Residents who fought for years to protect historic Crebilly Farm now brace for plans to its 19th-century inn

The yearslong battle to preserve one of the last bits of undeveloped land in a Chester County township has not lost steam, despite officials’ efforts to allay residents’ fears of a historic farm becoming home to strip malls.

The community has been in an ongoing scrimmage to keep the 206-acre Crebilly Farm an open space, fending off dense residential development five years ago, which ultimately opened the door for the township to purchase the land for preservation.

And the residents have not grown complacent. At a public meeting Monday, they pressed Westtown Township officials to reconsider any commercial development around the area — even if it is limited to a two-acre 19th-century inn on the property that the township plans to auction off.

Officials said an email had circulated that “mischaracterized the intent and scope of the agenda item” on the comprehensive plan that sounded alarm bells for community preservationists who showed up Monday.

“Just so we’re clear, there is absolutely no initiative right now to rezone Crebilly Preserve in any fashion, period, full stop,” Ed Yost, chairman of the board, told attendees. “Characterizing this as an imminent strip mall or warehouse along the corridor is just not the fact.”

The township said Friday that concerns seemed to stem from proposed changes to the 2019 comprehensive plan, which suggested mixed use on the corridor by the preserve. The comprehensive plan, which is a guidance document that does not call for imminent changes, would open up the possibility of commercialization of a two-acre property at the corner of State Routes 202 and 926, where the Darlington Inn sits.

“Over the past two years, the township has made substantial efforts to communicate transparently about its plans for Crebilly Preserve,” the supervisors said in a statement. “Westtown Township remains firmly committed to preserving its open space.”

The township has planned to auction off the inn, purchased by the municipality when it acquired Crebilly.

“This step was necessary because grant requirements would have otherwise mandated demolition of the building,” the statement said. “By purchasing the property separately, the township created an opportunity for its future adaptive reuse. It was clearly communicated that this small parcel would be zoned to allow a mix of potential uses in order to maximize preservation outcomes and enable the township to recoup its investment.”

The board did not take a vote on the proposed comprehensive plan on Monday, postponing further discussion.

Elizabeth Moro, who cofounded Neighbors for Crebilly with her husband in an effort to engage neighbors and save the historic land from residential development, said her phone had been blowing up ahead of the meeting. Residents had feared that the whole corridor was being considered for commercial development. Some of those fears were quelled, though the community still wants to have a say over the inn, she said.

“I think it was a happy outcome, but everyone is still on alert that they need to stay engaged and continue to stay informed of the process,” she said.

Crebilly was acquired with a mix of federal, state, and county grants, along with a resident-approved tax referendum, which limits what the township could do. Darlington Inn, on the other hand, was listed and sold separately from the Crebilly Preserve for $200,000, paid for with taxpayer dollars.

Yost said that officials had seen several presentations on how the Darlington property could be used — a bank, or a coffee shop — a “limited sort of use within the two acres.”

“Right now, the property is just sitting there. The building’s vacant. It’s not its highest and best use. … [It is] going to cost the township money; we have to maintain it on an ongoing basis,” he said. “That’s part of the thinking behind what we want to do with the property.”

Once it’s auctioned off, “it’s quite possible it’ll be somebody who wants to put an office there,” supervisor Tom Foster said. But any rezoning and development of that parcel would have to go through an extensive process, which includes more public hearings and meetings before any formal decision could be made.

Still, residents were worried.

“You’re representing us. If people want to preserve that corner, I think there should be some kind of input as far as, ‘Do we really want to zone it commercial and auction it off?’ That’s my question,” resident Richard Hurst said. “It seems like you’re assuming that we all want that zoned commercial and sold. I don’t think that’s the case.”

Supervisors maintained auctioning off the parcel had been the plan.

“If people are so in love with it, they can pool their money and buy it and do whatever they want with it,” Foster said.

Moro said separately that neighbors seemed open to that possibility.

“I definitely saw the passion from the neighbors that there be at least conversations on what could be done to save it, because it is a historic building, and it’s part of the tract,” she said.

It could be teeing the community up for more action. Resident Ann Helion told the officials Monday that “this turnout is a small one, and we’ve all been down the road where we went through the big turnouts.”

“I’m asking, are you getting the idea that we haven’t gone away, and we’re not going to go away, and we’re keeping a very close eye?” she said. “We do not want Crebilly commercialized. We saved it as green space for our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. We don’t want little strip malls along the way. That’s not what we fought for, and it’s not necessary. And when you say maintaining it or keeping it up, or is it meeting its peak value — this is peak value. This is worthwhile.”

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