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Chester County Press

New Garden places 7.8-acre Landenberg property on its project list

09/18/2024 06:45PM ● By Richard Gaw

By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

At the Aug. 19 New Garden Township Board of Supervisors meeting, Cindy Hiles, a former resident of 308 Penn Green Road in Landenberg, criticized the township for its inactivity in forming a long-term plan for the use of the pristine 7.8-acre property that the township acquired from her on Dec. 16, 2021.

Following her husband’s passing in 2016, Hiles began discussions with the township’s Open Space Review Board and Natural Lands to determine how the property could become a valuable link in the open space corridor to the White Clay Creek Preserve, but at the Aug. 19 meeting, Hiles said that to date, she had not been involved in any future plans for the property.

In fact, the only visible reminder that the property is now in the township’s hands has been a “No Trespassing” sign that is tethered to a chain link fence across the property’s front driveway. 

At the board’s Sept. 16 meeting – likely spurred on by her criticism – Hiles and several other residents with a creative stake in the property began to hear some answers.

In his presentation, township Manager Christopher Himes unlocked the closed door to the dormant property with several ideas that will begin to be rolled out over the next several months, in order to create “a summary level proposal of alternatives and options” for the site based on an extensive understanding of the site from an engineering, public access and usage standpoint.

After the acquisition, Himes said that the township had a sense of what it wanted to do with the property, but no obligated plan behind it. Consequently, the property has not yet received an on-site hazard mitigation that involves the removal of vulnerable trees and the implementation of safety measures. Further, the township has not provided needed security and personnel to sustainably patrol the site. 

Himes said that a key reason for the township’s lack of action with the Hiles property stems from the fact that its purchase was wedged between two larger property acquisitions – the 2018 purchase of the 137.5-acre Saint Anthony’s in the Hills property, now New Garden Hills which is being developed in a two-phase plan; and the 105-acre former Loch Nairn Golf Club, purchased in 2021, which is being converted into a passive recreation preserve.

Both sights have since undergone extensive concept planning, engineering, capital implementation and the creation of an operational/maintenance plan.

“Over the course of about five years, we got about 250 acres of open space properties that had a significant amount of on-site facilities and requirements for doing some scaled master planning to get a sense of vision and then having to duplicate that vision, and in the same ilk, we didn’t necessarily have a scaled staff to manage the potential operations that would be required to keep this vision going,” Himes said.

During its nearly three years of inactivity, however, the Hiles property has become the topic of conversation by township officials, residents and township commission groups, who have suggested that the site could become the possible home of a nature center; a cultural and heritage center; a working studio for local artists; short-term housing for eco-tourism; a Boy/Girl Scouts of America headquarters; or a fishing hub for anglers along White Clay Creek.

Himes said that the township will begin to roll out its early plans for the Hiles property by the end of September, beginning with a traffic and site analysis to determine the feasibility of public use. The township is currently undergoing a building inspection of the structures on the property, and in the meantime, township officials will meet with individuals and groups to hear their proposals for potential future uses of the site. Himes said that once the winning proposal has been accepted, the township will undergo a further assessment that will include site, cost and grant planning; determining the feasibility of implementing the plan; and generating a projected timeline for the completion of the proposal.

The Hiles property will be on the board’s Oct. 21 agenda. 

Other township business

The supervisors approved a proposal by Parks and Open Space Superintendent Mike Buck to make needed repairs to the Quonset Hut at New Garden Park, at a cost estimated to be between $70,000 and $100,000. The structure -- which is being used by the township’s Public Works and Park and Recreation departments and the KAU Little League – will receive the replacement of its roof, siding, walls and doors and be examined for asbestos. The winning bid will be reviewed for approval at the Nov. 18 Board of Supervisors meeting.

The board also approved a project that will create stabilization for the stream that cuts through New Garden Park as well as repair 350 feet of an adjoining trail, at a cost estimate of $50,000. The repair is needed because of the consistent and damaging effect that flooding has had on both the stream bank and the trail that leads to unsafe access for residents. The project is expected to begin next week and take two weeks to complete.

The township will host a Community Day on Oct. 5 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at New Garden Park that will feature live entertainment, hayrides, pumpkin painting, a hay maze and 34 vendors, as well as food trucks, music, beverages by Harvest Ridge Winery and Be Here Brewing and complimentary cider and donuts.

New Garden Park will also play host to Halloween Movie Night on Oct. 25 beginning at 5:30 p.m. and the New Garden Gobbler Turkey Trot on Nov. 23, beginning at 8:00 a.m. The race will offer participants the option of running or walking a 5K or 1-mile family fun walk.  

In honor of long-time township resident and business owner Tom Lafferty -- who died on May 23 – the township will be planting a Christmas tree in the grassy area in front of the Township Building this October. The type of tree was selected by the Lafferty family in reference to Lafferty’s yearly appearance as “Helicopter Santa” during holiday events at New Garden Park.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].