BIG Makes Closing Arguments in Haverford, Accusations of Intimidation Flared

HAVERTOWN–Bartkowski Investment Group’s (BIG) attorney Marc Kaplin accused Haverford Township Solicitor Jim Byrne–also representing and townships–of intimidation during closing arguments at Haverford Township’s Zoning Hearing Board meeting on Feb. 2.

During Byrne’s closing arguments, he mentioned by name some of the Haverford Township commissioners who were in attendance, saying that they did not want billboards because one of their reasons was based on the state constitution in Section 27, which states that people are allowed the right to preserve the “esthetic values of the environment,” among other things.

Kaplin took issue with Byrne mentioning the commissioners.

“I will say this for the record and … I’m going to be making a lot of people unhappy. It is in my opinion that (it is) totally and completely inappropriate for Jim to call out the names of all of these commissioners, who appointed (him) and have him say to you and have all of these guys (commissioners) sitting here, saying, ‘We should defend our ordinance because we adopted it.’ That is a violation of my client’s right to due process,” Kaplin said.

Read the full story on Haverford-Havertown Patch here. The next billboard hearing in Newtown is scheduled for Feb. 16.