Open Space Preservation Letter Penned By Yardley to Lower Makefield

YARDLEY, PA —The Borough Council is sending a letter to its neighbor Lower Makefield Township in hopes of preserving a parcel that borders the two towns.

The council, in a consensus vote at Tuesday night's meeting, penned a letter regarding the sale of Joseph Jennings’ property for use as an open space preserve and interconnection between Lower Makefield Township and Yardley Borough.

Former Yardley Councilman Uri Feiner made the preservation pitch to the council at its meeting earlier this month. He stated that the 6-plus-acre parcel is "a phenomenal opportunity" for the borough.

"It has an accessible trail and would be great for the whole community," Feiner told the council at its Nov. 1 meeting. "Things like this get caught up in the process. It might be the biggest parcel of open space around here. This is a really big deal. It doesn't come up often."

Jennings told the council at the same meeting that he bought the property 20 years ago and that it "was a mess."

"It looks like a park already," said Jennings, a Lower Makefield Township resident said.

Lower Makefield Township resident Harry Gamble urged the council to petition Lower Makefield to make the parcel a park and maintain its woods which he said are home to wild turkeys, land turtles and a variety of 50 birds.

Council President Caroline Thompson requested that Councilman David Appelbaum work together with Feiner and Jennings and come up with language for the letter.

"The ability for Lower Makefield to take ownership of this pristine property is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Appelbaum told Patch Wednesday. "It's a mutual benefit for Lower Makefield and Yardley residents."

The letter, signed by the Yardley Borough Council to the Lower Makefield Township Supervisors, reads:

Dear Supervisors:

Recently we learned that LMT resident Joe Jennings of 2 McKinley Drive proposed selling his property for the purpose of creating an open space preserve rather than a housing development.

This property is in a crucial location adjacent to existing open space while bordering Yardley Borough and the historic Delaware Canal. It begins exactly at the endpoint of the forthcoming final phase of the North Main Street sidewalk project (2023). Mr. Jennings’ proposal for the sale of his property for open space would be vital to creating a future natural trail.

In addition, with the recent completion of the Scudder Falls pedestrian/bike pathway, the 1799 House trailhead, the new pedestrian bridge over the canal by Woodside Road, the forthcoming purchase of the PECO lot (the “Yardley Trailhead”), and the new Mary Yardley Bridge (2023), this property would serve as a key component of interconnection while preserving a natural buffer for our mutual residents.

This strikes us as a rare opportunity to do something that residents and visitors to our region will enjoy for generations to come. Therefore, we express our support and encouragement to move forward and preserve this property as an open space.

Respectfully,

Yardley Borough Council