Breaking News

July 1, 2008

I have 2 things to impart:

- A hearing is set for Aug. 8

As you know, Fronheiser's attorneys counter filed to have our suit dismissed. However, when a date was set for this motion to be heard, they kept filing for a delay. Our attorney countered by filing sanctions against them. The hearing on August 8th will be a hearing on motions and no evidence or witnesses will be presented. We'll see if there is actually a hearing !

- There have been further inquiries as to whether or not we might be interested in buying the park

After refusing to even entertain a bid from our association, now we are being asked if we want to buy the place! Of course, you all know the condition things are in now that the park has been turned into a garbage dump - still if the price is right???

I will need to hear your thoughts on this development. Email me or call. I am working on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so those are not good days, but any other day is fine. Please pass the word on to anyone you know who is not online. After the holiday, I will work on getting out a mailing.

March 17th St Patrick's Day

After having been appropriately admonished, I thought I had better show some life here! I have been out of commission for the last several weeks dealing with yet another surgery. I just seem to be falling apart these days ;-)

I am on the road to recovery and am allowed to drive short distances, so I will see about visiting our attorneys for an update. The last I heard, the Dennis responded to our suit by filing to have it dismissed. There has been no action on this so far. Our organization person is Bruce Hemphill, but our litigator is Michael Smigiel. Since he is also a sitting state representative, action can't be brought until the legislative session has ended. As far as know, no action has been scheduled at this time. So the news is: there is no news, but I have been told that people want to know this.

Thanks to all who responded to the last mailing, and, to answer several questions: Yes, there is still a CPHOA, yes the suit is ongoing ( if glacially slowly!) and yes we will still file ALL of our suits if needed, even if there is only one member left. At this pace, I'm beginning to wonder if I'll live to see the day!

Rich Micolucci stopped by to say hello a few weeks ago and seems to be doing well.

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Dec. 19, 2007

It was with great sadness that I learned just last evening, that our friend and board member, Lori Micolucci has died suddenly of a heart attack. Rick, our hearts are with you and your family. Lori will be missed.

. . . Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord. . .

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Dec. 2, 2007

Interesting development! I was reluctant to mention this earlier,since it wasn't definite then, but there have been overtures from Robert Welch, Dennis' lawyer and co-developer, about whether we are interested in making an offer to buy Chestnut Point!!! News we would have been overjoyed to hear several years ago, before the place was destroyed!!!

We will need to have a meeting of the membership to discuss this development. I would like to schedule a meeting for early in January. (December would be better, but it's too crazy for everyone. I , personally, am already fully booked for the month.)

The Board of directors will meet Sunday, December 9th at 12:30 PM at my house.

I've just mostly recovered from a huge computer disaster. After a week of trying, I have recovered most of my data. I have not, however recovered my address book with my email lists. I haven't given up yet, but I have started to re-enter addresses from saved lists.( After several days of trying, I recovered all my documents) If you are reading this, send me an email. It will enable me to put you back on my email list more quickly. Also, addresses have changed since I made the original list. The changes entered will not show up on the list I recovered.

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November 14, 2007

After a long wait, the first phase of our lawsuit to recover some of the money we lost has been filed. Since each distinct group of members had a different set of issues, it was decided to file in several phases.

On Oct. 3, the first phase of our lawsuit was filed for the year-round residents with the court. The filing was delayed because there was some doubt as to whom we could legally sue. The original self-styled "equity owner", James Quillen, is now in bankruptcy court and Chestnut Point is not even mentioned as part of those proceedings.

That leaves us with Dennis "it's my property, I can do what I want with it" Fronheiser. Papers were then mailed to D.F.'s last known address. Apparently "the Dennis" has moved, or at least changed his address, because the paperwork was returned. At that point, a process server was hired and the papers duly served on Oct. 30. The Dennis now has 30 days to reply.

I had hoped to have something more concrete to tell you by now, but there it is. If there are no efforts to settle in this first phase, the the second phase for the water/sewer and campers will be filed. The hope is that further expense can be avoided by settling early on, but that is not something we can control. The ball is in Dennis' court right now and our next move will depend on what he does in the next 30 days. We should have further news to report by mid-December. A newsletter with this same information is now ready to go and we will get it in the mail as soon as possible

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October 25, 2007

For those interested in attending, we will meet with Bruce Hemphill on Friday evening, Nov. 9 at 6:00 for an update on the progress on our suit. We will meet in his office in Elkton. Mr. Hemphill's conference room will only hold about 10, so if a large number are interested I will need to book a larger space. Notify me by email if you want to attend. So far, 3 people have said they would attend.

The first phase was filed on behalf of the year-round residents. Other filings will follow at intervals until all groups are represented. I will dedicate this weekend to getting out a newsletter mailing. Cindy Lehman has kindly offered to take care of the mailing part — thanks, Cindy ;-)

For those of you wanting to know the outcome of the zoning appeal recently requested by Fron DJW. The Appeals Board met Oct. 23 with these results:

FILE: 3359 - APPLICANT: FRON-DJW, L.P. c/o Robert C. Welch.
FOR:

1. Variance to locate structures (pool & clubhouse & four (4) building lots) in the 110' Critical Area Buffer.

NOT HEARD BECAUSE OF LETTER FROM CRITICAL AREA COMMISSION

DENIED 2. Variance to reduce the tributary intermittent stream buffer from 110' to 25'.

DENIED 3. Variance to allow an additional fifty-six, (56) boat slips, current allowance thirty, (30) slips.

DENIED 4. Variance to create fifteen, (15) building lots in the 100 year floodplain.

PROPERTY LOCATION: 85 Chestnut Point Road, Charlestown, MD 21914, Election District: 5, Tax Map: 35, Parcels: 488, 586, 198, 520, 588 and 200.
PROPERTY OWNER: FRON-DJW, L.P. c/o Robert C. Welch, Esquire.
PRESENTLY ZONED: Manufactured Home, (MH), Suburban Residential, (SR), Maritime Business, (MB).

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September 26, 2007

Here's what I have been up to this summer, for those who thought I dropped off the face of the earth. My oldest daughter had her first baby (at age 40) in late June. The baby, born by emergency c-section, is doing great now but it was a little for scary at first. I spent most of my summer running to Baltimore to help with the baby an lend moral support to my overwhelmed daughter. Being a kindergarten teacher, she thought she knew all she needed to know about babies and little kids! What a surprise she got;-) Mama and baby boy Finn are doing fine now.

When I started to get questions from members about the status of the situation, I started trying to contact our lawyers. Bruce Hemphill is my usual contact and is the person organizing the details. I found out today, that Mr. Hemphill has been having his own health issues to deal with and so was unable to follow through with the newsletter we had planned to send in June. He is back in action now and has been hard at work. The details of the first phase of our filiing are in the review and revision process and Mr. Hemphill expects to be able to file in the very near future.

He would like to meet with a group of members on a monthy basis for updates and strategy sessions. My first thought was that this should be board members, but I don't see why it shouldn't be board members and anyone interested enough to come.

I have an appointment to meet with Mr. Hemphill next Thursday to nail down the details of that newsletter. I will personally see that it goes out. If I need help I will call you, Cindy.

Until next week, keep the faith - we're still here!

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May 9, 2007,

The entire minutes did seem a bit much for the updates page, so I'm making them available on a separate page for those of you who are interested the whole proceedings. Eugene Paik's article gave a fair account of what went on and the tone of the discussion. I have, however, left my favorite part here in "Updates":

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Excerpt from the April 16th meeting of the Planning & Zoning Commission of Cecil County:

Mr. Sennstrom stated that on April 13, 2007 the Office of Planning and Zoning received a letter from the Critical Area Commission concerning this project. In the letter is a list of concerns they have for this project. Further more, they request the Planning Commission to disapprove this

Concept plat.

Ms. King ( one of the people representing the owners) noted they do have a meeting with Tony Di Giacomo, P&Z and the Critical Area Commission representatives scheduled for Wednesday, April 18, 2007.

Commissioner Demmler asked when the letter from the Critical Area Commission was received. Mr. Sennstrom said it was received on Friday, April 13, 2007. Commissioner Demmler had some concerns about this information being provided last minute.

Mr. Welsh announced he was withdrawing the plat.

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April 24, 2007

There was an article in this morning's Baltimore Sun that I thought might be of interest. I'm posting a link to the article. Now, I'm pretty sure K. Hovnanian was to be involved in developing Chestnut Point. The reason, in fact, for the figure $12 million to to be tossed around and the refusal to even entertain our bid. One wonders if this will have any bearing at all on the Chestnut Point project??

Inquiring minds want to know!

April 17, 2007

Wow! I didn't realise it has been that long since I had an update to post! Bet you thought I had skipped town! I know many were aware that Chestnut Point was on the planning Commission agenda for April16. Today's Cecil Whig published a story by Eugene Paik telling what happened when our intrepid developers presented their latest efforts to the planning commission. The story is not posted on their website so I can't post a link, but I will paraphrase Mr. Paik's report. I'll try not to sound too gleeful!

They withdrew their proposal after about an hour's worth of discussion, when it appeared that the planning commissioners were going to turn them down. Among other things, the commissioners questioned the project's storm drainage plans and road layouts. Commissioner Mark Clark said the cul-de-sacs in the design were"bad planning". Questions were also raised about drainage issues. Apparently these had not been addressed by the developers and would leave the area with worse drainage than before.

You may have thought our efforts last fall didn't amount to much, but according to Mr. Paik, the developers scrapped their plans for a planned-unit development "when a key rezoning on the property could not be obtained".

Another surprise: no water or sewer source has been secured for the project! What happened to the public sewer and water they were going to use?? Don't know, but I love it! Bet 6 million is looking pretty good to a certain party about now ;-).

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October 18, 2006

Remember that injunction we got way back in 2005? The one we hoped would require "the management" to open the park as promised and cease and desist the destruction - that one? The one that was totally ignored? Well, guess what? When it was completely ignored, our lawyers filed a request to show cause why this should be, and that request has been winding it's way through the system. It has been scheduled for Oct. 27 (Friday) at 1:30 PM at the old Court House. Anyone interested in coming is welcome. We're not sure if we'll be allowed to testify, but come prepared just in case. It should be interesting, to say the least!

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September 19, 2006

Results of today's Commissioners' meeting:

Application for change of zoning:

DISAPPROVED!!

No substantial change has been shown.

The Commissioners were UNANIMOUS in their decision!

Minutes of the Commissioners' Meeting, Sept. 19th

- DAVID H. PARRACK – FRON-DJW LIMITED PARTNERSHIP – CHESTNUT POINT MOBILE HOME PARK –

FILE NO: 2006-09. Applicant: David H. Parrack. Property Location: Carpenters Point Road, Perryville, MD. Election District: 5, Tax Map: 35, Parcels: 200, 586 & p/o 488. Presently Zoned: Manufactured Home, (MH), Suburban Residential, (SR). Request: To rezone approximately 28.25 acres from Manufactured Home (MH), Suburban Residential, (SR) to Suburban Residential (SR), Maritime Business, (MB). Property Owners: FRON-DJW Limited Partnership, Dennis R. Fronheiser & Robert Welch, Esquire.

County Administrator Wein read the application, and all witnesses were sworn.

David H. Parrack, Esq, representing the Quillen Development and FRON-DJW Limited Partnership in a rezoning request for the property known as Chestnut Point Mobile Home Park, located on Carpenters Point Road, Perryville, MD. The request is to rezone approximately 28.25 acres from Manufactured Home (MH), Suburban Residential (SR) and Maritime Business, (MB) to Suburban Residential (SR) and Maritime Business (MB). The property has been sold and is in the process of being re-developed. In order to build a planned unit development the zoning is required to be changed.

The residents of the park were notified in writing according to Maryland Law 8A 1201 and given one-year notification. Mr. Parrack advised that the developer has offered a relocation package to the residents as well as assisting the residents in finding alternate housing. Mr. Parrack also advised the Board of the pending civil action in the Circuit Court for Cecil County filed against his clients by residents of the park.

Mr. Charles L. Johnston, Project Manager for Quillen Developers presented testimony relating to the relocation status of the residents and the current condition of the park.

Mr. Parrack presented Applicant’s Exhibits No. 1 Plat of Property and Applicant’s Exhibits No. 2 aerial photograph of property.

Mr. Parrack is basing his request for rezoning on change in character of neighborhood as a result of extension of sewer lines that run through the Craft Haven area.

COMMENT IN SUPPORT – none.

COMMENT IN OPPOSITION –

John Holland, 2237 Kimberton Road, New Holland, PA – spoke in opposition to the request. Mr. Holland stated that he was a resident at the property for 21 years and that his property was looted and damaged as a result of this action. He spoke of the financial burden that he has suffered.

Marianne Holland, 2237 Kimberton Road, New Holland, PA – spoke in opposition to the rezoning request and of the financial burden.

Laurie Micholliocci, 205 Country Drive, Oxford, PA – spoke in opposition to the rezoning request and of the ransacking and looting of the area as a result of the decision to re-develop this property.

Barbara Sneed, 222 Craigtown Road, Port Deposit, MD – spoke in opposition to the request. Ms. Sneed a former resident was forced to abandon her property, due to the age and condition of her home, she was unable to move it. She spoke of the manner in which the residents were treated.

Joan Ubel, 222 Craigtown Road, Port Deposit, MD – commented about the financial burden she has suffered as a result of the closure of the park.

Marvin Jones, 7809 Fulton School Road, Felton, PA – commented about the financial burden that he has suffered. He spoke of the lack of cooperation by the developer.

Barbara Jones, 7809 Fulton School Road, Felton, PA – commented about the financial burden and in opposition to the rezoning.

Monica Alexander, 6 Whiteoak Drive, Perryville – commented about the financial impact of this action. She is one of the remaining residents of the park and is unable to move her home.

Eric Sennstom, Director of Planning & Zoning advised that the staff recommendation was for disapproval due to no demonstrated change in the neighborhood since the last Comprehensive Rezoning.

Zoning Administrator Cliff Houston stated the Findings of Facts for the property, and that the Planning Commission recommended disapproval of the rezoning.

Motion was made by Commissioner Guns, seconded by Vice President Hepbron, to disapprove the rezoning request for Fron-DJW Quillen Developers, Carpenters Point Road, Perryville,MD., motion unanimously carried.

The meeting was adjourned.