Noted in the Northwest

A brief look at news in Chestnut Hill and surrounding neighborhoods

A short life for Mt. Airy shop

Herbe Apothecare, one of several new shops to open in the Mt. Airy business district in recent months, has closed. The store, which specialized in a line of herbal extracts and tea blends, closed in late June, about two months after opening shop.

The circumstances surrounding the closure remain unclear. The store was well-received by the Mt. Airy community but closed "due to dissolution of a partnership," said business owner Sharon Roller in an e-mail to a Local reporter.

Roller declined a request for an interview, but said she has relocated to Bucks County where she now offers "personal consultations and customized herbal formulations." The products that were formally available at Herbe Apothecare can be purchased through her Web site www.greenbrierherbalist.com, she said.

Reached by phone, property owner Susan Bushu offered few details about the closure, but said that the space at 7200 Germantown Ave. was now available for rent. "We're still trying to unwind from this one," she said. "We're still gathering information."

Though the property has not been advertised, Bushu said some prospective tenants have already shown interest.

—Michael J. Mishak

Schwartz scores $150,000 for Black Horse Inn

U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) secured $150,000 in federal grant money for the Black Horse Inn conservation effort last week as part of the Interior and Environmental Appropriations Act, which passed the House 410-10.

Schwartz announced the grant last Friday before leaving Washington for summer recess and is set to present the check on the site of the historic inn in Flourtown this week. "Friends of Historic Bethlehem Pike, the Springfield Township Historical Society, local elected officials, as well as local citizens, should be applauded for their hard work to preserve and protect the Black Horse Inn," the lawmaker said in a statement.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in early July, the inn has seen considerable improvements in recent months, including the restoration of its chimneys and window sills. The Friends group hopes to raise another $150,000, or 10 percent of its overall fundraising goal, through a public appeal campaign that began last month.

—M.J.M

Developer rejects Wissahickon East proposal

The Wissahickon East Project, a nonprofit conservation group opposing a controversial housing development in East Mt. Airy, met with Bala Cynwyd-based developer DeSouza Brown Inc. on July 25.

Based on the response from a community meeting on July 14, the group told the developer that its plan to build 23 single-family homes on a 6-acre site along the Creisheim Creek was unacceptable to the community.

DeSouza Brown told the group that it was not economically feasible to build fewer houses or to keep the street public, as the community requested, but the developers suggested the possibility of selling the land to the community, and donating some portion to a nonprofit organization to generate charitable tax deductions.

Howard Coale, director of the Wissahicken East Project, told the Local that the group would continue working on negotiating with the developers toward this compromise, although the future of the idea would depend on the cost of the land.

“We rejected the over $1 million price tag they put on the land as being too steep for the community, but we’re not speculating on how much it is worth yet,” said Coale. “We’re definitely moving in a very positive direction,” he added.

The group will meet with the developers again in late August or early September for further negotiations.

— Amy Brisson