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Newtown Square supervisor claims political harassment

By Anthony R. Wood

Inquirer Staff Writer

Jack DiPompeo, a Newtown Square supervisor, determined rather quickly that the gentleman in a police uniform who knocked on the door of his stone house two weeks ago wasn't an early trick-or-treater.

First, the uniformed visitor was in the company of the township manager and a zoning officer, and rather than a treat bag, he was brandishing a warrant to search DiPompeo's property for contraband - in this case, an illegal apartment.

"I was flabbergasted," said DiPompeo.

DiPompeo, who earlier this year abandoned the Republican Party and is running as a Democrat in a hotly contested reelection battle for Newtown Township supervisor, said he believed the incident had more to do with politics than the integrity of the township's zoning code. He said he felt his GOP foes had thrown a high, hard one - even by Delaware County's traditional hardball standards.

Though DiPompeo is a Democrat, he retained a prominent Republican lawyer - former state Supreme Court Justice William H. Lamb, who promptly accused the township of "outrageous conduct" and warned that its actions exposed it to "extensive civil liability."

Township Manager James M. Sheldrake and Bruce Irvine, the solicitor, insisted the warrant had nothing to do with politics, that DiPompeo knew he'd run afoul of the code, and that he easily could have done something about it.

At issue is an "in-law suite" that DiPompeo added to the Bryn Mawr Avenue home that he purchased from his parents 18 years ago. His parents lived in the suite until they died seven years ago, he said, and he began renting out the 800-square-foot addition a year later.

Since the house is zoned as a single residence, it is illegal to rent out a portion of it.

DiPompeo, long involved in local government, said his rental unit was no secret in the township. He said it is now occupied by an Iraq war veteran and his wife and baby.

DiPompeo said that in zoning matters, it is standard procedure to notify property owners in writing of alleged violations - not to knock on doors and serve them with warrants. He said he was unaware of township officials' ever acting in this manner before.

"Never have they ever served a warrant like this," he said. "This is not a criminal situation. Bring the SWAT team out for a zoning violation?"

Sheldrake and Irvine said that the township had issued warrants for alleged violations in the past and that DiPompeo had been sent notices by regular and certified mail - and had not responded.

"He was given, back in August, a notice of violation," Sheldrake said.

"I don't know where that letter is," said DiPompeo.

As for pursuing the matter informally, Sheldrake said: "He had all of September to say something to me. He chose not to."

DiPompeo said the warrant incident was orchestrated to "embarrass" him. He said the police officer showed up at 4 p.m. on Oct. 8, a Thursday.

It came a month before the election and a few days before a key supervisors' vote on Newtown Square's $500 million mixed-use "Town Center" development, a project DiPompeo has long supported and Republicans have opposed.

He said the episode has hampered his campaign in a town dominated for decades by Republicans but where Democrats have lately become fiercely competitive.

"I'm out there door-to-door," he said, "and all I'm doing is answering questions about police knocking on my door."

Contact staff writer Anthony R. Wood at 610-313-8210 or twood@phillynews.com.

Inquirer staff writer Joelle Farrell contributed to this article.

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Comments

Posted 01:26 PM, 10/23/2009

sillybilly

What's the matter, all the Pinko lawyers working for ACORN now?

Posted 02:46 PM, 10/23/2009

Sports4Life

I would be weary of anyone that retains Bill Lamb as a lawyer. Note that Justice Lamb is a major SugarHouse investor in the casinos going up in Philadelphia.

Posted 02:56 PM, 10/23/2009

scargosun

If it's true, the Republicans opened up a can of worms out there. There are tons of pieces of land, small apartments, etc that are being rented 'illegally'. They are stupid if they think this won't bite them later.

Posted 03:00 PM, 10/23/2009

Shabba Rommel

typical. politics in this country is all about power and less about service. regardless of political position, this doenst appear to be proper protocal on the part of twp officials.

Posted 03:08 PM, 10/23/2009

boroughboy

Sheldrake and company should be called to the carpet by the state AG. Police knocking on your door for an in-law sweet? Not a good precedant Newtown Square. When cops knock at your door for that, what is next? Gonna knock for my Phillies flag?

Posted 06:11 PM, 10/23/2009

msvndy

I think he is making a mountain out of a molehill for free publicity.

Posted 08:53 PM, 10/23/2009

Heartqueen

Sports4life, attorneys can handle numerous cases at the same time and not have them bleed into each other. Obviously, Jack felt that he needed a big gun to address the unbelievable action taken by the township. They'd better start going door to door and enforcing that law uniformly or they will be open to a major liability lawsuit in the future. And what about the timing? Politics is a dirty business, but Newtown Township seems to have sunk so far into the quagmire that they may not be able to dig themselves out. And msvndy, this is not a molehill. See how you feel when you're presented with a search warrant at your property.