What exactly do these residents expect? Without looking at the agenda's for the township meetings for the past year or two, I'd image this property has been mentioned more than once at township meetings.

I'm sick of people wanting to promote growth and business as long as it doesn't affect them. Guess what, there has been a sign on the corner advertising the space as an office headquarters for years. That is what the property is zoned as and that is what it is going to be used as.

The article states, "Supervisor John Mott described the project as a "no-brainer." Virginia McMichael said it was a good use of the property.
The township had at one time tried to acquire the property and turn it into a township park, but the cost was prohibitively expensive, McMichael said."

Obviously, McMichael and Mott don't live within the proximity of this project. Yes, I'm sure that people in this community find the value in promoting growth and business but, shouldn't we be circumspect when deciding which businesses should be allowed to locate in prime areas? I've driven by that site dozens of times and have seen the sign depicting an office building for that location. However, I never considered that the construction would include a storage facility. How many storage facilities do we need in this area? Isn't there currently a storage facility located just across route 30? I find it hard to believe that the Malvern Borough Council wasn't considered on this project. Also, I've read recently that the earlier proposal for the Worthington Project is about to be phased in thus creating more traffic for the area. Now you will add to that another office park in addition to a storage facility. This will do nothing to add to the value of the property located along Old Lincoln Highway leading directly into the heart of Malvern Borough.

Why!! We already have 2 other units less than a mile from this one.

I understand there will be hundreds of units of storage. I guess historic neighborhood does not matter to those who live on the other side of town. Now you can see the O'Neill construction area clearly .

At least they could have left the historic 250+ year old sycamore trees that were on the corners and behind the billboard. The farmers in the 1700's marked their farm borders with sycamores.

If the property is zoned for what someone wants to construct, it makes it very difficult for that to be changed. It is called "as of right use of property". If a municipality does not allow "as of Right use" they get sued and will lose. If the property owner is looking for variences in that use of property, then there is leverage for making changes. Once the development has gone through the approval process the supervisors can find a flaw in that or the public can have input to point out a flaw that would have to be corrected. The process for property development begins way before the construction begins. Zoning Hearing Board, Planning commision, as well as the sewer authority gets involved. Final approval is done by the supervisors. All of those meetings are public and the public can have input. To say there are too many storage facilities would be like telling someone they could not use their correctly zoned property to bake a pizza because someone thinks we have enough places to get them already. The best way to control what goes on a property and what that should look like is to buy the property first. As far as traffic goes around here it is heavier than ever at rush hours and is only getting worse despite the unemployment numbers. Where is the historic neighborhood that is mentioned?

Georay, the county has no record as of last week that the property has filed approval from the Board of Supervisors according to their planning office. All submissions were from over 4 - 5 years ago. Traffic and water conservation have shorter times for renewal for those types of plans. They needed to be resubmitted and then filed. If they filed today, it would take normally, I understand, up to 90 days for approval from the state and county agencies, and that's if everything went well; mixed use such as office and storage would take a new plan. Maybe it's too late, but then why have all these government agencies?

@Tom. Sounds like you have a puzzle to put together. EW Township manager would be able to help you with the pieces. By "approval from the Board of Supervisors" do you mean final approval of the project? If the township is not following proper county procedure then that is a matter for the County Commissioners to be made aware of. Following up on projects is a time consuming pain, I have done my share. If you miss one meeting where what input you have is relevant to that project it is too late, unless what is being done is illegal. Any property over 50 years old is considered historic in EW. So just about any property development anywhere in the township will have an impact on historic property which I believe may make that argument moot.

I live near the "village" and the development didn't hit me until all the trees were removed. Was it just cheaper to clear???? Many years ago there was a nice baseball field there for the "village" kids to play in which I believe was not township sponsored but neighborhood built. Maybe the parking lot will be skate board ready..........

That property was always privately owned. After some sort of problem between the little league that was using the property and the property owner that relationship ended and the property was allowed to be overgrown.

A while back a zoning notice was put up. I drove by it every day. With a toddler in the car, just not safe to stop and read. How about chaning how zoning notices get circulated. Maybe on the patch? I live in the village and i think it will be an eyesore and I'm not happy about the new traffic light going in. I think it will get really backed up at rush hour now.

Ah! "Femme' Park" -- where the Village people came to play ball!! A little piece of land where British forces may have walked en route to the Paoli Massacre! Not historic? Ha! Butch: I hereby give you the key to the city and Honorary Malvernite medal! You come from historic Boston and appreciate our country's history and the gift of public discourse on such. Another park to get kids out of the house and away from all the screens would've, could've, should've been nice. More storage for more junk that we already have too much of???? Oh my!

The EWT supervisors meeting is tonight at 7pm at the township building.

I support the need to develop when the property is zoned for business use. It is what it is kids. But self storage and offices? Really? There isn't enough of that around here? They will be broke in 5 years and we'll be looking at an eye sore.

County planning input is only advisory---and their input is supposed to be at the planning comm stage....so if this mixed use plan went thru planning comm, then they should have had the County input. As far as the historic ordinance, it applies to the actual property with the historic resource on it, like the GW Inn, not adjacent parcels. It was hard enough to get any historic ord. in place back then---let alone have adjacent property impacted-- that would never have passed. agree with prior posters that office bldg is the zoned usage--adding in the self storage seems like an added use that isnt practical---but as others say, we will find that out when it fails and they convert the space to something else. Do people really have that much STUFF?

Virgina found building a township park too costly? That seems odd since she and Terry are spearheading the EWT taxpayer funded 200 foot long paved connector path (on a lot with a grade so steep it will not be made handicap accessible) in Chester Valley Knoll that is not only illegal according to the zoning table but also that virtually everyone who lives in close proximity is against constructing. Luckily the economy is so good to be wasting money on pet projects in EWT. The General Warren Village project... looks like another eyesore for this area.

Agreed, Mike. The difference is, Virginia, Eli and John won't have to look at the eyesore.

Agreed Butch and Mike. A public park would have been nice. It's a shame it was too costly! Apparently, financial times are much better for EW in Fall of 2012! They didn't have the money to spend on a township park, but East Whiteland Supervisors do have $7500 to spend on an engineering study to determine whether the Chester Valley Knoll property can legally house an access path. This information was just released in the October Supervisors Minutes! And sadly for General Warren Village residents, zoning is irrelevant! East Whiteland can and does violate its own zoning laws. They call these violations "amendments." Unfortunately, East Whiteland can violate its own zoning and change its land usage, but homeowners/taxpayers cannot!

the supervisors told us at the april + may meetings that the plan was done and there was nothing that could be done to change it. well they could have called a real meeting with eli before the plan was actually approved and now we know filed after the oct 25th purchase, probably in Nov, we shall see, and demand he keep the boundry trees. maybe the DEP can stop the storage units. It is zoned with the county as residential.

pete, any thoughts about the meeting?

Have just re-read all of the above comments. Add them to the ones made re: the East King Street Development and the next sound you hear will be that of a heart breaking -- mine. They've paved Paradise and put up a parking lot, storage bins, etc. Oh, and to Jim K. -- no chaps were worn by those sturdy, hard-working, loyal patriotic (Gen.Warren) Village People living the American dream up in them thar hills starting in the 1950's! I still have relatives and friends up there in the Old Country! Maybe I'll rent one of the bins and we can hold family reunions in it! :-)

Let's not forget about the 160 new people working in EWT and paying income tax. You don't think that had anything to do with it being appeoved do you?

Curiously, the plan has yet to be recorded with the Recorder of Deeds for Chester County as of Friday 11/16/12. Again, the only tentative doc proposal on record but not approved or recorded could be found from 2008. Terry Woodman, East WHiteland Township Manager, at the Supervisors meeting 11/14/2012 stated, when asked by a resident, that the plan was filed last week (with the County). The County says no. Why do Old Lancaster Partners seem to be in such a hurry to cut almost all trees, even out of the way 250 year old or more trees, and push the storm drain water pipes construction without neighborhood input??? This is feeling like the new "Old West" for run away development in this township.

Typical developer trick. Clear all the trees first. Ask for permission later. As for all the apparent monkey business. What do you expect from a Twp controlled by democrats.

All I know from living in the Wayne area near its current HQ, is that they are very good neighbors so y'all could do a lot worse than this mixed use owner moving in.

My 5-year old son literally cried when he saw the trees cleared away. It's hard not to sound bitter when trying to explain "development and progress" to your crying child.
The residents of Gen. Warren Village have only one point of egress when trying to go west, and that's to go east to Old Lincoln Highway first. Now everyone in that neighborhood will have to sit in traffic just to get in and out of their driveways.

RE: the Cubesmart property on rt 30 and old Lincoln, it's still zoned on the township map as of today as residential R3, yet no notice was given to the residents until EWT wanted to change the parking "plan" last spring... and as of last week, has there been a new plan filing with the county??? I think not, but the construction is well under way. I'll try to upload the zoning map to patch above, but check out EWT zoning site while it is still up. The R3 area mentioned is in the lower right hand of the map area. Thank you for reading everyone and come to the EWT supervisors meeting.

I keep coming back to the fact that East Whiteland can and does violate and change its own zoning. They are doing it on rt. 30 and Old Lincoln, they are doing it in the Chester Valley Knoll neighborhood in order to install a connection to the CV trail, and they will continue to do it when it suits their needs. From reading the Patch, it appears that there are many people upset with East Whiteland politics and township operations. Those of you who are upset...know that you are not alone. Please come out to the Supervisors Meetings and make your voices heard! There is a meeting tonight @7PM!!

Did anybody drive by the construction site @ the corner of 30 and Old Lincoln Highway on Thursday of last week? I did, and guess what I saw...soil running off the construction site, down route 30, into the storm drains. I thought that was illegal! Apparently, the construction company's silt fences aren't working. One would think East Whiteland would have codes in place to prevent soil erosion, right? And one would think that Eric Reed, Terry Woodman, and the rest of East Whiteland township would want to enforce these codes and protect the environment. Most townships in the tri-county area impose steep fines for breaking these codes. If this was a residential construction site, I have no doubt that Eric Reed/East Whiteland would be heavily fining the residents for breaking these codes. Will they be fining Cube Smart, the architect, or the construction company for violating codes? Or does East Whiteland stand to loose too much tax revenue by imposing the fines and enforcing their own codes?

The construction company sure knows, they spend almost a whole day before the rain storm last week with an industrial street cleaner, scrubbing Old Lancaster from all the dust clay and dirt their dump trunks deposited over the weeks, covering the mailboxes, residents homes etc. which the rain may have taken care of at the residents homes, but it was a good thing they did the street because it was packed down fro all their truck traffic. Where have the code inspecotrs been for that? a violation of EPA standards?

a neighbor wanted to put in a new bathroom and expand the house fooprint by a foot for that room. they were told they would have to take thier porch off, both the enclosed part, and the open screened in part, so the new wall would match. the porch has been their for over 100 years. there is zoning for that and the residents.

This past Friday, the construction company brought in large, gas-powered sump pumps and were pumping large amounts of standing, muddy water along route 30 into the storm drains. And "citizenknow", the answer is NO--I did not notify the township. East Whiteland employs people to enforce codes and to observe/supervise major construction sites. They are payed to travel to sites and enforce codes. Pumping this water into the storm drains is illegal!

Big surprise !!!!!

Just finished reading the Supervisors meeting minutes from November 13,2012

What a farce, half of it was edited out, I. E. Virginia McMichael stated when asked, how come residents in the Twp were not notified: Quote: WE (Supervisors, Twp Manager) ASSUMED THAT WAS WHAT THE RESIDENTS WANTED. Of course as soon as Ms. McMichael said that, Terry Woodman (TWP Manager) rose from her chair, crossed the room, approached Eric Reed who was running the video and said something in a hushed tone that could not be heard. I suspect it may have been along the lines of ; Make sure that last statement is edited out of the tape. It is a common practice for EW Twp. to edit out anything out of the meeting minutes and the video that may raise eyebrows and get people to question their authoirty.
Ms. McMichael also stated their would be no retail sales at the new business. What is selling storage space?
At an earlier meeting we were told that the storage units were for showroom purposes only. Now that seems to have changed also.
I wonder what TAX INCENTIVES WERE OFFERED TO CUBESMART???????
Maybe no prperty tax for x amount of years or no sewer tax??????

On another note, what about the additional traffic at Warren Ave. and Old Lincoln Highway, where the stop signs are a joke. Especially when traveling East to West on Old Lincoln Highway. The majoity of the time, so many make the left turn onto Warren without stopping that it looks like a train.

If you want to learn the meaning of true COLLUSION, look it up on line and you just might find a picture of EW Twp building.....
SIG HEIL !!!!!!!

Anyone still wondering why the neighbors here don't want a storage facility on our street? http://www.dailylocal.com/article/20130308/NEWS01/130309616/federal-agents-remove-explosives-from-malvern-storage-locker

aprox 400 storage units coming. call paul fargas at the county and see how much info they have supplied to the county. none since 2006 or 7. no new traffic study or anything , including water consevation or health. wild west here in EWT.

jim mcveigh, you are right, "wonder what TAX INCENTIVES WERE OFFERED TO CUBESMART??????? "