Monthly Archives: August 2013

Land developers may be able to put together very attractive plans to help bring certain parts of a city to life. However, along the way, a number of land use issues can obstruct investment and construction if proper preparations aren’t made.

Philadelphia’s Main Line used to be one sprawling estate after another. The Great Depression, according to local historian John Marshall Groff, put an end to that lifestyle. Families lost their fortunes; the houses were sold or fell into disrepair. By the time prosperity returned after World War II, the land was too valuable to hold on to, so the estates were broken up into housing developments. The Main Line became the suburbs.

We are picking up the discussion about Radnor Township and Ardrossan Farm from our Aug. 10 post. The farm is the last open space on Philadelphia’s Main Line and has been the subject of more than a few development proposals — including the town’s own proposal to maintain the farm as open space.

The attorney representing several victims of the Center City building collapse announced this week that he has evidence that the Salvation Army knew the risks the demolition project posed to workers and patrons and chose to ignore them. A series of emails, he said, shows that the head of the organization and the property manager engaged in “a game of chicken” that resulted in six deaths and injuries to more than a dozen people.

Radnor Township has a dilemma. Ardrossan Farm is that rarest of things along Philadelphia’s Main Line: open land, more than 300 acres-worth. And the most pressing question about open land these days — especially open land so close to the city — is whether to preserve it or to build on it.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is months away from making a decision, but the applicants for the Category 2 Slot Machine License and Table Games Certificate have been waging campaigns for the popular vote that we usually only see in presidential election years. Most of the activity is taking place in Philadelphia, where, according to the GCB’s website, the casino must be located.

Reading from a prepared statement, a witness at a Philadelphia City Council committee hearing this week raked the Department of Licenses & Inspections over the coals. The Market Street building collapse in June that resulted in six deaths is just one of a decades-long string of failures, he said, that stem from the department’s emphasis on politics and economic development over public safety.