If this sounds familiar, it's because it is.
Yes, they are fighting about the Don Guanella tract again.
This is not the first time we've been down this road.
A few years ago, developer Bruce Goodman plunked down $5 million as the down payment for the property in a deal with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which owns the pristine 213-acre tract off Sproul Road in Marple that was the longtime home of the Don Guanella School for those with developmental disabilities.
Goodman's vision was Cardinal Crossing, a monstrous development, including 318 homes, a million square feet of commercial space. One of the last big swaths of opens space in the center of the county would have disappeared.
Citizens went nuts. They flooded meetings and put serious heat on the Marple commissioners to reject the plans. Eventually the archdiocese pulled out of the deal. Goodman, who now found himself out $5 million without a plan to proceed, sued unsuccessfully.
Fast forward four years. This time it's Peter Miller fronting a group called Sproul Road Developers. They once again are negotiating with the archdiocese and are ready to present a new development plan to the township.
But this one is radically different than the Cardinal Crossing plan.
Yes, Sproul Road Developers are still envisioning a shopping center, including a Wegmans supermarket.
But they also say their hope is to prioritize open space on the tract.
In fact, they say they want to preserve 166 acres of the 213-acre tract, utilizing only 47 acres for a commercial complex. The group wants to develop a little more than five acres as recreational fields, leaving the remaining 161 acres preserved as forest. That 166-acre number includes the tract for the playing fields.
So you would think would be a great compromise, certainly light years improved from the original Cardinal Crossing plan, a nice mix of development and preserving open space, right?
Uh, not exactly.
Residents, including those who formed the group Save Marple Greenspace, still don't like the sound of this much development. They have serious concerns about an increase in traffic. They initially supported the new plan, which called for development to basically be curtailed to development of the Don Guanella portion of the tract, but that has wilted in recent months, with the group saying developers keep changing their plan. They now fret of what changes could take shape if approval for the development is granted.
The county also has a role in this. After the raging controversy over Cardinal Crossing, there was word they might work with the archdiocese on a plan to preserve the tract. No deal came forward. Now Miller says he and the county are in talks for a new plan to preserve the open space in his plan.
Residents remain skeptical. And they made those concerns evident in two recent meetings with representatives from Sproul Road Developers.
They continue to question the size of the latest development, and whether it is appropriate for the already densely developer center of the county. They also fear that without a deal in place for the county, the developers could sell off the open space at a later date.
What they might not have expected is that the developers had a message for them as well.
This tract is very likely going to be developed, one way or the other.
Sproul Road Developers would like to get approval for their smaller development. But they are fully prepared to move forward with a "by right" plan that would see the entire tract developed, including a massive housing development.
"So, no matter what, you're going to develop the property?" Miller was asked at one of the public forums.
"We're going to develop the property," Miller confirmed.
Sitting in the middle of all this are the Marple commissioners, who once again will be squeezed between a proposed development, including the rights of the developer and potential revenue for the township, and the concerns of citizens who already are overwhelmed with traffic and development intruding on what they see as their quality of life.
Sproul Road Developers need the board to sign off on a zoning change for the smaller plan. They have the "by-right" plan in their back pocket if that does not happen.
The difference? A 380,000-square-foot complex that would include the Wegmans, health care facility, and some senior housing, as opposed to a 500,000-square-foot institutional project and the likelihood of homes being built on the remaining open space.
One resident referred to the fight for the Don Guanella tract - and the possibility of the hammer falling with the developer's "by-right" plan, as the "final frontier" in terms of open space in Marple Township.
Miller and his group have proposed a major change from the Cardinal Crossing plan, one that would save and likely preserve a huge chunk of open space.
Residents who remain opposed to the plan are rolling the dice that the developers will not go forward with the "by-right" plan.
Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Buckle your seat belts.
This one is not going to go away anytime soon.
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