Neighbors rally to guide Garrett Hill's development

Imagine a place in suburbia where neighbors check on each other, shovel snowy driveways together, and deliver soup to the sick.

It's a spot where children walk to the two local parks, a group of retired guys meets for cheap coffee and conversation before starting the day, and the neighborhood mechanic will drop what he's doing to listen to a funny-sounding engine.

People with Ph.D.s and others with blue-collar jobs live side by side, families reside on the same streets that their grandparents did - in some cases, in the same houses - and everything shuts down for the Fourth of July parade and picnic.

Sound a bit too Leave It to Beaver to be true?

The residents of Garrett Hill in Radnor Township will tell you it's not.

They have it that way, and they want to keep it that way.

Residents have worked tirelessly over two years to ensure they have had a say in zoning changes proposed in the township's master plan for the neighborhood. Countless hours of televised meetings and volumes of paperwork attest to their commitment.

On Monday, Radnor commissioners will hold a hearing and vote on the master plan. Residents feared that, without their input, the plan would change the culture of their neighborhood.

"There are not too many places like Garrett Hill left in this country," said Bill Kingsland, 57, owner of the local Bywood Seafood for 25 years.

While McMansions have sprung up across suburbia, Garrett Hill has apartments, twins, and single homes set close to the street on small lots with deep backyards built for vegetable gardens.

The small business district has changed over the years. What once was a general store is now a college bar. The post office is gone. A cleaners, a few small restaurants, auto repair shops, and a trophy store are at the epicenter of the neighborhood.

What defines Garrett Hill's boundaries is probably more a matter of opinion than a firm border.

Everyone agrees that Conestoga Road and Garrett Avenue is the crossroads of the neighborhood. After that, include three or four blocks in any direction, Clem Macrone and Emlen Tunnell Parks, and you get the gist.

Garrett Hill owes its beginning to an Indian trail running between the Schuylkill and the Susquehanna River. The path later became Conestoga Road, the heart of Garrett Hill, which about 14,000 cars now use daily.

Carved from a land grant by William Penn, the area was once known as Methodist Hill. In the 1800s, the land was subdivided and became known as Garrettville after Dr. Lewis T. Garrett, a property owner. In 1907, a rail line - now the R-100 - cut directly through Garrett Hill.

The small properties of Garrett Hill were purchased by laborers or railway workers, many of Irish or Scots-Irish descent. A number of Italian families eventually settled in Garrett Hill, and there was an African American enclave.

The first African American elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Emlen Tunnell, grew up in Garrett Hill.

The neighborhood is the epitome of diversity on the Main Line, said John Fischer, vice president of the Radnor Board of Commissioners.

"There are people from all walks of life living together - all nationalities, religions," he said.

"Everybody played together and ate together," recalled Joe Marchesani, 58, a life-long resident and owner of Garrett Hill Pizza, where the sauce has changed, but the crust has been the same for 19 years. "There were no problems. We all kind of stood up for each other."

Bob Adams, 48, a third-generation Garrett Hillian, describes it as Mayberry - a safe place surrounded by plenty of family. When he was young, Adams explained, if you did something bad, a neighbor threw a shoe at you.

Adams and his wife, a fourth-generation Garrett Hillian, bought his grandmother's house; a cousin, who now lives behind him, bought his grandfather's house.

"This community is so close-knit," Adams said, "you know everybody."

The diverse and affordable housing stock, ranging in price from $150,000 to $500,000, coupled with Radnor schools and proximity to transportation, makes the neighborhood attractive, said Jim Hocker of Duffy Real Estate.

Garrett Hill is what some planners now hope to create in a more ecofriendly approach to development.

In a traditional neighborhood development such as Garrett Hill, residents can eat, shop, and use mass transit all within a few blocks of their homes, said Marian Hull, a community planner with URS Corp. who prepared the master plan for Garrett Hill.

"It is something the development market has been doing more and more," Hull said.

In 2003, Radnor Township's Comprehensive Plan suggested making zoning improvements to the neighborhood's small business district. A $48,000 grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and $12,000 in township funds were earmarked in 2007 to create a Garrett Hill Master Plan and Overlay District.

The neighbors felt threatened. They signed petitions, and more than 100 residents went to the township meeting to ask for better representation and to have a voice on any zoning changes. "Save Garrett Hill" posters sprouted up on lawns.

The Garrett Hill Coalition was formed, and it appointed nine residents to a steering committee to represent the neighborhood's interests.

"We were worried that this [zoning] would be used as a tool for developers," said Rick Barker, the chairman.

Others have a vision for Garrett Hill that they hope will improve the area.

Steve Bajus, a commercial real estate developer and owner of the Rosemont Business Park in Garrett Hill, has helped with improvements in downtown Wayne. He says private investment would be needed to make similar improvements in the Garrett Hill commercial district, such as a more walkable area, with stores on the bottom floor and residences above.

Some neighbors, though, don't want to change the character of Garrett Hill.

"They know exactly what they want at the end of the day - to preserve the neighborhood," said Matt Baumann, director of community development for the township. "I don't think anyone anticipated this type of involvement. It has been real nice."

It is not the first time residents have banded together.

They have reached out to the Villanova University administration to improve a "hate-hate" relationship with some students in rental housing who neighbors feel don't respect the rules.

Long-time resident Sara Pilling, with a background as a community organizer, has tried to help bridge the gap with students. At 72, she is concerned about the zoning vote, but said she was still committed to Garrett Hill.

A demonstration of her commitment? She added a first-floor bathroom. When she no longer can walk upstairs, she can still live in Garrett Hill.

"That is how I planned the rest of my life," Pilling said. "I know there are people here who will keep an eye on me."