Could Edgmont Township soon house the county's first game lands? (Image courtesy of PA.gov)
Could Delco gain its first game lands?
A recent land swap approved by the Pennsylvania Game Commission — which is stirring controversy in Montgomery County — could make Edgmont Township the home of Delaware County’s first state game land.
First, however, local officials say they’re aiming to hold a town hall that allows residents to ask questions and share their opinions about the future of the Sleighton Farm tract.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission on Jan. 24 voted 6-3 to approve a land-swap proposal made by the Limerick Town Center LLC, in which the developer offered approximately 559 acres of land, stretching across three counties, to the state. In exchange, Limerick Town Center LLC would get 55 acres of state game land in Montgomery County, plus a 200-foot right of way across a portion of the remaining state-owned land.
The land that Limerick Town Center LLC is gaining is adjacent to property is already owned by the developer, and because the area is zoned “heavy industrial,” local residents and officials are reportedly raising concerns that the land will now be primed for the construction of a massive data center.
Is Limerick’s loss Edgemont’s gain?
In Delaware County, meanwhile, local officials are trying to get their arms around what the newly approved land swap will mean for their constituents. Among the 559 acres that Limerick Town Center LLC is ceding is the 176.8-acre Sleighton Farm tract in Edgmont Township, which is home to the former Sleighton School for Girls.
State Rep. Lisa Borowski (D-Delaware) wrote in a Jan. 26 Facebook post that after talking with her colleagues in Limerick, “I am really sad they will be losing this land.” She pointed out that municipalities cannot weigh in on game commission decisions but also said she is working with Edgmont Township officials to schedule the town hall to discuss the implications of the land swap.
In the meantime, Borowski noted that the state game commission will “move forward with due diligence to complete the real estate transaction, fully evaluate remediation needs of the property, and determine how the land will be utilized as game lands” — a process that can take up to a year.
Annie Thorne, chair of Edgmont Township’s board of supervisors, told Fideri News Network that a representative of the state game commission indicated that the vacant and deteriorating buildings on the site of the former Sleighton School for Girls would be removed, and the land would be restored to grassland and forest habitat to support wildlife.
In a post on Facebook, Thorne said the state game commission indicated that “given the parcel’s size and proximity to residential areas, hunting would be limited to archery only” on the preserved land.
Thorne also told Fideri News Network that the Sleighton property has been abandoned for more than two decades and, in recent years, was the subject of a private development proposal that included 133 homes in Edgmont Township and an additional 60 homes in neighboring Middletown Township.
“While Edgmont Township does not control the approval process, our immediate priority is to support open communication between the Game Commission and the community,” Thorne said. “To that end, we have invited representatives from the Game Commission to participate in a town hall meeting in Edgmont, which is currently being scheduled. That meeting will provide residents and nearby neighbors an opportunity to hear directly from the Game Commission, ask questions, and share feedback.”
Once the meeting is scheduled, details will be posted on the township’s website, she added.
