the bucks county courier reported this week that toll brothers ability to build 235 single family homes is directly linked to them selling a portion of the land to the veterans administration for the national veterans cemetery "earmarked" for upper makefield in bucks county.
this is not you're typical exurban cornfield to mcmansion maze deal.
this involves among others:
1. a builder notorious for their tactics in steam-rolling over many communities concerns for over-development,
2. the local government who is mostly quiet,
3. a long standing community group formed to keep development in check,
4. the veterans administration who wants to spend their budget and buy some land here or elsewhere, and
5. a first term congressman who in an election year would like to continue to say that he helped bring a national veterans cemetery to bucks county.
many have castigated what toll is doing in relation to this site but really they are the owners of land that will be sold at a discount to the veterans admin. in return they want to change zoning so that they can build more tightly on the remaining land. are they to blame for wanting to earn a good financial return from the land? or is this deal above and beyond finance?
the citizens of upper makefield are trying to come up with a plan to buy the land using open space funding [http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-03102006-624417.html] but the toll attorney ed murphy said it’s not going to happen. “I think it’s an utter waste of time” (too bad they are not working with communities to find other solutions)
without toll brothers there can be no veterans cemetery...and because of toll brothers there may not be a cemetery. stay tuned...
"are they to blame for
"are they to blame for wanting to earn a good financial return from the land? or is this deal above and beyond finance?"
Neither. This deal is strictly about finance. The problem with Toll (in my opinion at least) is that this deal was originally sold to the public as a stroke of corporate generosity/patriotism. If that were truly the case, no zoning concessions would be needed, right?
For Toll, it appears this is all about money -- which throws any ideas of good corporate citizenship or patriotic spirit out the window.
I wouldn't blame them for trying to make a buck, but if that's the case, it shouldn't have been presented as anything else. On the flip side, there are many corporations that donate millions with only the reward of good press. Apparently that wasn't enough for one of the nation's larget home builders.