15 Acres of Open Space Preserved In Bensalem Township

BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA —The former UGH Club —now known as Bensalem First Responder Fields —will be spared from future development.

The Bensalem Township Council Monday night approved a measure to preserve 15 acres as part of its open space program.

Township Solicitor Joe Pizzo said that the township has made a "significant amount of investment" to get the fields in "usable form."

He said the parking lots were redone, new stands were installed and drainage was added to get the fields "up and running" for use in the future.

The final step came Monday night.

Pizzo told council members that Bucks County signed off on the township's open space grant application for $864,000.

And all that awaited was for the council to approve and execute the deed of conservation easement, which it did in a unanimous vote.

Pizzo said the measure means that the property is preserved in perpetuity, except for a building that is on the tract.

"This is forever preserved," Pizzo said. "We've added 15 acres to our rolls of open space."

Councilwoman Stacey Champion asked Pizzo how the land is preserved.

He explained that it is being sold as open space and can't be sold for residential or commercial use. Pizzo stated that the township does hold the rights for recreational purposes to do some of its own building on the property if it wanted to add a storage shed or as Champion said maybe bathrooms or a stand for media.

Pizzo said Bucks County will hold the rights to the property but that Bensalem Township would hold the deed.

"It's our property," he said.