"Duped" Whitpain Resident Files Appeal to Halt Horse Barn and Arena Construction

 Earth-moving equipment is being moved off a Blue Bell pasture while a neighbor appeals a large indoor riding arena being built near her backyard. She told Whitpain supervisors she had been “duped” about the project. Both parties told Patch they could lose a lot – the 960 Morris Road property owners face $250,000 construction delay costs, and the neighbor faces “measurable, negative lifestyle impacts.”    

Patricia Lorenzo of Kurt Drive told  during their October 4 meeting she was “deceived” by an attorney, who is a township planning commission member, about open space being preserved when she granted a sewer easement for the project. 

Lorenzo said the nearly 22,000-square foot indoor riding arena and stable plans might meet the letter of the law, but not the intent of the law.  She made a point to “be discreet” during the meeting by not naming the attorney or the couple who bought the former West estate near Cathcart Road. (For clarity, their names will be used with “Lorenzo said…”)

Lorenzo said Mark Clemm told her he is a Whitpain planning commission member, but was solely representing clients, Brad and Andrea Heffler, who have two horses and plan to build a barn and new home.

The Hefflers live in Whitemarsh Township and were sued by neighbors in 2009 for cutting down at least 20 trees, and building a corral and riding trails that violated Land Trust easements, according toThe Philadelphia Inquirer.

Clemm told Patch in a separate interview he represents the Hefflers in a case involving five lawsuits on the Land Trust issue, which is near a global settlement.  “What’s ironic is we’re trying to move from horse unfriendly to horse friendly.”  We spoke to [West estate] neighbors and “they love having horses here,” so the Hefflers bought the property.

Lorenzo told supervisors she and her neighbors were delighted someone other than a developer was buying the property, so open space and horses would remain near their homes.

“There was deception in this land use,” she told supervisors.  In a separate interview, she told Patch that in February Clemm showed plans to her and her husband, Joseph.  The horse barn was situated on the east side of the property, leaving pasture as open space behind their backyard, she said. 

Lorenzo told supervisors Clemm asked her for a sewer easement to “help preserve the 11-acre grazing pasture.”

“I thought I was doing a great thing to help preserve green space by granting the sewer easement.  He [Clemm] asked for 10 feet, and I told him, ‘Take 20,’” because she was “thrilled” with the project.   Lorenzo said she did not initially seek money, but was advised to by a real estate broker. 

Clemm told Patch, “Mrs. Lorenzo is not entirely the good neighbor she portrays.”  He said he offered $2,500 initially for the sewer easement and she said, “That’s not good enough.”  Clemm said Lorenzo asked for $10,000, and they settled on $5,000.

Lorenzo told Patch on September 27 she “got a feeling that something was not right” after watching heavy equipment move earth on the Heffler’s property four weeks.  She went to the township, viewed the construction plans, and saw they had changed.

She told supervisors, “To our horror we learned that the 11 acres had actually been subdivided into three lots, and approximately 4.5 acres behind our home is a construction site for a “dressage-sized” riding arena. 

Clemm told Patch he met with the Lorenzos twice and was “crystal clear in telling them at least three times the plans were preliminary, and things could change.”  He said the only “immutable” (unchangeable) part of the plan was that property would be subdivided into three lots.

Lorenzo responded to Patch, “If he said that three times, we must have said 10 times how valuable the open space is behind our home and we love it.”

Lorenzo argued to supervisors that the barn’s size makes it the primary structure on the property, not an accessory building, and that it might be used commercially.  As a farm structure it requires 10 acres, she said.

The barn and arena cost $378,000, according to a July 27 township residential application.

Township solicitor James J. Garrity told Lorenzo, “It’s a very, very large legal building,” [in the residential (R-1) area].  The house on the property is the primary structure, said Garrity.  Clemm told Patch a caretaker and his wife may live in that home.

Board chairman Joseph J. Palmer told Lorenzo a grandfather built a recreation room that was like a gymnasium.  “Neighbors and township staff were concerned a building that size would bring in all kinds of activity.”  But, Palmer said, he is “wealthy and just has a different lifestyle.”  The recreation room was legal despite its size.

Clemm told Patch Lorenzo uses “dressage” in documents.  The word refers to “a stylized [riding] event,” he said.  “That’s not happening here because this is not a commercial enterprise.  The public will not be invited to watch horse shows,” Clemm said.

Lorenzo told supervisors a “clever architect” designed the 40-foot structure that lists as 19-feet high on township documents, due to a township formula to calculate “mean height.”

She told Patch the barn’s highest point will face her backyard and block views of the pasture that “has been a treasure” to her family 20 years. 

Clemm told Patch the barn’s highest point is 30 feet.  He said the Hefflers faced the barn’s front toward Lorenzo’s property so they would not look at the back of a barn.  Clemm added, “It will be a nice-looking pine barn with muted colors and pretty trim.  We’re making the effort to be accommodating and we’ll go to the expense of screening the view.  We’re trying.”  Lorenzo told Patch the township requires the screening.

She also told Patch, “We believed by signing and granting the easement there would be open fields for grazing.  There is no way we would have moved forward if there was not open space left behind our house.”  Clemm told Patch, “There is at least 75 feet of open space behind her house.”

When asked if he understood why Lorenzo felt duped, Clemm said, “It is a fluid situation with the state, county, township, our own engineers and contractors” giving construction input.  “In the course of township reviews, there were storm water, setback and elevation issues, and the ring was moved to the center lot,” he said. 

Clemm told Patch Lorenzo had not been notified of the barn’s change in location.  “More communication is better than less communication,” he said.

Clemm said he called Lorenzo after she filed an appeal in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court and went to the township.  He said Lorenzo told him, “I always expected an open view.”  He replied to her, “I told you things could change.”

“If we tried to involve Mrs. Lorenzo in every decision, it would be impossible, and she would not be happy,” said Clemm.

Lorenzo told Patch she wondered if the barn could straddle the line between two lots, closer to Morris Road, and “not on top of me.”   

Clemm told Patch open space, and storm water management requirements limit options.  He added, “If the barn is moved, then the next neighbor will complain.  This lot is the only one that really works,” he said.

Lorenzo told supervisors she was “naïve,” but implored them and the township manager to issue a cease and desist order because no impact study was done on the horse stable’s exterior illumination, HVAC noise pollution, county codes regarding vector control (for disease-causing pests), nor for the waste removal system.  

She told Patch there was no vector inspection before the old barn was demolished.  The day the barn roof was removed, her neighbor was bitten by a bat in his bedroom.  He paid $2,000 for rabies shots.  Lorenzo said she couldn’t say positively the bat came from the barn.

Code Enforcement Officer Michael McAndrew told Patch, “Issues raised by Mrs. Lorenzo are not all zoning or code issues.”  He said zoning “doesn’t regulate” lighting.  Air conditioner noise complaints would be handled by police.  Vector control is overseen by the county health department.  When asked if these issues were addressed prior to plan approval, he said he could not comment because a zoning hearing board appeal is a quasi-judicial proceeding.

Lorenzo told Patch, “The volume of animals, number of fans running continuously, the smell, the rats, bats and flies, and our home losing 20 percent of its value, are measurable, negative impacts to our family.”

Christine Yanak of Doans Way raised many of the same nuisance concerns to supervisors during the meeting.

Lorenzo told supervisors “28 horses” could be kept in the stable.  Township Manager Roman Pronczak said plans show six horse stalls.  Clemm said Mrs. Heffler may “typically have three or four friends trailer horses over to ride in the arena.” 

Lorenzo was frustrated the supervisors would not grant a cease and desist order for construction.  Palmer told Lorenzo the supervisors gave her “an unprecedented 35-45 minutes” to have the floor, but they had to follow the solicitor’s advice.

Garrity told her that because plans meet township codes, they could not issue that order.  Instead, he told her, “It’s a big deal…speaking as an attorney.  I think it’s worth the money to get an attorney,” to appeal to the zoning hearing board.

Lorenzo filed an appeal with the zoning hearing board October 5 and the township issued a cease and desist order that day.  Pronczak said, “There is an automatic stay when an appeal is filed with the zoning hearing board.”

A special meeting will be held Thursday, November 3 on the matter, said William H. McManus, assistant zoning inspector.  He said the board could take up to 45 days to render a decision.

Clemm told Patch heavy equipment is being pulled off the work site.  “The contractors aren’t staying there leaning on their shovels,” waiting for a decision.  He said if construction is delayed a year, construction costs could increase $250,000.  

Clemm said the project engineer gathered estimates that include 20-25 percent increases in materials and labor, possible regrading of the property if erosion occurred, refiling permits and hauling heavy equipment off and back onto the property.

He added, “If we go away because of the vibe we’re getting, the three lots may be subdivided into 10 lots.  Be careful what you wish for.”

Lorenzo told Patch, “Our motives are not capricious, malicious or avarice-driven.  This [plan] will have an impact on our lifestyle.”