Permanently preserved land means forever
As a land conservation organization that owns a 101acre nature preserve within the Stone Hill Conservation Landscape and holds a conservation easement on 20 acres in the Sprogels Run watershed, Natural Lands has an appreciation for and a vested interest in Upper Pottsgrove Township’s open spaces.
We are, therefore, dismayed and alarmed that the township has plans to construct a municipal complex for township offices, police, and highway departments on 10 acres of the Smola Farm at 370 Evans Road, a site also within the Stone Hill Conservation Landscape.
The proposed development would create runoff and increase flooding, threatening the water quality of the Sprogels Run watershed, an area Upper Pottsgrove Township identified as a conservation and recreation priority in its 2006 and 2020 Open Space Plans.
Further, the plan is contrary to the purposes of the open space fund that the township used to purchase the property — a fund Upper Pottsgrove residents have supported for the last 16 years through a portion of their earned income tax.
Equally concerning, the plan risks undermining the public’s trust in the open space funds established — per Pennsylvania’s Open Space Act — across our region and the Commonwealth. Voters have time and again voted by wide margins to spend their local tax dollars to protect the health and ecological well-being of their community.
Those voters should be able to trust that the funds will be used as intended. Natural Lands urges the leadership in Upper Pottsgrove Township to reconsider their development plans for the Smola Farm. Many conservation partners have worked with Upper Pottsgrove Township in the recognition and protection of this important area for conservation and community benefits.
We extend an offer to township officials to help them identify alternative locations for the planned municipal complex and our assistance in acquiring another parcel for that purpose.
Natural Lands is dedicated to preserving and nurturing nature’s wonders while creating opportunities for joy and discovery in the outdoors for everyone. As the Greater Philadelphia region’s oldest and largest land conservation organization, Natural Lands — which is member supported — has preserved more than 125,000 acres, including 42 nature preserves and one public garden totaling more than 23,000 acres. Nearly five million people live within five miles of land under the organization’s protection. Land for life, nature for all.