Marple, County Officials Dedicated To Preserving Don Guanella Site

MARPLE TOWNSHIP, PA — Despite unsubstantiated rumors of immigrants possibly being housed on the 213-acre Don Guanella site in Marple Township, local and county officials are dedicated to preserving its open space as it is in the process of becoming Delaware County's largest park.

"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.

Marple Township Board of Commissioners President Joe Rufo, who represents the first ward, said the property is "very sensitive" to residents.

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

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

Both Rufo and Gentile declined to comment on the rumors regarding immigrant housing.

The Marple Township Planning Board is holding a meeting at 7 p.m. March 28 regarding a zoning change to the site. Officials are proposing rezoning the property R-B Residential, R-C Residential, and Institutional to Open Space.

Patch contacted local and county officials after the rumors over immigrant housing resurfaced on social media via a local blogger, who cited unnamed sources when making a claim immigrants could be housed on the Don Gunaella site.

The blogger speculated the proposed zoning change "seems to be because of rumors that the county wants to put Illegal Migrants at this location," and cited unnamed sources for those rumors.

Delaware County Council President Dr. Monica Taylor told Patch said she's unsure why the township is now moving to amend the zoning, but said it's welcome, as establishing a park at the property has been a county goal for several years.

County officials have received emails and calls criticizing officials for planning to house immigrants there.

Those rumors have no truth to them, and Taylor reiterated the county's statement issued earlier this week on the rumors.

The same blogger who began circulating these rumors is also the person who spread rumors about immigrants potentially being housed at the now closed Delaware County Memorial Hospital and Springfield Hospital.

Taylor suspects that rumor — which the county and the hospitals' owner Prospect Medical Holdings dispelled — didn't get much of a response, causing the focus of the rumors to shift to Don Guanella, which is wholly owned by the county.

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.

With immigration a focal point of the upcoming presidential election, Taylor said these rumors are likely an attempt to inject national politics into the governance of Delaware County.

"We can't set policies around immigration," she said.

Echoing the county's statement from this week, Taylor said these rumors "help to spread hate and fear," and that they are not productive or emblematic of the community.

"We have an amazing, vibrant immigrant community in our county," she said. "They are part of the fabric of the county."

The property will be the county's first county park in 30 years, and feature 213 acres focused on the woodlands that now serve as one of the county's largest forests.

In March 2022, Delaware County Council approved and funded a proposal to create a plan to transform the property into the largest public park in the county.

Officials have been working to establish the new park since about 2021 after its development into housing and institutional use was unanimously rejected by the Marple Township Board of Commissioners and opposed by the Planning Commission.