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Quick background: The Mozino tract is a 15ish acre wooded parcel off State Road in Drexel Hill, the last unprotected forest in Upper Darby. Greg Lingo’s Rockwell Development wanted it rezoned into a new “Community Mixed Use” district for townhomes, apartments and retail. Council tabled that ordinance on August 12 after months of packed meetings where not one person spoke in favor. Lingo said that night he’d be a willing seller at around $8mil.
Greg Lingo held a community meeting at his own brewery in Drexel Hill and let the community know that he’s abandoning the community mixed use plan entirely.
The two paths
Lingo laid out two tracks he says he’s running at the same time.
The first is selling the property to whomever for conservation. He said he’s communicating regularly with Bonnie Hallam and their Save The Mozino coalition.
The environmental groups have to get the money, and somebody, the township or the county or a third party like Natural Lands Trust, has to agree to own it and maintain it.
The second is that Greg already reached an agreement with a national publicly traded home builder who would build the 56 single family homes the property is zoned for right now. He would not be the builder, so he’d sell it and walk.
When asked directly why he’s no longer building it himself: “You guys beat me down to the point where I am not.”
Why by right is worse than the CMU
The CMU ordinance required a council vote. That’s why residents could pack a room for months on end and win. Fifty six single detached family homes is permitted by right. There is no zoning vote, no public hearing on whether it should happen, etc. A land development plan gets submitted, the township engineer checks it against the ordinance, and if it complies, it gets approved. Greg also said he expects the home prices to be north of $700k. This means path one is the only acceptable outcome.
What’s gone in path two
So there are (3) things to know about the by right plan for single family homes.
The public park is gone. The CMU plan included a public park and at least 20k sqft of public green space. So now only the creek corridor on both sides would be open space.
But that land can’t be built on anyway. There’s a riparian buffer there and a pipeline right of way. So the “open space” in path two is the land nobody could develop under any scenario.
Affordability housing is gone. Lingo said the homes would be 2800 to 3600 sqft, priced “at least in the 700s.”
The CMU pitch had different housing types at different price points so different people would have the opportunity to buy.
Kyle McIntyre had gotten Lingo on the record committing to 20% of units as affordable.
Now…what replaces it is 56 detached houses starting north of $700k in the township.
Community input is gone. A resident asked whether theyd all get the same chance to weigh in with the new builder the way they have with him. The answer is No.
A national publicly traded builder has no relationship whatsoever with Drexel Hill or the township and really has no reason to take a phone call whatsoever.
The “You guys beat me down” comment is also a pretty convenient outcome for him. He gets to hand the property to someone with zero local ties, take his money, and be done with it.
A resident broke down the math and he said a $700,000 house, assessed accordingly, would carry an annual tax bill somewhere around $18k to $20k, and questioned who can actually afford that.
Even the developer said that he wasnt sure.
He answered Qs
Definitely have to give credit where it’s due because he took every single question in that room.
It was a pretty short meeting. Most of the questions related to the property iteself has been covered.
Save the Mozino coalition
Bonnie Hallam thanked Lingo for entertaining path one and then told the room that someone has to agree to own it and maintain it. Township, county, or a third party.
Her ask is to call your council people and the township and tell them what you want to happen.
Upper Darby doesnt have the money to outright buy this. Land conservation groups need to come up with the money or 56 single family homes will be built.
Things to do
While the land conservationists try to come up with the funds to acquire this property…
Email County Council and ask whether the green infrastructure bond, if voters approve it, could be used for this parcel of land.
The county has a $120mil green infrastructure bond on the November ballot, and the pitch for that bond has literally been keeping land out of the hands of developers.
Does Drexel Hill have a real estate market that supports 56 homes selling at almost 3/4 of a million dollars each?
$700+ housing with approximately $18k to $20k in annual taxes is outrageous for an Upper Darby SD home. Swarthmore or Radnor, yes UDSD, I doubt it.