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Upper Pottsgrove wins award for open space

Tue Nov 10, 2009 / Watershed Land Collaborative

 

Monday, November 9, 2009

By Evan Brandt, ebrandt@pottsmerc.com

UPPER POTTSGROVE — While our valiant Phillies may have been unable to lock down back-to-back World Championships on the baseball diamond, this township is becoming a champion at winning back-to-back awards for its efforts to preserve open space.

Recently, Montgomery County Lands Trust, a nonprofit open space group active in the county, selected Upper Pottsgrove for its "Green Futures Achievement Award" for 2009, the second year in a row the township has received this honor.

Last year's award came in the wake of the adoption of a voter-approved, earned income tax and bond borrowing that has fueled the township's extremely active purchase of open space, all guided by a plan that envisions trails through the township overseen by an active committee of citizens.

Th earned income tax generates $250,000 a year to pay back the borrowing

This year, it was one of those trails that caught the notice of the lands trust. Goose Run Trail was created in cooperation with Rouse/Chamberlin, the developers of the Summer Grove and Chestnut Grove developments off Chestnut Grove Road. The developers donated 15 acres along the stream called Goose Run.

Money was provided through a Tree Vitalize Watershed grant from the Montgomery County Conservation District, which paid for 200 trees and shrubs, as well as the developers, Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation, and the lands trust.

"Protection of open space was built into the design of the proposed developments of Summer Grove and Chestnut Grove as a result of collaboration among the developers the township planning commission and the Montgomery County Planning Commission," the award narrative states.

"The Goose Run Pedestrian Walking Trail Expands Upper Pottsgrove Township's portfolio of open space achievements. The township has leveraged public and private partnerships to protect more than 200 acres of land and they have identified another 100 acres for future protection," the narrative said.