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VETERANS CEMETERY PLANS DELAYED IN BUCKS
COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA -- Zoning problems and
lack of a VA budget put wrench in works.
Story here...
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/
local/states/pennsylvania/16406888.htm
Story below:
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Veterans cemetery plans delayed in Bucks
Leo Holt, who owns a nearby 68-acre farm, says
the zoning ordinance is crafted to benefit Toll Bros.
By Nancy Petersen
Inquirer Staff Writer
A year ago with great fanfare, a host of national, state and local
officials declared to a jubilant crowd that a national veterans cemetery
would be coming to Bucks County.
The site in Upper Makefield Township consisted of 200 acres of rolling
farmland owned by Toll Bros. Inc. next to the historic village of
Dolington.
But since that heady day, not a single spade of earth has been turned.
Instead, Upper Makefield officials have spent the last several months
working on a compromise that would satisfy Toll's financial needs while
coping with residents outraged that the deal for the cemetery meant the
construction of dozens more houses.
An ordinance clearing the way for the cemetery was finally adopted last
fall by the three municipalities that form the regional zoning body
governing land development - Newtown Township, Wrightstown Township and
Upper Makefield.
And then on Nov. 21, millionaire Leo A. Holt challenged it.
Now, a zoning appeal is under way that is expected to last for months.
The complex legal challenge throws into doubt when the cemetery might
open to serve the area's tens of thousands of World War II, Korean War
and Vietnam veterans and their families.
Holt, whose family has been involved in port operations along the
Delaware River for years, wants to maintain the area's open space.
Holt's zoning appeal cites 11 issues, including that the ordinance
constitutes spot zoning, and alleging that it was crafted for the
financial benefit of Toll.
At a zoning hearing last week, Toll group president John Mangano said
before a final ordinance was adopted Toll offered several concepts to
Upper Makefield supervisors in an attempt to address local concerns.
"Nothing illegal was ever done," he said. "There was never a guarantee
that anything would happen in our favor."
The vice chairman of Toll Bros., Bruce E. Toll, is also chairman of
Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C., owner of The Inquirer and Daily
News.
Last week, hearings on Holt's challenge got under way before the Newtown
Township Zoning Hearing Board. The hearings continue tonight.
Lining up with or against Holt were the attorneys for Upper Makefield
and Newtown Townships, Toll Bros., 16 residents, and two organizations:
Save Historic Dolington and the Upper Makefield Conservancy.
"This is going to be a long, complicated process," board chairman
William Wall said.
The ordinance at issue allows Toll to build 80 houses on land known as
the White tract, which is contiguous to the 200 acres the company is
selling to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for $7 million.
Also, the contested ordinance would allow 90 houses on the nearby Melsky
tract, which the Council Rock School District owns.
Toll wants to build the houses to recoup the cost of selling the land to
the VA at what it says is a discounted price.
To preserve open space, Holt wants to buy the Melsky tract adjoining his
68-acre farm, and he has offered to buy it from the school district for
$7.15 million.
Holt's attorney, Tracy Paul Hunt, said the only reason the Melsky tract
was connected to the cemetery deal was to allow Toll to build more
houses. "This deal is all about money and how much can be made," he
said.
Although the Department of Veterans Affairs had hoped to have an
agreement of sale by Sept. 30, so that it could move into the design
phase, it still does not.
That's just as well, said William Tuerk, VA undersecretary for memorial
affairs, because Congress never approved the VA budget for 2007.
"The agency is operating on a continuing resolution, which limits us to
funding from last year," he said. "I still have money to buy the land,
but I don't have the money to do the next thing."
Last year, Tuerk said he had hoped to open the first section of the
cemetery in late 2008. It is expected to serve more than 350,000
veterans in the area.
With the new Congress putting the brakes on special appropriations known
as earmarks, Upper Makefield is also not likely to receive $2 million in
federal grants it expected for road improvements, according to Scott
Hoeflich, spokesman for U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R., Pa.)
Upper Makefield Township Supervisors Chairman Daniel Worden sought the
$2 million last month. He said in his letter that the total shortfall of
costs associated with the cemetery comes to $6 million.
Zoning hearings on the challenge have been scheduled into March.
Contact staff writer Nancy Petersen at 610-701-7602 or
npetersen@phillynews.com.
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Larry Scott
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