since the state was a real, substantial party in interest; (2) Eleventh Amendment barred state law claims brought in district court under pendent jurisdiction; were 11th Amendment challenges that had been settled.
[Young] Rule-If conduct is not permitted by the sovereign then it is not attributable to the sovereign under the immunity principle of the 11th Amendment or Federalism. Injunctive relief is allowed where an official who acts unconstitutionally is “stripped of his official character.”
[Edelman] Rule- A suit against state officials for retroactive monetary relief, whether based on federal or state law, must be brought in a state court.
Pendent jurisdiction: The principle that allows state created causes of action arising out of the same transaction to be joined with a federal cause of action even if diversity is not present.
Look at this
Now this is either the second coming or a complete scam. I hope it's not a scam. There has been dumping going on there for a while and it's far from "green"http://www.pennorganic.com/
