Council action ends decades of standoff

Media Borough Council’s action to rescind a rezoning ordinance closed another chapter in the Third Street Dam issue, which has involved more than two decades of action and inaction.

In the mid-1990s, structural deficiencies led to closure of Third Street, which links the borough with Upper Providence. From that point on, the matter has had a series of controversy and litigation, along with some actual progress. The first issue, and subject of the initial case in Common Pleas Court, involved the ownership and therefore financial and maintenance responsibilities.

The north side of the dam/bridge is owned by Broomall’s Lake Country Club, a private recreational facility established after a land donation around 1920. The south side is Glen Providence Park, once boroughowned, but now part of the Delaware County Park system. The roadway was identified as borough property.

A stipulation agreement was forged for the maintenance responsibilities to be divided, but for the borough to take the lead on the project. State legislators acquired funding which is still in place.

A second major court case resulted from the borough’s proposed design of a one-way road westbound. BLCC won that battle to return the prior two-lane, two-way road.

The ensuing years saw the span closed to vehicles and then pedestrian traffic as well; organization of residents’ committees; establishment of a grassroots environment group known as Friends of Glen Providence Park; dozens of public meetings; disagreement among borough council members as elections changed personnel; contracts awarded; and onsite and administrative activities by various state and local agencies. The dam was breeched in 2018. Design plans are ongoing, as is interaction with PennDOT and other agencies.

The borough’s 2017 proposal to rezone BLCC resulted in a third round of litigation. The January 2019 settlement agreement between borough council and BLCC could mark an end to disputes and start of visible progress.