Delco Clashes Over Park, Mental Health Service Plans At Don Guanella

MARPLE TOWNSHIP, PA — Delaware County is mandated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to provide mental health services for its residents. But the county's proposal to use existing structures on the former Don Guanella property in Marple, now called Delco Woods, has left some people feeling betrayed.

The Delaware County council acquired the property via eminent domain with the goal of creating the county's first park in 30 years by preserving its 213 acres of wooded land.

While the park will be established, the county has floated the idea of using existing structures on a portion of the property along Sproul Road for residential mental health services. County officials filed an application with Marple Township to preserve its rights to potentially use those structures for those exact purposes.

Marple Township Commissioners will discuss the application — as well as a proposed ordinance that would rezone the three parcels that make up the property to from R-B Residential, R-C Residential, and Institutional to Open Space — during a special meeting that will begin at 7 p.m. Monday in the Marple Township Municipal Building, 227 S. Sproul Road in Broomall. Rezoning the parcels to open space would prohibit the county from using any of the property for anything other than parks and recreation purposes.

Marple and other Delco residents are planning to attend the meeting in force to oppose the county's plan and to ensure the property is only used for open space.

The county will have representatives at Monday's meeting to argue for the application to preserve rights to use the structures on the property. When asked about the commissioners' plan regarding the county's application to preserve its rights, Marple Township Board of Commissioners President Joe Rufo declined to comment, citing potential litigation.

"I feel like I've been lied to," Save Marple Greenspace President Charles Protesto told Patch.

Protesto said despite having overall different politics from the Democrat-controlled county council, he was all in on the efforts by the county to preserve the property, as the lifelong Marple resident spent his childhood on the property when it was a farm.

"I was on that property daily when it was a farm," he said. He'd help the owner with various tasks, as the owner had only daughters and Protesto grew up about 1,000 feet from the land. "I know how beautiful it is there."

For years, he and others, including former Save Marple Greenspace Vice President Joe Finio, worked to keep developers from the property to preserve the pastoral swath.

"We did a lot to save the property, to ensure it wasn't used for commercial purposes," Finio told Patch.

Finio said saving the property was a bipartisan effort and that personal politics were pushed to the wayside by residents and stakeholders of all stripes for the preservation work.

Protesto and Finio acknowledge some residents felt, and still feel, commercial development was a preferred option to the current proposal from the county. But they say the past is the past, and what matters now is the property's future.

Delaware County Councilwoman Elaine Paul Schaefer shares similar feelings to Finio and Protesto, calling the proposal unwise.

"I understand the feeling," she said about residents' and stakeholders' frustration about the plan. "I myself feel quite heartbroken about it.

"I deeply respect my colleagues, but I think they are misguided on this issue. They don't see it my way."

Shaefer is the lone opposing voice for the proposal among the council, with council members Monica Taylor, Richard Womack, Kevin Madden, and Christine Reuther backing the idea. Patch reached out to Taylor, the council president, on April 8, but did not receive a response.

Delaware County Executive Director Barbara O'Malley said officials acknowledge not everyone is in support of the proposal.

"We're trying to navigate the dual requirements," she said of creating the park and providing the mandated mental health services. "Will do what we see as best for the residents."

O'Malley said the county is working with Marple Township leaders and residents, as well as county residents, during the process.

Given the property's beauty, she said it would be a great place for people suffering from mental illnesses to heal.

But others strongly disagree.

"It blows my mind that they think this is the place to house it," Protesto said. "They never mentioned that this could be the possibility."

Protesto said while he was looking at Google Maps, he noticed plenty of unused space on the ground of the George W. Hill Correctional facility. From what he saw, he thinks the county could use some of that space for these services.

"To me, they've got to keep their word," Finio said of the county's initial plan that he and Protesto say never mentioned mental health services. "Did they ever have any intention to do anything with it?"

As part of the planning and development process for Delco Woods, the county issued a survey that hundreds of residents responded to. One question on the survey gauged residents' priority on using the existing structures for governmental use. According to Schaefer, governmental use of the buildings was dead last in terms of importance to residents.

Neither Schaefer nor O'Malley could recall when discussions of housing mental health services there began. Schaefer said she was sure the plans would not move forward when discussions began.

Taylor made no mention of potential mental health services on any part of the property during an interview with Patch in late March, but did say some could be used for municipal purposes.

"I thought reasonable minds would prevail, and I didn't worry about it too much," Schaefer said.

Protesto accused the council of keeping this plan quiet until recently.

The longtime resident and open space defender says he feels as though he's been stabbed in the back after defending the council when rumors of illegal immigrants being housed on the property surfaced.

>>>RELATED: No Immigrant Housing Coming To Don Guanella Site: Delco Officials<<<

Representatives from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to comment on what, if any actions, federal authorities could take were illegal immigrants to be housed in Delaware County-owned property.

Residents at recent public meetings have cited Marple Township employees when discussing those rumors. Marple Township Manager Larry Gentile and Rufo declined to comment on the rumors. The two have emphasized the importance of preserving the property for open space, however.

If you have information on the rumored housing of illegal immigrants in Delaware County, email Max.Bennett@Patch.com.

"It has always been the intention of Marple Township Board of Commissioners to change the Zoning at this location to conform with the intended use of open space and preserve the forest," Marple Township Manager Larry Gentile told Patch via email in March.

"It is extremely important to the community that this land remains as open space," Rufo said in an email to Patch, also in March.

On social media, residents have expressed concerns and doubts over the county's plans and statement. Some worry that housing mental health services so close to a park could pose safety risks.

O'Malley said educating county residents about those services, the facility's security measures, and more would be part of the process, should it move forward.

The county has entered into an agreement with a provider for mental health services after issuing a request for proposal, however details about the provider were not immediately made available by the county.

Schaefer is fully aware and supportive of the efforts to provide mental health services to residents. The proposed location is the issue, as she sees open spaces just as important to citizens as sewers and roads.

"When you come at it from that type of priority, you do everything you can to maximize the impact the taxpayers paid for," she said.

"Schaefer had been with us since the beginning of this when she was a Radnor Township Commissioner," Protesto said.

O'Malley said the county's goal was to preserve the wooded area of the property, which officials say has been accomplished. But the search for facilities to house mental health services began in 2021, and led the county to pursue the buildings — of which the viability is still in question, per O'Malley — on the property in question.

Schaefer said while the county's plan on the surface appears to have an impact largely on Marple residents, the issue is countywide.

"People have reached out from all over the county who are heartbroken," she said.

One good thing that will come out of the current situation, Schaefer said, is that another, more appropriate site for mental health services will be found.