http://www.topix.com/forum/city/quakertown-pa/TPEQLOCLMKDU9C174

1. PUBLIC RECORD REVIEW / DUPLICATION REQUEST (rev3/redt2)
Please print legibly
Date of request: 1/8/16 Request Submitted by: E-Mail X U.S. Mail ___ Fax ___ In-Person___
Requester’s Name: (REDACTED)
Requester’s Address: (REDACTED)
(REDACTED)
Requester’s Telephone Number:
I request x review /  duplication (check as appropriate) of the following records:
Important: You must identify or describe the records with sufficient specificity to enable the Borough to determine which
records are being requested. Use additional sheets if necessary.
• Review of the “Memorandum of Development Agreement” for the Sellersville Business Campus as referenced in
item # E.2. of the December 7, 2015 Sellersville Borough Council Agenda (Addendum 1).
• All 1968-1986 meeting minutes between Lane Kendig, the Bucks County Planning Commission, and Sellersville
Borough regarding, as stated in a December 14, 1971 Doylestown Intelligencer newspaper article (Addendum 2):
“...a housing development of 500 to 600 units on 58 acres across from the National Guard Armory on Park
Avenue” consisting of land “held by 36 owners...Bucks County...and the U.S. Gauge division of Ametek,” for which
Mr. Kendig suggested that “present owners could be offered a share in the completed development in exchange
for the property they now own.”
• Records held by Sellersville Borough pertaining to all “Family Farm Corporations” that have existed within current
borough boundaries from 1908 through present. “Family Farm Corporations” were allegedly defined formally by
Sellersville Borough Code in December 1986, the same month the alleged conveyance from Marvin Katz to the
“Ridge Group Inc., a Pennsylvania Corporation” took place for the Sellersville portion of Wyckford Commons.
• Records identifying any relationship between a “Family Farm Corporation” and the “Joel B. Benner Inc.” entity (or
any variations thereof, i.e. “Benner Joel B. Inc.”) that appeared on 1979 applications for subdivision/development
of 66 acres straddling the Sellersville/Perkasie Borough line. NB: Said entity and its applications (Addendum 3)
were not found in my initial Sellersville Borough records review of the Selsie Village/Wyckford Commons
subdivision file; they appeared months later in a secondary review of the same. There is also no record of
applications under that entity in Perkasie Borough's files for Selsie Village or Wyckford Commons.
• Additional records are being requested for “Joel B. Benner Inc.” (and its variants) and any relationship said
entity/entities have to the following:
◦ The classification of the radium plant/uranium mill that existed on the Wyckford tract as “Home Farm” (as
was overwritten in Sellersville Borough's 1920 U.S. Census [Addendum 7]), along with any records related to
this historic location still being categorized under “Agricultural” land use per present-day Sellersville Borough
Municipal Code. Note: Sellersville's current ordinances pertaining to “Family Farm Corporations” do not
specify what “the business of agriculture” includes; they specify only what it does not include.
◦ The 1960s-1970s designation of the Sellersville acreage of Wyckford Commons under “Agricultural” land use
(Addendum 4)--despite the fact that the tract was not being utilized as such and was zoned “Industrial.”

2. ◦ Bucks County Tax Assessment Office's present-day classification of the Mews at Wyckford Commons tract as
“Farm” (Addendum 4).
◦ The 1984 alleged conveyance from Joan and Joel Benner to Selsie Village Associates, Nominee, which was
the first in the tracts' history that was not conveyed “in gross” (“+/-” acreage). This placed the 66 acres
(appropriately) approximately 850 feet NE of where Katz-Swerdloff physically built the development.
◦ The alleged conveyance from Selsie Village Associates to Marvin Katz in 1986, which was followed by one
from Marvin Katz to the “Ridge Group Inc., a Pennsylvania Corporation” that bypassed the Mews tract by
approximately 850 feet.
◦ The absence of “Joel B. Benner Inc.” and any variations thereof in Bucks County Recorder of Deeds records
related to said 66 acres straddling the Sellersville/Perkasie Borough line. No proof of said entity's ownership
of the 66 acres can be found. No deed/title conveyances for said area ever mentioned this entity.
◦ Bucks County Tax Assessment records (Addendum 5) showing the chain of alleged ownership for the tract
upon which the Mews at Wyckford Commons is located (TMP 39-008-366) as beginning with Joan and Joel
Benner, followed by Selsie Village Associates, followed by the Ridge Group Inc. (a current owner of the
property and a different entity than the “Ridge Group Inc., a Pennsylvania Corporation”). Said chain of
alleged ownership does not even follow the fraudulent chain of title correctly, much less the original pre-1911
succession that involves U.S. Gauge / American Machine and Metals / AMETEK Inc.
◦ The dissolution of the Joel B. Benner corporate entity in 1986, just prior to the 1986 formation of the “Ridge
Group Inc., a Pennsylvania Corp.” and other “Ridge Group Inc.” entities incorporated outside of Pennsylvania.
◦ The alleged Delaware formation of a “Wyckford Commons, L.P.” entity in 12/86 (Addendum 6), one week
prior to the alleged conveyance of the Sellersville portion of Wyckford Commons from Marvin Katz to the
“Ridge Group Inc., a Pennsylvania Corporation.” Said entity appeared recently in online search records, yet
had never appeared in searches prior to 2015, with this being the first time I have ever seen or heard of it.
• All 1975 meeting minutes between Sellersville Borough and the Bucks County Planning Commission that address
a need to identify the parties behind the corporate entities seeking approvals to build residential subdivisions. A
1975 News Herald article entitled “Bucks Planners Urged to Probe Developers” speaks about this very issue,
along with the commission's subsequent rejection of the proposal--with Mr. Kendig leading the opposition--to
mandate any type of requirement to do so.
• All correspondence between Sellersville Borough and Jean Schlesinger of the Bucks County Planning
Commission, both prior to and after her termination in 1977. Per a May 11, 1977 News Herald article, Ms.
Schlesinger was terminated due to what many believed was her firm stance on residential development matters
relating to environmental compliance, public health and welfare, and clean drinking water. Her termination was
described by her supporters as “closing the door to following and promoting good development practices and
environmental matters.” The Planning Commission was then placed under a gag order to keep press from the
inside of planning activities. Plans for the construction of “Selsie Village” were presented for approval at this time.
I certify that I am a resident of the United States of America.
Signed electronically by (REDACTED), 1/8/16
Signature of Requester
This request may be submitted in person, by mail, by facsimile or e-mail to :
David J. Rivet, Borough of Sellersville, 140 E. Church Street, Sellersville, PA 18960
Fax: 215-257-6163 E-Mail: drivet@sellersvilleboro.org
To be completed by Sellersville Borough:
Request No.: _____________ Date Received: _____________
Action Taken
Approved Date of approval: _______________ By: ________________________
Denied Date notice mailed: _______________ By: ________________________
Additional Review Date notice mailed: _______________

3. Addendum 1

4. Addendum 2

5. Addendum 3

6. Addendum 4

7. Addendum 5

8. Addendum 6

9. Addendum 7 1920 Sellersville Borough U.S. Census data for 215 Diamont St. (east of present-day 215 Diamond St.):

10. .