Petition Slams Middletown's Styer Orchard Decision

LANGHORNE, PA — Thousands of people on Wednesday had signed a petition claiming Middletown Township supervisors were unfair to the family that has run the farm store at Styers Orchard for years.

On Monday, supervisors unanimously voted to enter a long-term lease agreement for the 109-acre orchard and farm off of Woodbourne Road, as well as the store on the property. Previously, the farm and store had been under two separate leases and had to be run as two separate businesses.

Under the agreement, the current farm operator, Tim Field, will take over operation of the store as well. A longtime township resident, Field grew up on the property and took it over in 2019 when his parents stepped down.

That decision did not sit well with friends and supporters of Dave Barberides, who, with wife, Sharon, has run the Market at Styers store, on Woodbourne Road, for the past 20 years. An online petition on behalf of the Barberides family had gotten more than 8,600 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon.

"We are so grateful and overwhelmed with the public outpouring of support," the family said in a post on the store's Facebook page. "We feel validated in our emotions that while what the township and Fields have done may not be illegal, it was certainly not right."

The lengthy post complains about how the township handled the decision to merge the two leases — a move officials say brings the property back in line with how T. Walter "Pop" Styer, who founded the farm in 1910 and sold it to the township so it could be preserved, wanted it to be run.

"Truthfully, we have felt disrespected throughout this process by the board and the township manager," the Barberides said in the post. "Their communication was sparse, expectations for the proposal process inconsistent and ever-shifting and their timeline unrealistically condensed."

As the 20-year leases on both the farm and store approached, Middletown Township began talks about consolidating them with both Field and the Barberides. After both presented plans for how they would run the combined business, formal proposals were submitted in December and the board unanimously chose Field.

"This was very hard on all of us and we understand the Barberides' disappointment," supervisors Chairman Tom Tosti said in an email to Patch. "But I believe our community should know this was not something that just happened Monday night, but has been in discussions with all parties for more than a year."

Tosti said the store's lease had already been extended from June to December due to the coronavirus pandemic, then was extended again through January as supervisors decided on the way forward. Both parties were alerted six months before their leases expired that the township didn't intend to renew them, he said.

Tosti said that Field "had a clear vision with detailed plans for both the farm and store," while the Barberides family "offered a proposal that called for no changes to the store and a vision for the farm that was open-ended."

"The board chose the plan that had a vision for the future — one that will bring Pop Styer's vision back to our township," Tosti said.

Located near the intersection of Woodbourne Road and Langhorne-Yardley Road, the property was originally planned as a tree nursery. During the Great Depression, Styer shifted to producing affordable fruits and vegetables for a community reeling from economic hardship and food insecurity.

He added a farm store in 1972 and the store thrived as a rural-style market for customers from nearby Levittown, as well as those in the Highland Gate, Cider Knoll and Maple Point neighborhoods that were built within walking distance in the 1980s.

With pressure mounting to sell out to developers, "Pop" Styer instead sold the property to Middletown Township for $2.2 million in 1999. He died soon afterward, on June 8, 1999, at the age of 102.

The petition calls for the Barberides to be given an additional 60 days to liquidate the business, that they be fairly compensated for the business and that the store's employees be compensated.

"Many of these employees have worked here for years, and need the income during these difficult times," the petition says.

Township officials have said the store's currently employees may apply for jobs at the new store.

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