Saved! Entire Stoneleigh property now off table for school athletic fields
LOWER MERION >> Lower Merion school officials this week announced they no longer need any portion of the Stoneleigh property for playing fields to go with their planned new middle school in Villanova.
The school board approved a motion at its meeting Monday night to purchase four properties on another part of Spring Mill Road for field space.
The Stoneleigh property located at Spring Mill and County Line roads in Villanova was the former estate of the Haas family.
In 1964, John and Chara Haas acquired the property that had been owned by John’s father, Otto Haas. They lived and raised their family at Stoneleigh until their deaths in 2011 and
2012, respectively. After their deaths, the
42-acre site was given to the Natural Lands by the family and in May it was opened to the public for the first time as a natural garden.
In March of this year, Lower Merion school officials first announced they were considering using at least a portion of the Stoneleigh Garden for athletic fields. About a month later, they sent a letter to Natural Lands informing them that they might need the entire property for a new middle school.
Since that announcement, the district entered into another agreement to purchase the site of the former Clothier Estate at 1860 Montgomery Ave. in Villanova for the school. But that site at about 21 acres is not big enough for all the athletic fields the district needs so they continued to say they need about seven to 10 acres and refused to take a portion of Stoneleigh off the table.
About one-half mile from the school board meeting, Fred Fromhold, the school district’s zoning attorney, was at the meeting of the Board of Commissioners and made the announcement of the school board’s earlier decision.
“I am happy to report to you ... this evening at a meeting of the school board that the school board approved an agreement of sale for a property 912 Spring Mill Road for fields,” Fromhold told the commissioners. “That agreement of sale for that property enables us to say that the Stoneleigh property which has been of great concern for you and the community is off the table as far as the school district is concerned.”
The properties being purchased by the school district include 912, 916, 920 and 922 Spring Mill Road. They are
about 7.5 acres in size. The district will purchase the properties for $5.2 million.
From the time the district first announced it was considering taking at least a portion of the Stoneleigh property, it has caused controversy throughout the region. So the district’s decision Monday night was welcome news for township officials.
“The Lower Merion School Board put this community through six months of agony with their appalling threat to seize Stoneleigh. Almost 40,000 [people] signed the online petition opposing this school board,” Lower Merion Commissioner Scott Zelov said after the meeting about the district’s decision. “The next
election for the school board the corner, May 21, 2019.”
The school district also received good news from the commissioners when the board passed zoning change that will make it easier for the district to build the new school on the 1860 Montgomery Avenue site.
“Together, the acquisition of the field space property and the BOC vote to approve changes to the zoning ordinance mean that some of the contingencies in the agreement of sale for 1860 Montgomery Avenue have been met and construction of the new middle school has moved closer to reality. The School Board is pleased with the support from the Township and the community for this exciting project,” the district said in a statement released Tuesday morning.
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