Pattye Benson

Community Matters

Tredyffrin Township

Need for College Student Rental Ordinance not Just a Mt. Pleasant Issue . . . this is a township issue!

Several neighborhood issues surfaced at the Mt. Pleasant’s Town Hall Meeting . . . some may be easier to resolve than others. It is recognized that there is currently no township ordinance for college student rentals in the township and unfortunately, I did not leave the meeting feeling that there was specific direction or a timeline for the creation of such an ordinance. It is my understanding that Radnor Township’s student housing ordinance is a good model that could be used for Tredyffrin. I have posted Radnor’s ordinance several times but here is it is again.

How do we get the Board of Supervisors to listen to the Mt. Pleasant residents in their request for such an ordinance? The need for an ordinance is not just a Mt. Pleasant issue; there are other areas of the township that have student housing issues. Now that real estate investors have discovered that Tredyffrin Township does not share neighboring municipalities regulations of college student rentals, it would seem that we are going to continue to see an influx of student housing in to the township.

Maybe it is OK that Tredyffrin homeowners have college students as their neighbors. Maybe our attitude should be if an investor wants to come in to the township, purchase properties and then turn the investment properties in to college housing, we say so what? After all, the college students are adding to the local economy. My guess is that it might be OK by many of the residents, until it was their neighborhood, their street. As long as the problem is in Mt. Pleasant, than why should the rest of us care? Frankly, I don’t think the problem is that college students are renting the properties . . . I met several of the students in Mt. Pleasant and they were friendly, polite, nice kids. The real problem is that without any rules and regulations (such as number of non-related occupants, noise, drinking, etc.) there is no real governance or enforcement if problems or issues arise between homeowners and college students. At the Mt. Pleasant Town Hall meeting, one of the investors stated he was willing to add verbage in his student lease that would cover some of the residents issues. Although the offer from the landlord is appreciated, there is no requirement for them to add the wording and the residents are left without an avenue for enforcement.

Mt. Pleasant does have distinct issues that may not be obvious in other areas of the township. Mt. Pleasant is a family community whose properties may not be as pricey as found in other parts of Tredyffrin. (I noticed yesterday that there are 2 houses currently for sale on Mt. Pleasant Road.) My guess is that real estate investors are able to purchase houses in Mt. Pleasant at a lower price than other areas such as Strafford, Devon, Great Valley. They purchase the houses, update the houses (some create multiple apartments within the single family homes) and then they are ready to rent.

I don’t know what the average rental price a family would pay to live in Mt. Pleasant but clearly the rental rates that the investors are able to command from the college students (and their parents) is far higher than would be typical of the neighborhood. Mt. Pleasant rentals end up on Craigslist with rates from $1800/mo upward to nearly $3000/mo. Certainly out of the reach of many prospective Mt. Pleasant families, . . . however this monthly rental rate is achievable if the landlord has multiple college students living together. Take 6 students living in one of these houses and the monthly rate may actually only be $300/mo for each of the students. I am not suggesting that we can (or should) regulate the rents that investors are able to receive from the students.

Bottom line: The redevelopment trend of township properties in to college rentals will probably continue . . . progress and change in neighborhoods should be accepted . . . but would you agree than a township ordinance to guide the movement would be helpful to all of us?

A couple of other issues that surfaced at the town hall meeting was a Mt. Pleasant Road vacant lot and also the Henry Road development project of 8 townhouses and a single family house. I visited Mt. Pleasant yesterday and took photos of these areas and will post them shortly.

A Word of Warning — Watch Your Wallets!

I have been following the local news about an extensive rash of burglaries over the last couple of months in the Bala Cynwyd and Merion areas of Montgomery County. Lower Merion police believe that there are multiple burglary rings working in the area. There have been 25 burglaries in the last 7 weeks. Windows or doors are pried open and the target is cash, jewelry and laptop computers . . . small, easy to disguise items. A couple of suspects have been picked up by the police but others are still at large. Lower Merion police are keeping the residents informed and have provided local maps where the commercial and residential break-ins have occurred.

I know that Bala Cynwyd is not exactly next-door to Tredyffrin Township; however Tredyffrin is battling its own recent rash of thefts. At recent Board of Supervisors meetings, Police Chief Andy Chambers has reported incidents involving wallets being removed from ladies purses that were hanging on the back of a chair or on the floor, close to the owner. In some cases, the wallet is taken from the purse, credit cards and cash removed and the wallet returned to the purse. I have heard of purse-snatching incidents in Gateway Shopping Center including Panera Bread and Trader Joes. The following email has been circulating among several of my friends. To protect her identity, I removed the originating writers name but provide the email as a word of caution.

You may have heard about the string of robberies at Gateway. I have some insight because they stole from me today — but they only stole my business card case, so I feel like the luckiest woman in Tredyffrin. It is a group of three – one woman strikes up a conversation to distract the victim, the other two (a man and a woman) steal the wallet — right out of your purse. It has happened in virtually every store in Gateway and at Barnes & Noble, according to an officer at the Tredyffrin Police Department.

Please tell your friends and if a stranger wants to talk to you, pick up your purse first! Even though I knew about the robberies, I had my purse in the basket of my shopping cart at Trader Joes. Never again — Be careful!

I am one of those people who is guilty of putting my purse in the seat of the shopping cart. I’m also guilty of putting my purse on the back of the chair. This needs to be a wake-up call for all of us . . . a word of warning to watch our wallets.

Mt. Pleasant Town Hall Meeting Update

I attended the Mt. Pleasant Town Hall Meeting last night. The pews in First Baptist Church were full . . . Mt. Pleasant residents and real estate investors, township supervisors and staff, including township manager, public works, zoning and police along with interested community members. This was the third town hall meeting to be scheduled (the first two were cancelled due to snow). Donna Shipman of Mt. Pleasant was the organizer and worked with the police department, township representatives and church to set-up the meeting. Barbara Byrd presented a wonderful written history of Mt. Pleasant; I am going to request a copy which I will post. Christine Johnson provided a very moving overview of the neighborhood’s issues and concerns from a residents standpoint. I have contacted Christine and asked her to provide a copy of her remarks which I will provide on Community Matters . . . her words not only shed light on the issues but beg all of us to get involved to help this neighborhood.

It was obvious from the start of the meeting that the problems in Mt. Pleasant are long-standing and have become layered over time. One of the major talking points of the evening was between the residents and the real estate investors who are leasing their properties to college students. At this time, Tredyffrin does not have a specific ordinance that addresses student housing in the township. Since last fall, township staff has been reviewing neighboring municipalities ordinances for student rental properties with the intention of creating an ordinance in Tredyffrin. Radnor Township has specific ordinances and guidelines concerning student renters. In their ordinance, Radnor has established oversight and enforcement policy for landlords and students. It would be interesting to know if Radnor has seen a difference in policing requirements as a result of stricter penalties for landlord/student offenses. When questioned about a proposed college rental ordinance for Tredyffrin, township manager Mimi Gleason explained to the audience the significant cost of an ordinance (especially with current township budget constraints) and also the delay of an ordinance due to required notification and public meeting. Mimi suggested that the process would take approximately 3 months.

Mt. Pleasant residents are troubled by the many changes that they are witnessing in their neighborhood. Many who spoke have lived in the community their entire lives and have deep family roots. College student rentals and development in Mt. Pleasant were high on their list of concerns. Conversely, many of the real estate investors spoke that they thought the community was improving through the development. Change is difficult for many of us, . . . and the evolution in Mt. Pleasant has not always been thoughtful to its residents.

There were some positive moments at the meeting. Troubled by the slowness to create an student rental ordinance that might evoke positive change with the behavior of college student residents (underage drinking, loud music, speeding cars, etc), I was impressed by several of the real estate investors. There was an offer from the investors to the residents to add particular verbage in the college student leases to address noise, drinking, etc. This was an encouraging development . . . I think before last night the residents were on one side and the investors on the other side with the college students somewhere in the middle. Talking about the issues openly was a real start for the two sides; I was encouraged that last night’s dialogue may lead to a further understanding between the parties.

Public Works director Steve Norcini offered to address the signage on the Mt. Pleasant roads. He said that he could review and update speed limit signs and add ‘caution children’ signs as early as next week. Although the signs are a good start, there appears a need for better enforcement of township rules in Mt. Pleasant. There was a complaint by many that when police are called, they do not cite the students but rather just give warnings.

Much discussion was on a vacant lot located at 958 Mt. Pleasant Road. This lot has become very overgrown with weeds, trash and rodents. Mt. Pleasant resident Christine Johnson offered that she had contacted Mike Pilotti, Tredyffrin’s zoning enforcement officer and Mike explained that he is working on the problem. Homeowners that live on either side of the vacant lot complained that have previously contacted the township but that nothing has been done. Now that this specific problem has been aired in a public meeting, I am hopeful that there will be the required township follow-up to address the issue.

I left the two hour meeting with mixed feelings. On one level, I was pleased that the Mt. Pleasant residents were given the appropriate forum to present their concerns to those in the position to help. But on another level, I did not leave the meeting thinking that was clear direction or a timeline for future meetings, township involvement, etc. However, I am committed to continue to shine light on the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood and their ongoing concerns and issues.

Pennsylvania Legislators can use Tax-Free Per Diems for Home Purchase . . .What about taxability issues or fraud possibilities?

I tripped across an interesting article in the Pennsylvania Independent about a fascinating perk that is available to our Pennsylvania senators and representatives. Did you know that our legislators can use their per diem ($154) towards an investment home purchase?

I wonder how many of our state legislators have taken advantage of this apparently ‘legal’ perk? Using government tax-free per diem for home purchase leaves me wondering about the taxability issues . . . and what about fraud possibilities? Interesting to have this discussion as the state’s General Fund budget of $29 billion is expected to pass today. Remembering last year’s late budget which took a catastrophic toll on thousands of Pennsylvania’s residents, makes you wonder about this perk of our elected officials, doesn’t it?

Per Diems Can Be Used to Purchase Homes

By Darwyn Deyo

Despite the budget deficit facing the Pennsylvania legislature this year, representatives and senators are able to use tax free per diems to cover the cost of their housing, even if they live within 50 miles of the Capitol.

“If you live within 50 miles of the capitol you’re not eligible for the housing per diem. There’s nothing in the regulation that says you’re eligible for a second mortgage,” said Eric Epstein, coordinator for Rock the Capital. “Per diems were not designed to underwrite home mortgages or provide equity. If per diems are being used as an investment vehicle then we need to look beyond ethical lapses and explore tax fraud because they may be eligible. If they use the money as an investment and are accruing interest, that should be a taxable event. If they are harvesting an interest break off a mortgage payment, that’s a taxable event.”

Per diems can also be used by legislators who live within 50 miles of the Capitol but travel beyond that for committee meetings.

The Internal Revenue Service’s daily per diem limit for Harrisburg is $154, which would cover the cost of a hotel in the area, but some legislators, including State Reps. Todd Eachus (D – Luzerne) and James Wansacz (D – Lackawanna), purchased homes near the Capitol. While a per diem for housing at a hotel would cover the cost only of each night at the hotel, applying a per diem to a mortgage creates a commodity the owner can re-sell at a later date. Per diems, for example, can be used for travel expenses but not for the purchase of a new car. Mr. Wansacz also spoke with high school students last week as part of a forum on youth and government at Keystone College, where the representative answered questions on putting in for per diems for take-out meals.

Beyond the housing-as-investment use of per diems, however, lays the taxable element. Whereas a non-legislator is required to pay taxes on their income and then budget for items like housing, meals, and travel, a legislator using tax free per diems to pay for housing, meals, and travel essentially receives a supplement to their legal salary, a supplement controlled by rules set by legislature itself.

In an interview with the Scranton Public Policy Examiner, Mr. Wansacz said “There is nothing illegal about accepting per diems. I can tell you, the House and the Senate would have to change that next session. If that comes up for a vote, I would have no problem changing that. I have to show that I have living expenses. What I can tell you is that I’m not making any money off this. I’m not a wealthy individual. The only income I have is my salary.”

But Mr. Epstein said per diems are rarely denied and the legislature doesn’t even require receipts or vouchers to reimburse. Pennsylvania taxpayers cover about $2.7 million a year in reimbursed per diems. If taxed at Pennsylvania’s current income tax rate of three percent that would put $81,000 back into the General Fund.

Mt. Pleasant Town Hall Meeting and TESD School Board Meeting Tonight!

The much anticipated Mt. Pleasant Town Hall meeting is tonight. This meeting has been a long time in the works; previously cancelled twice due to snow. The community meeting will be held at the First Baptist Church on Upper Gulph in Mt. Pleasant, 7 – 9 PM. Many of us have heard Christine Johnson at Board of Supervisors meeting speak passionately about issues facing her Mt. Pleasant neighborhood. Tonight should present an opportunity for residents of this panhandle community to voice their opinions and concerns.

Tredyffrin Township Police Officer Larry Meoli has help to organize this meeting with Mt. Pleasant residents. Attending the meeting will be members of the Board of Supervisors and representatives from the township staff, zoning and police departments. Liaisons from the Board of Supervisors will be supervisors DiBuonaventuro, Kichline and Richter. Having just recently written about the Sunshine Law, I now understand that if more than three supervisors attended tonight’s town hall meeting, that would be viewed as a violation. I will be attending the Mt. Pleasant meeting and look forward to the exchange of information. I will provide an update tomorrow on Community Matters.

Tonight is also the Tredyffrin Easttown School District monthly school board meeting. Here is the TESD agenda.The agenda is very detailed (117 pages). In reviewing the agenda, I did note the resolution from the school district in regards to the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS). Much has been written about PSERS and the escalating associated costs; I am pleased to see that TESD is supporting pension reform in the state! (I am hopeful that my friend Ray Clarke will be attend tonight’s TESD meeting and will provide his remarks.)

Help Make Paoli More Walk and Bike-Friendly . . . Plan to attend the open house workshop

Tredyffrin Township is sponsoring a Paoli Pedestrian and Bike Study Workshop with support from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. The open house workshop will discuss walking, biking in Paoli and connecting to the Chester Valley Trail system. This is the first public workshop and public input during the process is important. Please plan on attending the workshop; let’s help make Paoli more walk and bike-friendly!

When: Wednesday, March 24

Time: Stop in any time between 4:00 and 8:00 PM to view project materials and provide input. A brief presentation will be made at 4:15 PM and repeated at 5:15 PM, 6:15 PM and 7:15 PM.

Where: Delaware Valley Friends School, 19 East Central Avenue, Paoli

Questions or Further Information: Please contact EJ Lee, Tredyffrin Township, at 610.408.3625 or ejlee@tredyffrin.org.

Workshop Poster: Paoliworkshop Bike-Walk flyer

Free Pastry Day at Starbucks on Tuesday, March 23rd . . . See you at Paoli Starbucks!

Make a stop at your local Starbucks on Tuesday morning . . . for many of us that is Paoli Starbucks, next to the train station. Starbucks Coffee Company has dubbed Tuesday, March 23rd Free Pastry Day. The coffee giant is giving away a free pastry with the “purchase of any handcrafted, brewed or iced beverage”. The offer is available at participating Starbucks stores in the U.S. and Canada and includes croissants, muffins, bagels, breads, pound cakes, scones, rolls, doughnuts, coffee cakes, morning bun and cheese danish.

To get your free morning treat, print out the coupon and present it to your Starbucks barista. Or simply show the barista the coupon on your mobile phone.

Starbucks Free Pastry Day happens to land the day before Starbucks Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on Wednesday. Coincidence? Probably not. But you better hurry on Tuesday. Make sure you print out the coupon and remember ‘Free Pastry Day’ is good between opening and 10:30 or while supplies last.

Community Matters Previous and New Subscribers: Sign-Up to Follow!

It’s official, Community Matters in Tredyffrin Township is now independently-hosted at www.pattyebenson.org If you want to follow Community Matters and be notified when there is a new posting, go to the upper right-side of the home page and enter your email address. You will receive a verification email which you will need to confirm. For those of you that were previously signed-up as a subscriber on Community Matters, you will need to sign up again. Sorry for the inconvenience but there was no easy way to transfer the subscriber list. You can also sign up to follow on Twitter and I’m working on a Community Matters in Tredyffrin Township Facebook page.

Thank you for your support . . . please email me if you have a topic suggestion for Community Matters. We need to continue our community discussion and debate of important issues. Email: TredyffrinCommunityMatters@gmail.com

Township Park Ordinance in Violation of State Law . . . so says resident and member of the Pennsylvania Firearms Owners Association

A couple of days ago I received an anonymous comment from gunrights-tredyffrintownship. This was an interesting comment for several reasons. Those of you who have been following Community Matters will recall my fascination and naivete over the recent firearms in national parks legislation. That discussion extended to a broader discussion of gun control in the community. Of all the issues that have been discussed on Community Matters, I think this topic generated more dinner table conversation and heated debate than anything else. Recently I met someone for the first time and they brought up the gun control discussion on Community Matters . . . go figure.

This brings me to today’s posting. Below you will find a series of email exchanges between gunrights-tredyffrintownship (an anonymous Community Matters commentor using that name) and the Board of Supervisors and discussion with Tom Hogan. At issue is the signage in our township parks in regards to guns. When it comes to the ability to carry guns in our township parks, apparently Tredyffrin Township’s park ordinance and signs are in violation of Pennsylvania state law. I never read the small print on our township park signs but I guess I will the next time I visit. This person has all of his/her emails with the township posted on the Pennsylvania Firearms Owners Association forum, located at: http://forum.pafoa.org. It appeared that the email trail ended with a conversation with Tom Hogan late last year. There was an addendeum to the comment that stated the resident was waiting for a further update in regards to the park signage, but so far in 2010 has not received anything further.

There is a cost to changing the signs (the commentator offers suggestions) . . . what do you think? Should our park signs be corrected? From the timeline of this email discussion, it would suggest that this person has been waiting for an answer. Do you think that it should be addressed at a Board of Supervisors meeting?

Preemption Violation – Tredyffrin Township

Dear Board of Supervisors,

I am a resident of Tredyffrin Township and a member of an organization called The Pennsylvania Firearms Owners Association. I would like to bring to the attention of the Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors a township ordinance that appears to be in violation of state law. I became aware of this issue when I recently visited Louis D’Ambrosia Park and read the park rules sign posted there.

Further research led me to Chapter 138 of the Township Code, Parks and Playgrounds, Section 3 Regulations, Subsection J, which states the following:

“No person, other than township active duty police officers employed in the execution of their duties, shall carry or possess or discharge or use firearms or weapons of any type in a township park. [Amended 6-1-1998 by Ord. No. HR-270]”

This law is in violation of Title 18, Chapter 61, Subchapter A (otherwise known as The Uniform Firearms Act), specifically §6120 (a) that states:

“General rule: No county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammunition components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this commonwealth.”

The preemption statute I quoted was passed in 1995. I am unsure when regulation J was passed. It may have been in place before 1995, explaining why it could have been overlooked. Unfortunately there was no grandfathering of existing limitations when The Uniform Firearms Act was passed. Regulation “J” as it stands today is invalid with regards to the carrying or possessing a firearm in a township park.

I know some people might want to know why someone would want to carry a firearm in a township park. The answer may be as simple as they carry a firearm daily. I know I do. But that question is not really the issue.

The preemption statute I quoted is very important for Pennsylvanians that legally carry a firearm, in that it removes the problem of a traveling citizen running afoul of a myriad of local laws prohibiting where you can and cannot carry a firearm. In other words, licensed or otherwise legal carriers of firearms in Pennsylvania can carry everywhere not prohibited by state or federal law.

Of particular interest to Tredyffrin Township is that since this rule is unenforceable, there could be negative consequences should an unknowing person, or even one choosing to ignore the rule knowing it is null and void, happen to be cited or otherwise confronted. If a police officer were to enforce such rule or ordinance, wrongful arrest and other charges could be laid on the officer, the police department and Tredyffrin Township– not an inexpensive proposition.

I respectfully ask that the Board of Supervisors look into this matter. Please let me know how you and your colleagues will proceed with bringing Tredyffrin Township in compliance with state law. A copy of §6120 is also attached.

Awaiting your response, I remain,

Most respectfully yours,

I sent the first letter on September 22nd. After receiving no response, I sent the following e-mail to the Chairman on October 7th.

Quote:

From: xxxxxxx xxxxx [mailto:xxxxxxxxxxxx@verizon.net]
To: Warren E. Kampf
Subject: Initial correspondence

Warren,
Several weeks ago I sent a letter to you and your fellow supervisors
regarding a township park ordinance. As of today I have not received a
response. Did you receive my initial correspondence?

Thank You,

Today I received this reply:

Quote:
Warren E. Kampf wrote:
we did and we are looking into it.

My response tonight was:

Quote:
Warren,
Thanks for getting back to me. I assume the Township Solicitor will be in touch with me when he is complete?

Thanks,

Since they meet twice a month, every other Monday, it shouldn’t be difficult to attend a meeting if I fail to hear from the solicitor soon. I also was contacted by a local newspaper reporter and have been keeping him in the loop regarding progress. I will continue to update as things move forward.

Re: Preemption Violation–Tredyffrin Township–Chester County

________________________________

Update, 6 days ago the Chairman sent me this reply:

Quote:
Warren E. Kampf wrote:
we did and we are looking into it.

My response to that was:

Quote:
Warren,
Thanks for getting back to me. I assume the Township Solicitor will be in touch with me when he is complete?

Thanks,

Yesterday I received this:

Quote:
Either he will or someone from township will.

Nice one sentence responses I get from the Chairman. You would think the least he would do is properly address the person he is communicating with and maybe sign the end of the e-mail.

Re: Preemption Violation–Tredyffrin Township–Chester County

——————————————————————————–

That lets you know how important you are, in his eyes. Perhaps it’s time to start campaigning to elect a new chairman?
__________________

Re: Preemption Violation–Tredyffrin Township–Chester County

___________________

Good news to report here. I received a letter on Friday from the township solicitor, Thomas Hogan, requesting I call him to discuss the letter I sent the supervisors. Around 2:30 pm I called his office. After exchanging greetings with him, the first words out of his mouth were, “I’m in receipt of your letter, and am in complete agreement with your legal position.” I almost fell off my chair.

After reading threads about defiant townships, boroughs, etc, this is not the answer I expected. He also informed me he made a call to the Chief of Police, Andy Chambers. He said he would probably speak with him over the weekend and inform him that the department could not enforce the ordinance because it violates the state preemption law. I almost fell off the chair again.

In the next few minutes of our discussion, Mr. Hogan asked me if I had any immediate concerns, upcoming events in a township park, or if I was worried about this particular ordinance. I reiterated what I said in my letter to the supervisors about gun carriers dodging a myriad of local regulations and if someone were falsely arrested due to this ordinance it would not be right.

I then told him I was happy to see he was in agreement with my concerns and stated the next steps needed to be a repeal/revision of the ordinance, and modifying the signs in the township parks. He said he would speak with the supervisors about how they would like to handle the ordinance part of my concerns. Then came the sign issue. He went on to say the township has a lot of parks and signs and the cost associated with changing all the signs would be an expensive proposition, but next time they change the signs they could modify them.

I told him they could either cover up the part about firearms, or heat up the stick on letters and peel them off. He said he would contact the public works department for how to handle this. Since he was very cooperative and understanding of my concerns, I didn’t want to press him too hard on the sign issue yet. He seems dedicated to addressing these two issues and bringing them to a resolution that is to my satisfaction, so I will continue to work with him. He said I should hear back from him in about one week. He said I might need to appear before the supervisors with him and ask for the ordinance to be repealed/modified. This depends on how the supervisors wish to handle it.

This is how all of the preemption violations we contest should be handled. Mr. Hogan’s professionalism was very refreshing. While many of us are quick to fire off letters and e-mails to persons who infringe on our rights, we should also thank those who work with us in the preservation of those rights and follow the rule of law.

Support Radnor Fire Company . . . Come Enjoy Breakfast with the Easter Bunny

Breakfast with the Easter Bunny Radnor Fire Company on Sunday!

The Easter Bunny will be stopping at the Radnor Fire Company for his annual breakfast — you don’t want to miss this opportunity and support our local firefighters!

Date: Sunday, March 21

Time: 8:00 AM – 12:30 PM

Price: Adults – $7; Children under 10 – $4; Under 2 – FREE

Pancakes, Eggs, Bacon, Toast, Orange Juice and Coffee are just some of the items on the menu.

Breakfast will be served buffet style and will be all you can eat!

This event is sponsored by the Radnor Fire Company Auxilliary.


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