Delaware County has filed two actions for its rights to develop Delco Woods as a park and potential housing for people with mental illness. The first motion was an appeal with the Marple Township Zoning Hearing Board of the township commissioners’ vote to rezone the entire 213-acre Delco Woods property as open space. The second was an action in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, also against Marple Township, that challenges some of the procedural aspects taken by the township. Delaware County solicitor Jonathan Lichtenstein said that the county felt there were defects in the adoption of the ordinance. The county wants the property’s zoning reversed to its original zoning, under which part of the property was institutional. Before being acquired by the county in 2021, Don Guanella Village operated at the property as a residence and work site for developmentally disabled men.
Source: Daily Times; 5/17/2024