Montco town breaks ground for municipal complex on land residents say is supposed to be preserved

A group of residents has been fighting officials in Upper Pottsgrove, Montgomery County, for a year over plans to build a new municipal complex on 36 acres they say was originally set aside as open space.

This week, however, township officials began work on the complex’s parking lot, prompting residents to seek an emergency court injunction to try to halt the work. A notice Tuesday on the township website about the groundbreaking came before a scheduled February status hearing on a civil suit that residents filed in early 2023 trying to stop the complex altogether.

“Please be advised that this week, the township will begin work on the first stage of the municipal complex that the board of commissioners approved in August of 2022,” the notice reads. “The work is the first stage of the design and will consist of emplacing a parking lot as well as recreational and aesthetic supporting items. The township’s public works department will perform the task as they have with other parking lots in the township property.”

There was no attribution for the notice. Last year, a 3-2 majority of the five-member board of commissioners voted in favor of the project, led by board president Trace Slinkerd. He did not respond to an Inquirer request for comment.

“I think today made an embarrassing situation even worse,” said board member Cathy Paretti, who aligned against the project. “It’s shortsighted, unnecessarily antagonistic, and puts our township employees in the uncomfortable position of having to carry out orders they know the residents oppose and which may end up being illegal.”

A judge is set to hear the injunction request on Feb. 15 in the Court of Common Pleas in Norristown.

Matt Murray, a local real estate broker who filed the original suit, said he believes the work is illegal because of a November 2008 deal by Upper Pottsgrove to purchase the 36 acres of farmland from Thomas Smola for $450,000 and “utilize it for township open space.”

Smola has since died. The land was purchased with a check from the township’s open space fund, according to the lawsuit.

Murray said the start of work was part of a “continued display of arrogance and fiscal irresponsibility.”

“It’s really a sad day for Upper Pottsgrove Township,” Murray wrote in an email. “I remain optimistic that ‘We the People’ will prevail.”

» READ MORE: Plan to build new municipal complex on open space sparks dissent, lawsuit in small Montco town

Township commissioners began working on a plan in 2020 to use part of the Smola farm for what they say is a much needed municipal complex. They say the land was never formally preserved through a deed restriction or conservation easement.

Officials also say that the complex will use only 1.2 acres of the site, and that they plan to put public trails on the property. The $5.5 million complex will be paid through money from the sale of the township’s wastewater management system.

Residents fighting the plan say they believe the township’s actions are illegal. They say the building and parking lot will mar the land and bring traffic to a location many thought was supposed to be forever preserved. Murray filed his lawsuit in February 2023. He was joined by Nathaniel Guest, a lawyer and executive director of the Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust.

In their legal rebuttal to the lawsuit, the commissioners denied most of the claims without detail.

They say the current municipal building, which is attached to the firehouse, is too small and needs to be modernized.

Kate Harper, a lawyer representing Murray, filed for the injunction Tuesday, hoping to get a hearing before the end of the week.

“I did label it as an emergency because there’s already heavy equipment on site, and the township has announced it intends to pave a portion of the open space,” Harper said.

She believes other officials are watching the case statewide.

Harper, a state representative for 18 years, helped craft the county’s open space plan. She fears that Upper Pottsgrove could be setting a precedent for other municipalities looking to use land paid for with open space money for other purposes.

“There are not a lot of cases like this where a municipality is testing the Open Space Lands Act by proposing to build on land purchased with an open space tax specifically approved by the voters for the purchase of open space,” Harper said.