Council approves edited letter of support for Safe Harbor building project, removes building specifics

The Borough of Westchester voted June 18 to send a letter of support for Safe Harbor of Chester County’s proposed building project after council members edited the draft to remove detailed design references and certain emphatic language.

Council reviewed an attached draft letter and instructed staff to make the language more general rather than including specifics that a project design team could change. Sean (a councilmember who had previously revised the letter) explained the edits: “We basically removed specific references to design features in the building from the letter and made it more general in terms of the borough support for the institution's mission,” he said.

Council members noted the draft had referenced a “three‑story facility” and a claim that the project would “expand housing capacity by 50%.” One council member said those particulars should be omitted because the design and capacity remain subject to change. The council also suggested striking the word “strongly” from the endorsement sentence to make the statement terser.

A motion was made to support sending the letter with the edits discussed; the council voted in favor: Miss Dorsey — yes; Mr. Flynn — yes; Miss Vaccaro — yes; Mr. McGinnis — yes; Mr. Travis — yes; Miss Shimoni — yes. The motion passed.

Council members described the approved letter as an expression of support for Safe Harbor’s mission and intent, without endorsing specific building design elements or exact capacity figures. No additional commitments of borough funds or land-use approvals were made at the meeting; the action was limited to conveying municipal support for the organization’s project subject to future permitting and design processes.