Township resolution makes Maguire renovations more difficult

On March 26, Saint Joseph's University's ultimate aspirations for the athletic facilities on Maguire Campus were checked by a ruling of the Township of Lower Merion's Zoning Hearing Board.

After months of controversy between Saint Joseph's and the Merion Community Coalition, a group of concerned residents of Lower Merion that ballooned to nearly 400 members in the weeks before last Thursday's ruling, the Board ruled in favor of the Coalition. Both sides filed appeals on Sept. 16, 2008 surrounding the issue of "similar use" dictated in the purchasing agreement for the property. In acquiring the former Episcopal Academy, Saint Joseph's agreed that it would not change the purpose of the land or buildings contained within its boundaries.

Saint Joseph's filed its appeal to assert that it needed no more permission than it had already been granted to move forward with certain initiatives, such as the installation of a public address system and the construction of press boxes and dugouts at the newly acquired baseball and softball fields. The Zoning Board had requested that such renovation projects be brought before it for consideration.

The Merion Community Coalition simultaneously filed an appeal dictating that those projects were in outright violation of the "similar use" requirement.

In the end, Saint Joseph's appeal was denied, and the Merion Community Coalition's was partially approved. The issue is now back where it began. The same projects that were to require special approval from the Zoning Board must once again be considered individually in light of the "similar use" agreement.

While the Merion Community Coalition has succeeded in preventing Saint Joseph's from moving forward unhindered with certain projects, it is still possible for the university to obtain special permission from the zoning board.

Coalition member Lauren Wylonis, a forensic psychiatrist and mother of two, is concerned that the renovations and additions Saint Joseph's is seeking to make to the athletic facilities on Maguire Campus may be a detriment to the surrounding residential area. To Wylonis, the township's decision represents an acknowledgement of the Merion Community Coalition's efforts to bring its concerns before the governing bodies of the township.

"We're encouraged that the zoning board has upheld the law and basically said that it applies to everyone equally," she said. "It seemed for a while that the law was going to apply differently to St. Joe's."

Wylonis said she and other members of the coalition were frustrated by what they perceived as closed dealings between the university and public officials. Planning meetings between university officials and commissioners, for example, seemed off limits to concerned residents.

"Over and over again, we're presented with a situation where we hear one thing from St. Joe's and yet hear from five other sources that something else is going on," she said.

"Before this, we've felt that St. Joe's has been very willing to have secret meetings with commissioners and talk with politicians, but every time we approach they say 'No, we don't want to talk to you about this.'"

Joan Chrestay, vice president for External Affairs at Saint Joseph's, said the university was entitled to hold any necessary meetings with public officials concerning the development of Maguire Campus as a proprietary right.

"We meet with elected officials about Saint Joseph's University business without other people there on a very regular basis. That would include Lower Merion Township Commissioners, and State Representatives from Lower Merion Township or Montgomery County in general. We meet with Philadelphia elected officials and members of Congress," she said. "There is nothing unusual about our meeting with elected officials about university business."

As part of a community outreach effort, the Zoning Board asked Saint Joseph's to hold informational meetings detailing its plans for Maguire Campus. Wylonis described these meetings as a mere formality.

"There was no exchange of information. There was a basic plan presented, which really bore no resemblance to what they then planned to do, and absolutely bore no resemblance to what they obtained special exception for in 2004-2005," she said.

Chrestay said that, by the time the informational meetings took place, the university's plans were already part of the public record since they had already been submitted to the township.

In the meantime, the Merion Community Coalition has continued to express a desire for open lines of communication. Much of the organization's assertive actions in presenting its position, including hiring legal counsel, came as a result of a lack of effective rapport with administrators at Saint Joseph's, said Wylonis.

"It's not rocket science. I bet if I got together a group of 20 St. Joe's students, they could figure out a solution to this in a week," she said. "[The students] would do a better job than the administration and I'd take them to negotiate with any day. It's just about being reasonable. There's a reasonable middle ground where everybody can come out benefitting."

The decision does not necessarily represent a death knell for the university's plans to make the athletic facilities on Maguire Campus competitive venues for collegiate sports, however. While the Zoning Hearing Board rendered a curt, 10-minute decision on the matter last Thursday, they instructed concerned parties to read their decisions, released in full the next day. Lawyers on both sides have since been poring over the documents.

"Our attorneys are currently reviewing our options and we've not yet made a decision as to how we are moving forward," said Chrestay.