Don Guanella Zoning Hearing Set For Thursday Night In Marple

MARPLE TOWNSHIP, PA — The Marple Township Planning Board will discuss a zoning change to the Don Guanella property Thursday night.

A meeting is planned for 7 p.m. Thursday in the Marple Township Administration Building at 227 S. Sproul Road.

The topic is a zoning change to the site. Officials are proposing rezoning the property R-B Residential, R-C Residential, and Institutional to Open Space.

>>>RELATED: Marple, County Officials Dedicated To Preserving Don Guanella Site<<<

This comes as Delaware County, which now owns the property, into a new county park.

However, rumors claim the board's move to change zoning was to stem the county from housing immigrants on the property.

That rumor has been dispelled by local and county officials.

Officials from Marple told Patch their plan has always been to ensure the property is used for open space purposes.

Delaware County Council President Dr. Monica Taylor said the county's goal since about 2021 has been establishing a park at the site.

While the property is largely open space now, there are existing structures there that could be used for municipal or community programming purposes, she said.

However, some of those structures could be unsafe and even structures that are safe could be demolished to create more open space, she said.