The Middletown Board of Supervisors has recently approved the master site plan for the Spring Valley Farm project.
The approval of the master site plan, which passed 3-2, is required to receive future grant funding and does not lock the township into approving any future plans for the site.
Advertisements
The project started two years ago in Middletown, according to Parks and Recreation Director Debbie LaMana, but was brought before the public last February when they had the opportunity to review the site and its topography before making recommendations for activities and uses they thought would suit the project. The master plan was then presented to the board in October.
According to Sean Garrigan of Toole Recreation Planning, one of the most important aspects in developing a plan for the Spring Valley Farm property, which lies in Middletown but is on the border of Penndel Borough, and more specifically the Penndel Memorial Baseball Fields, was to keep the site more passive in nature, allowing community members to visit the site mainly to experience the environment and the historical connotations of the property, which date back to the 1600s.
The master plan would, according to Garrigan, require some negotiations with Penndel borough, as plans exist to remove the fence between the two properties and install parking for both facilities in a round about style fashion off Walnut Avenue. Garrigan noted that once the plan was implemented, the two parks would work together, providing recreational use on the Penndel side and a more passive use in Middletown. Removing the fence would also make the ball field closest to the border a “regulation” field as a section of it is cut off by the pre-existing fence.
Advertisements
The master plan also created a loop trail system which would circle the southern half of the property and weave out onto Rumpf Avenue. Ann Toole called the site an “oasis of nature,” saying that its new uses will allow people in the community to “get to experience the great outdoors close to home”. Both landscape planners noted that while the resources will be there, it would be up to the township to organize environmental education programs on the site.
Small community events and private rented events in the large lawn space on the property could also be a way of earning money for the park’s maintenance, according to Garrigan, who also recommended the installation of bathroom facilities on the property.
Advertisements
While Toole noted that Middletown currently spends 4 percent of its budget each year on maintaining its park system, it stands to gain more money in grant programs by having a project that works with more than one municipality.
