By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

After seven years of negotiations, public input and outrage and continuing efforts to save it from development, the historic 308-acre Crebilly Farm was officially purchased for $20 million by Westtown Township on Dec. 10 in a signing ceremony held at the law offices of Gawthrop Greenwood, PC in West Chester.

The purchase closed on approximately 206 acres of the farm through financial assistance from federal, state and county grants, an open space tax referendum approved by the residents of Westtown Township, a local fundraising effort initiated by Natural Lands and support from the Open Space Institute’s Delaware River Watershed Protection Fund. 

Located at the intersection of Routes 202 and 926, Crebilly Farm is one of the final remaining open spaces in the township. The Robinson family expressed their wish to preserve the farm after a proposed plan by Toll Brothers to develop the property ended in 2021.

Westtown Supervisor Richard Pomerantz said that the purchase saved Crebilly Farm from residential development that saw plans to construct 319 homes on the property.

“Had it not been for the years of persistent passionate commitment, focused efforts and the admirable, generous foresight of the widest range of public and private stakeholders, including especially Westtown’s residents who in a landslide winning referendum two years ago voted to Save Crebilly, Monday’s event would have remained nothing more than an unrequited pipe dream,” he said.

“Natural Lands, Westtown Township, and the Robinson family — which has called Crebilly Farm home for multiple generations — are moved by this extraordinary demonstration of conservation care,” said Oliver Bass, president of Natural Lands, the Greater Philadelphia region’s oldest and largest land conservation nonprofit. “When iconic landscapes like Crebilly Farm, which help root us in — even epitomize — our communities, are threatened, so is our essential relationship with nature. Their preservation is essential to our well-being.”

The official purchase of Crebilly Farm comes on the heels of a fundraising effort by Natural Lands’ Crebilly Campaign, an appeal to the communities within a 10-mile radius of Crebilly that promoted the protection of the farm against potential development nearby and preserving the farm as publicly accessible open space. The effort drew the support of 750 households, whose contributions were matched dollar-for-dollar thanks to a special challenge Natural Lands received from Mt. Cuba Center and an anonymous donor.

“Saving Crebilly Farm has been a community effort and an act of persistence, and I am thrilled that we’ve persevered towards its permanent protection,” said State Senator Carolyn Comitta. “The people of Westtown Township and the surrounding communities have worked for years to ensure this property remains the iconic landscape we all know and love, and the fact that it was their tireless work — and now generosity — that put us over the top is a testament to our ongoing commitment to historic, ecological, and environmental conservation in Chester County.”

The township’s purchase provides a crucial link in a process that reached its first milestone in November 2022, when the residents of the township voted overwhelmingly in favor of an Open Space Fund referendum, which provided about $7.5 million for the property’s preservation and stewardship. Natural Lands raised $16.5 million in additional public and private grant funding and gifts from individual donors, and in June 2023, one-third of the property – a little more than 100 acres -- was permanently protected through conservation easements held by Natural Lands. 

The township is making plans to undergo a master planning process for the farm that will include input from the public that has supported its preservation.

“We are truly overwhelmed with gratitude by the response of so many who have given generously of their time, talent and resources,” said David Robinson, the farm’s owner. “Thank you to the township, and Natural Lands’ inspiration and phenomenal fundraising effort. It is beyond our dream to know that the farm will be enjoyed by many for years to come.”

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].