Owen Maier ’20:
The Newtown Township recently held an open meeting to debate a set of changes concerning the 50 acres of open land that mostly comprises the Episcopal Academy’s cross country course. The land itself currently belongs to the Newtown Township which has been actively expanding the Liseter community. EA only has permission to use the land because the school keeps it maintained.
Mark Notaro, Director of Operations at EA, explains that Toll Brothers, the company responsible for developing the 440 housing units in the area had to “dedicate a certain amount of this open space to the township to get the development rights approved.”
While the township has not yet given Toll Brothers authorization to continue housing development, a variety of alternative ideas were proposed at a township meeting held in November. Notaro, a member of the township committee, explains that one idea for the open space was to create an entrance leading directly to the Lower School. However, this idea was rejected due to a variety of safety concerns. Another thought was to leave the land as is with no further development.
Photo Coutesy of the Newtown Township Website
Notaro does however, think the most likely course of action will be to permanently halt the housing developments to create some sort of nature preserve. He explains, “The extension of homes closer to the baseball fields will cause a lot more traffic and a lot more walking around campus: more than a nature preserve.”
Jack Rebillard ‘20 says, ““The drive to school for me goes right by Liseter, and there is already a lot of traffic. Even more would really make the commute harder.”
Aedan Yohannan ‘20 adds, “If there are a ton of people walking around school and I have to get to a field across campus, that would make sports harder, especially for those on the baseball fields far away.”
However, addressing the concerns of the EA community, Notaro says, “They [the township] have a lot of permission that needs to be worked out and it has to be an open space. There are restrictions that won’t allow for any building other than a gazebo.”