Controversies

Development Issues and Controversies:

Loss of Three Tuns Inn when it burned down in 1948Three Tuns Inn Razed by Flames, Phila. Inquirer, March 4, 1948, p. 21.

(add other 1970s and 80s controversies noted above)

Fate of historic house worries Dublin Twp. group, Philadelphia Inquirer, p. 23 (June 8, 1978)

Four-acre tract next to Dreshertown Shopping center including the historic Dresher House threatened by proposed expansion of the 1958-approved shopping center by New Jersey developers David Heim and Arthur Pettiman; Township Commissioner Griffith Miller, who represented that area, stated that proposed expansion was a matter for the Upper Dublin commissioners. Ultimately, the house was preserved, but the historic aspects have largely become a matter of memory.

School bus transportation for non-public school students

In 1965, the Upper Dublin School Board, chaired by Jack Robbins, took a very strict approach to a new state law requiring school districts to provide transportation for students at non-public schools, restricting the change in routes to the exact mileage specified in state law though still a distance from the school.. See Reject School Bus Appeal, Pottsville Republican, Sept. 14, 1965, p. 1; Henry W. Neiger, Busing Funds Delay Sought by Catholics In Upper Dublin Twp., Phila. Inquirer, Nov. 18, 1965, p. 17. Eventually, after an abundance of angry words directed to the State Attorney General, cool heads prevailed and the drop off included the schools.

Mattison Estate

Stacie Friedman, Historic grounds of Lindenwold Castle Under Siege, Hidden City (Dec. 11, 2019)

The property, an attempted replica of a European castle, was made famous by its inclusion in two Hollywood movies, had been the home to a group of nuns since the 1930s when it was gifted by Mattison of asbestos fame.

The nuns, with an adjoining house that provided nursing services (?), opened a residential school for orphan girls?, many from Philadelphia. Sometimes with local controversy, the school operated until the 1990s. As the nuns’ order declined, it decided to end the school and shortly thereafter to sell the property. Because the exterior of the building and its grounds were meticulously maintained, neighbors and preservationists opposed the proposed development of a senior living facility and single-family homes on the property.

In eventually approving the proposed development despite vigorous opposition from preservationists and neighbors, the township secured an agreement from the developer to maintain the castle, much of the grounds, and the stone wall at the property’s perimeter. Ultimately the Mattison Estates senior residence and the single-family homes have been fully occupied and the other conditions for the development have been satisfied, but the castle, whose interior was far out of compliance with modern code requirements, itself has found no user, making its future in doubt.

“Field of Dreams”’ creation and issues involving potential change of use of all or part of the tract

Deana Clement, Upper Dublin’s Field of Dreams Future Sill Unknown, aroundambler, Oct. 9, 2018

Justin Heinze, Upper Dublin Residents Rally to Save ‘Field of Dreams,’ Patch.com, Oct. 9, 2018

Kathy Boccella, Field of Dreams or Bus Depot, Upper Dublin Schools to Decide, Phila. Inquirer, Oct. 11, 2018

In 1995 through efforts of various community groups, spearheaded by Dick Dresher among others, the township secured funding to acquire a large tract near its school complex for athletic fields, dubbed the “Field of Dreams” in part due to the popularity of a movie of that title in which a farm field was magically transformed into a baseball field.

The Piszek Tract: Emlen & Copernicus houses

Christopher J. Dean, Development trumps preservation of history, The Intell (Dec. 6, 2014)

After the death of the Piszeks their historic property stretching in a large triangle from Dreshertown Road to Camphill Road and Pennsylvania Avenue (including an area in neighboring Springfield Township) was the subject of various development proposals. The first was a townhouse development along Dreshertown Road, from Flick DRIVE? to Camphill Road.¹⁰³ After much debate, that proposal was withdrawn. Later, a proposal for single-family homes on the lower portion of the tract was proposed and eventually approved, with the caveat that the Emlen House would be preserved. Eventually an agreement was reached with the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association, to preserve the areas adjoining highways for trails. The Emlen House was sold to new homeowners who have abided by conditions preserving the exterior of that site.

During the course of that controversy the Copernicus House at the site was considered for preservation, but, as it was deemed to be beyond repair, it was demolished. Development trumps preservation of history, phillyburbs.com, Dec. 7, 2014.

Brandywine Living at Dresher Estates, now owned by Retirement Unlimited Inc.

This is the only proposed development that was opposed through court proceedings. At the time it was proposed several neighbors raised issues about projected traffic that would be generated by locating this assisted living and memory care facility at the junction of Limekiln Pike and Broad Street. The litigation was unsuccessful.

The library and its relocation.

Charles F. Houston & Lynn W. Burns, The New Upper Dublin Public Library (1972)

Letter to the Editor: Ten Things the Upper Dublin Commissioners Should Review Before the Library Vote March 12th, Sandra Atherholt, Around Ambler (March 6, 2019), and

(Library Director) Cheryl Fiory, The New Library Project Summarized as Commissioners Prepare to Vote (Upper Dublin Township, DATE; Linda Finarelli, Upper Dublin Public Library proposed site is loaded with opposition, Ambler Gazette, DATE

The 2019 approval of the library relocation to the former Rhone-Poulenc Rorer building was, so far as can be determined, the first and, as of that time, it was the only 4-to-3 vote of the Board of Commissioners since its size was expanded from 5 to 7 decades before.¹⁰⁴

After the board approved the relocation, it was determined that the HVAC system in the acquired building was inadequate for the library, requiring substantial additional expenditures for renovation ultimately secured from state funds.