Mental Health Services Floated At Don Guanella Site

MARPLE TOWNSHIP, PA — About a week after the Marple Township Planning Board unanimously agreed on rezoning the Don Guanella property to open space, Delaware County officials floated the idea of hosting mental health services on a portion of the property.

The Delaware County Council and other officials Wednesday discussed the potential mental health services on the site during a regular meeting.

Executive Director Barbara O’Malley said the county is looking to preserve its rights to use some of the existing buildings on the property for office and residential services.

These services, O'Malley said, would be for residential support for people with mental illness. In providing these residential mental health services, people with mental illness can transition back into the community from high-level care facilities. People with low level mental health care needs could also use these services.

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The county filed an application with Marple Township to preserve their rights to use existing buildings on the property for those services under its current zoning, if it is needed by the county.

Marple Township Board of Commissioners President Joe Rufo in an email to Patch reiterated the importance of the land be used for open space and recreation, as was the purpose in the county’s declaration of taking.

"This week's application by the county to build structured housing does not fit that purpose," he said.

County officials confirmed to Patch that the current proposal involves only involves existing structures, not the construction of new building.

The property, totaling about 280 acres, is zoned R-B Residential, R-C Residential, and Institutional at the moment. 213 of the 280 acres make up the Don Guanella area. However, the Marple Township Commissioners on April 15 will hold a special meeting and public hearing on a proposed ordinance that would amend the property's zoning to Open Space.

Taylor told Patch on March 22 that the rezoning effort was welcome, as establishing a park at the property has been a county goal for several years, however she spoke in support of mental health services being established on the site.

"We look forward to presenting more information at the Marple Township meeting in support of this application," O'Malley said.

The county, Taylor said during the meeting, is mandated to provide mental health services, and said hosting those services on county-owned property makes the most sense.

Some existing structures on the property — which are off Sproul Road and not deep into the wooded area, per Councilman Kevin Madden — could be used for these services.

Madden spoke in favor of using part of the property for these services, while Councilwoman Elaine Paul Schaefer spoke out against using the property for anything other than open space and preservation.

Before the discussion of mental health services at the site, officials announced a new name for the property: Delco Woods.

Councilwoman Christine Reuther said "Delco Woods" was chosen after getting hundreds of name suggestion submissions via a contest.

A total of 518 names were submitted, and after a review, the list was whittled down to about 10 names, then down to three.

Other names were Wet Stone Woods and Lenapehoking Woods.

Reuther said with the vast majority of the property being wooded, the council sought to keep "woods" in the name.

"We wanted to make sure everybody knew that's what we were focusing on," she said, citing how important wooded areas are to the environment.

Delco Woods was submitted by more than one person, Reuther said.

"We decided that would really make the point that this is an inclusive place, and it's meant for everybody who resides in the county," she said.

Schaefer said a drawing will be held between the people who suggested the name Delco Woods, and a prize will be awarded to the winner.

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.

Watch the meeting below: