Court of Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Saltz ruled that Upper Pottsgrove Township’s plan to build a municipal complex on the Smola Farm would violate the state’s Open Space Act. The township had broken ground on the project earlier this year. In his ruling, Saltz imposed an injunction on the township to prevent the project from moving forward. Saltz rejected the township’s argument that open space funds were not used to buy the 36-acre Smola Farm because the bond used to raise the money was refinanced with general funds. According to the township’s reasoning, the Open Space law did not apply. Saltz went on to say the evidence does not show the commissioners acted in bad faith, but rather on advice that the construction of the municipal complex would be legally permissible. Saltz supported the wishes of Upper Pottsgrove voters who voted to enact an earned income tax to support the acquisition and protection of open space at the polls in 2006. “If a municipality could acquire land by using this open space revenue, but then decide to develop the land for another purpose, it would betray the decision of the public to be subject to an additional tax for a single limited purpose,” he said.
Source: Pottstown Mercury; 10/19/2024