NORTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — The township soon will have new direction on what land to preserve.
North Whitehall Board of Supervisors on Monday hired engineering consultant Gilmore & Associates to create an Open Space Action Plan for the township.
“It will help create priority areas throughout the township that we should be focusing our preservation efforts on. It'll also confirm the gaps in our open space, specifically park land.”North Whitehall Township Manager Randy Cope
The consultant will do a “full review” of the existing open space and preserved farmland, Township Manager Randy Cope said.
“It will help create priority areas throughout the township that we should be focusing our preservation efforts on,” Cope said. “It'll also confirm the gaps in our open space, specifically park land.”
The township will use that priority list to determine which properties it should buy using the funds from its Farmland & Open Space Tax.
The tax generates about $160,000 in revenue annually, according to the township website.
Those funds now are being used only to assist the Lehigh County Agricultural Preservation program, Cope said.
The Open Space Action Plan will help the township preserve other types of open space, including forests, wetlands and parks.
Cope said the funds from the tax can be used to buy land for new parks, but not to develop those parks.
The plan’s creation will be funded by a $38,000 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
Cope said residents will be able to give feedback at an upcoming public workshop about what should be in the plan. The date of that workshop has not been decided.
An official map?
Cope said the Open Space Action Plan is the first step to creating an official map of the township, or a map that identifies land that a municipality wants to preserve or turn into public space.
Marking land for public use or open space on an official map is a legal tool that gives municipalities more time to negotiate buying that land.
“It’s another tool in the toolbox when it comes to preserving land."Township Manager Randy Cope
If owners of land that is marked want to develop the property, they first must give the municipality up to a year to try to work out a deal to acquire it.
After a year, the landowner then would be free to develop the land following normal procedures.
“It’s another tool in the toolbox when it comes to preserving land,” Cope said.
