Pennsbury spends $5 million for 23 acres

Pennsbury Township consummated its deal to buy 23 acres from a subsidiary of Toll Bros. Inc. for $5 million.

The deal was finalized on Dec. 12.

According to Supervisor Charles “Scotty” Scottoline, $4 million came from a loan — with an interest rate of just less than 2.7 percent over 20 years — another $125,000 came from the Pennsbury Land Trust and the remainder from the township open space fund.

Scottoline said supervisors would probably be talking with the Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art to discuss placing an easement on the property, but that that could be an involved process and there’s not yet any timetable.

“There are surveys involved, endowments that the conservancy wants so we haven’t gotten into that yet on this property, but that’s the direction we’re heading,” he said.

Pennsbury has previously worked with the conservancy on other easements.

Other than open space, specifics in how the land will be used remain up in the air. Supervisor Aaron McIntyre said several weeks ago that he was leaning toward having one part of the space — an 11-acre parcel on the eastern side of the township building — used for active recreation, while fellow Supervisor Wendell Fenton said a committee could be formed to consider use.

Scottoline said there had been some discussions on use beyond simple open space, but that was not at the top of the priority list.

“There’s nothing specific, although we did layout a general plan for a soccer field at one time…The first thing was to obtain title. Now we can turn our attention to what we’re actually going to do with [that parcel],” he added.

There are three parcels involved in the deal. One parcel of three acres is at the southwest corner of Route 1 and Hickory Hill Road. The other two parcels, totaling 20 acres, are on either side of the township building.

Those two tracts had been part of the controversial Pennsbury Village plan that involved several lawsuits and went from a multiuse concept to a residential plan for 116 townhomes during a 10-year period. The legal matters were eventually settled, but the developer filed for bankruptcy and the project never came to pass.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

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