Public Safety Must Not Be Priority for Taylor

May 24, 2007
LETTER TO THE EDITOR (Main Line Times)

To the Editor:
If nothing else, the vote by the Lower Merion Township Board of Commissioners ("Board") on the Croyle Shared Use Agreement on April 18, 2007, showed that public safety for the neighborhoods around Croyle is not a priority for Commissioner Mark Taylor.

On April 18, just as he did a year ago when the Croyle matter was before the Board, Dr. Ian Lustick in a concise, clear and organized presentation raised serious public safety questions concerning the traffic that would be associated with a school bus depot at Croyle. Dr. Lustick made a very simple and reasonable request: that the Board seriously study the safety issues before authorizing the bus depot via the Shared Use Agreement. Dr. Lustick requested that the Board study the effect on safety in Belmont Hills, including issues related to lack of sidewalks, narrow road widths, current on-street parking, large truck traffic, questionable turning radii, and increased congestion from buses and drivers accessing the site several times a day.

The primary responsibility of our elected commissioners is to protect the safety and welfare of Township residents. Mr. Taylor ignored the request for a safety study and authorized the use of Croyle for a bus depot anyway. Croyle residents should have been able to expect our officials to identify and mitigate the safety issues before deciding to support the Croyle solution.

The residents in communities around Croyle deserved to have safety studied before the Shared Use Agreement was approved. One would have hoped that Mr. Taylor, a new member on the board, would have been more responsible regarding these serious safety concerns. It turns out that Mr. Taylor was unwilling to fight for the Croyle residents against the interests of his party.

He would not break Party ranks. One can only conclude from Mr. Taylor's actions in voting to authorize the Shared Use Agreement without a safety study, is that public safety is not a priority for him. Lower Merion Ward 1 voters deserve better - they deserve a commissioner who will prioritize public safety and the protection of existing neighborhoods.

In the interest of full disclosure I am also a candidate for commissioner in Ward 1.
Greg Cirillo
Penn Valley