|
New
Castle County on Oct. 14 officially designated the Weldin House,
on Philadelphia Pike north of its intersection with Marsh
Road and Lore Avenue, an historic property. Just before the
unanimous vote, it was revealed that Delaware Department of
Transportation has successfully completed negotiations to buy
the 1.38-acre property with a view to improving the
intersection and selling the house to be renovated and put to a
use that will preserve it indefinitely.
Michelle
Reed, president of the organization, told Council that
preservation of the house is "essential" to preserving the
character of not only Penny Hill but the entire Philadelphia
Pike corridor. The highway is presently under consideration for
designation as an historic route and will be included
|
in the
Delaware portion of the Washington-Rochambeau
trail being developed by the National Park Service to
commemorate the decisive Revolutionary War battle of Yorktown.
That occured about the time the first part of Weldin House was
built.
"It is unthinkable
that such a house would be demolished to create something modern
there," said County Councilman Robert Weiner, who sponsored the
rezoning of the property to include an historic overlay.
In a somewhat
related matter, Weiner tabled
an ordinance he sponsored to provide
|
 |
|
The Weldin House |
provide the same
zoning designation for the 25-acre Jester Farm off Grubb Road
near Naamans Road. Weiner said he is negotiating with the county
Department of Community Services in an effort to get it to
withdraw its objection to an historic overlay and to redesignate
the property, which is county parkland, on its master plan
as intended for passive recreation instead of active recreation.
The department has
taken the position that an historic overlay would hamper efforts
to develop the property, which it has said will only be done
after determining the desires of residents of the community.
Wade Catts, a member
of the county Historic Review Board testified before the
proposal was tabled to the effect that country government has
empowered the board to foster historic preservation, but has
objected to that being done with regard to a parcel of
county-owned property. The board initiated the proposal for an
historic overlay because that "is the only tool we have to
preserve historic property," he said.
News that DelDOT has
reached an agreement to purchase the Weldin house property came
in something of the fashion of an 11th-hour rescue, although it
appeared that the overlay proposal had the necessary votes to be
approved anyway. The county Department of Land Use had
recommended the rezoning and the Planning Board had concurred,
provided DelDOT did not object to doing so.
Weiner was prepared
to introduce a substitute ordinance limiting the overlay to just
the house and its immediate area. But the letter from Secretary
of Transportation Nathan Hayward said there was no objection to
its being applied to the entire parcel.
An historic overlay
does not change the underlying zoning classification of a
property. In her testimony, Reed said that it would be less
restrictive to development than deed limitations in some
suburban developments.
State Representative
David Ennis, who delivered the DelDOT letter, said that
Hayward's position on the matter demonstrated "sensitivity on
the part of the transportation department not previously seen."
James Hanby, who formerly was a member of the Historic Review
Board, credited Hayward for having "stepped forward at a
critical time."
Friends of Penny
Hill mobilized after the Seven-Eleven convenience store chain
filed with the county a plan to locate an outlet, coupled with a
gasoline station, on the property, which it had agreed to buy
from the present owner, Carol Harrington. In its technical
review of the plan DelDOT found that Lore Avenue is not wide
enough to service the proposed use and Hayward said the
department would not approve widening the otherwise
local-service street.
DelDOT spokesman
Michael Williams said the department has agreed to purchase the
property for $700,000 with final settlement to occur in 30 to 45
days.
"Once settled, we
plan on working with the local legislators and community groups
to develop a plan for the ultimate disposition of the property,
subject to a deed restriction requiring that the house remain on
site as part of any development plan," Hayward said in his
letter.
Reed said her
organization would agree to the house being refitted to become a
bed and breakfast inn, a real estate or other commercial office,
or to serve a similar function.
Hayward said DelDOT
intends to demolish the long abandoned building at the corner of
the intersection and make safety improvements at the
intersection. Lore Avenue angles into Marsh Road, creating a
three-way intersection. The building there was the original site
of a popular doughnut shop, which the Carol and the late John
Harrington managed for 45 years and, in more recent years, it
has been a sandwich shop.
|
