Lower Makefield zoning board nixes equine hospital plan

Delighting many residents but disappointing township officials, the Lower Makefield zoning board declined Tuesday to grant variances to husband-and-wife veterinarians seeking to build an equine hospital on a parcel of Patterson Farm, a large swath of open space owned by the township.

Board members cited a variety of reasons for the 5-0 decision, including the potential for the hospital to change the character of the neighborhood around the farm, and setting a poor precedent by parceling out the land to private entities.

"When you start taking pieces away from it, it's not the farm it was," said board member Jerry Gruen.

After the vote, dozens of residents in attendance applauded.

"This is such a significant property in the township," Donna Doan said afterward. Doan started an online petition to "Preserve Patterson Farm" several months ago; it had garnered nearly 2,000 signatures by Tuesday afternoon.

Most officials had supported the plan, saying the 234-acre farm - purchased for about $7 million through eminent domain in 1998 - is expensive to maintain.

Township Supervisor Kristin Taylor said she was "certainly disappointed" by the vote, since the hospital would have occupied a house that has been empty for more than a decade and about five acres around it. The project was a way to renovate the property without burdening taxpayers, she said.

"This places squarely on our lap again, 'What do we do with this property?' " she said.

Opponents of the plan, including Doan, argued that the township's neglect of the property has led to its dilapidated appearance, and that it is the township's responsibility to maintain the property rather than sell pieces to reduce costs.

Amy Bentz, the veterinarian behind the proposal, declined to comment Tuesday night. She had appealed to the zoning board after the township agreed to sell her the property - contingent upon variance approval - last year.

Doan said she would try to work with residents and the township to develop alternative plans for the site. Calling Patterson Farm a "gateway to the township," Doan said she hoped to find a public use for it.