Devon Yard Project Hits Potential Horse Show Hurdle

When the Easttown Board of Supervisors meets for its regular session Monday, a presentation on the new Devon Yard Development will not be on the agenda.

The project was taken off the board's last scheduled meeting two weeks ago at the request of the project developer and when Patch checked with township officials late last week the developers were not expected to make a public presentation until after the new year.

Now a Philadelphia Inquirer as posted on Philly.com may explain the developer's request for a delay in making a public presentation.

According to the article, several members of the Devon Horse Show Board are concerned because they say the developer, Wade McDevitt, who is also the Chairman of The Devon Horse Show, did not share his plans with other board members until just before he announced plans for the new project.

The Inquirer report says the issue is that McDevitt's plan for the new development includes leasing two Horse Show parking lots and a former gas station that is also owned by the Devon Horse Show.

Devon Plaza is being proposed for the 6-plus acre site that was home to Waterloo Gardens for most of the last century.  The development as reported would include Urban Outfitters, restaurants and bring a "town square" to Devon.  It would be directly across Lancaster Avenue from the Devon Train Station and harken back to the days when the fabled Devon Inn was at the rise in the hill and a short walk or carriage ride to the train station.

According to the article, the issue at the center of the concern raised by some board members is that developer and Horse Show President "Wade McDevitt, left them in the dark while he spearheaded a plan to build a hotel, shops, and parking lot next to the Lancaster Avenue fairgrounds, including on parcels it owns.

The project could be lucrative for McDevitt and his relatives. The prospective developer of the site is Urban Outfitters Inc., the Philadelphia-based retailer that employs his wife and was founded by his brother-in-law," the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Easttown Supervisors were briefed on the project earlier this fall but so far no formal applications for clearance to build the development have been filed. 

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