danwxman
Apr 29, 2007, 6:22 PM
Project could swell town from 11 residents to 25,000
Borough's 25-year 'new town' would include 12,500 homes
Sunday, April 29, 2007
BY FORD TURNER
Of The Patriot-News
NEW MORGAN - In a neat, modern office surrounded by the aging remains of a defunct iron mine, Carolyn Williams enthusiastically plants her fingers on the possible future.
It is a sheaf of papers spread on a meeting table. Labeled "Planned Residential Development," and filled with the intricate drawings and language of planners, engineers and architects, the papers show how this Berks County borough could grow from 11 residents to about 25,000 over the course of 25 years.
"We have to make this work," said Williams, who is one of the 11 residents and the borough manager.
New Morgan, covering 3,500 acres just north of the Morgantown exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, is poised for an astonishing growth curve. The development plan filed there calls for an all-new, pedestrian-oriented town, with 12,500 homes and nearby schools, stores and workplaces.
It is all to occur in a place now occupied by wooded hills, stubblefields and the iron mine's crumbling remains. And it is all to occur in a borough formed 19 years ago amid a controversy that traveled all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear an appeal.
The proposed town is to be called Bryn Eyre, derived from a Welsh phrase meaning eagle hill.
It represents a push back against the sprawling suburbs that have become common since World War II, said Jason Duckworth, vice president of co-developer Arcadia Land Co.
"By building compactly, by building in a pedestrian-oriented way, we can use less land and build more neighborhood-oriented communities," Duckworth said. "It is our feeling about a third of homeowners would prefer a more traditional setting where a child can walk to an elementary school and there is a short commute to work."
Municipal 'secession':
The original plans for New Morgan were much different.
Raymond Carr, a developer, filed to incorporate the borough in 1987 by combining land he owned in two townships. In a 1988 election, most of the 10 residents living on his land voted to form the borough, in which Carr wanted to build a Victorian village, golf course, hotel and other amenities.
The residents of Caernarvon Twp., which lost land to New Morgan, felt shortchanged, according to current township supervisors' Chairman Lewis Gable.
"It didn't give the people that were part of the area they were withdrawing from a say in the thing," he said. "That was a big chunk of our tax area that was pulled from underneath us, and we didn't have a say in it."
About 15 years ago, attempts at municipal "secession" seemed to be a trend.
In Monroe County, a judge refused to allow the owners of Pocono International Raceway to secede from Tunkhannock Twp. to form an independent borough.
In Monaghan Twp., three people voted to secede to form the borough of Chilton. They were developer Robert Mumma II, his wife, and a tenant on the land that Mumma and his business partners wanted to develop into a golf course and homes.
Mumma lost a four-year legal battle to form the borough.
In Monroe Twp., Ashcombe Products wanted to create the borough of Ashcombe on 506 acres in the township. It lost a court fight.
The key factor was a bill signed into law by Gov. Robert P. Casey in 1992 that prohibited the creation of boroughs with fewer than 500 residents.
Caernarvon Twp.'s fight against New Morgan ended when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the case.
The borough, created mostly from land that had been a Bethlehem Steel iron ore mine until 1977, was born. But Carr's plans never came about. Instead, a landfill and a facility for troubled juveniles became the most prominent operations in New Morgan.
Prospects for the borough changed when Arcadia and Carlino Development Group -- founded by Penn National Gaming Co. Chairman Peter M. Carlino -- bought much of its land in 2004. The developers met with officials in a multitude of government agencies and have generated support for the notion of a "new town."
"I am certainly optimistic about it," said Berks County Commissioner Judith Schwank. "It is an area designated as future growth for the county. ... Instead of just incremental, haphazard development, there will be a plan."
Berks County Planning Commission Executive Director Glenn Knoblauch said the agency helped create the New Morgan ordinance that allows for a planned residential development.
"A lot of us saw this as raising the bar, that this could serve as a model of the kind of development that we would want to duplicate in other areas," Knoblauch said.
'Oh, yes, another dream':
The plan is scheduled to unfold in numerous phases. It calls for narrow streets with homes close to the street and garages tucked behind the homes. Offices and light industrial locations are planned to be close by, as are new schools.
The growth of New Morgan could generate 3,600 new students for the Twin Valley School District, which now has 3,300 students. Spokeswoman Kelly McBride said the district has discussed possible new school buildings with the developers.
"It is not too far away to consider what could happen, but it is a question of, 'Is it going to happen?'" she said.
Duckworth, the Arcadia executive, is optimistic. Groundbreaking on the project's first phase could occur next year.
He said a breakthrough occurred recently in discussions about protection of the bog turtle, an endangered species in the area. The state's "brownfields" regulations will allow the developer to meet relaxed environmental standards as it recycles former mine land.
Some neighbors are not excited by the prospect of a "new town."
"You can't stop it. This is what we call 'progress,' I guess," said Ken Rutherford, a retired machinist who lives just outside the borough. "I figure we are going to be a city, from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, one day."
Paul Croy, who also lives nearby, said Bryn Eyre would create more of the crowding he tried to escape when he moved out of Philadelphia eight years ago.
"That number of homes, it sounds like a lot," he said.
Gable, the Caernarvon Twp. supervisor, said, "There has been a tremendous amount of promises made and all kinds of speculation on what was going to go in there, from Mr. Carr on. Now, everybody just looks at it and says, 'Oh, yes, another dream.'"
Most of Williams' job as the New Morgan borough manager is doing things that will help make the dream a reality. In the borough office, she plunks her fingers on the Bryn Eyre drawings to show where she would prefer her new home.
"I am waiting to buy a house. I want to buy in phase one," she said. "I am excited. I am very excited."
FORD TURNER: 255-8486 or fturner@patriot-news.com
BRYN EYRE
# New Morgan was incorporated in 1988, when most of the 10 people living in the 3,500 acres voted to withdraw from two townships and form a new local government.
# The project calls for 12,500 homes, built over 25 years, taking up much of the borough. That would put the borough between the size of Susquehanna (23,000 residents) and Lower Paxton (45,000 residents) townships.
# Developers say the Bryn Eyre project could generate 32,000 jobs.
# It could generate 3,600 students for the Twin Valley School District, which now enrolls 3,300.
# More information: www.bryneyre.com.
Borough's 25-year 'new town' would include 12,500 homes
Sunday, April 29, 2007
BY FORD TURNER
Of The Patriot-News
NEW MORGAN - In a neat, modern office surrounded by the aging remains of a defunct iron mine, Carolyn Williams enthusiastically plants her fingers on the possible future.
It is a sheaf of papers spread on a meeting table. Labeled "Planned Residential Development," and filled with the intricate drawings and language of planners, engineers and architects, the papers show how this Berks County borough could grow from 11 residents to about 25,000 over the course of 25 years.
"We have to make this work," said Williams, who is one of the 11 residents and the borough manager.
New Morgan, covering 3,500 acres just north of the Morgantown exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, is poised for an astonishing growth curve. The development plan filed there calls for an all-new, pedestrian-oriented town, with 12,500 homes and nearby schools, stores and workplaces.
It is all to occur in a place now occupied by wooded hills, stubblefields and the iron mine's crumbling remains. And it is all to occur in a borough formed 19 years ago amid a controversy that traveled all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear an appeal.
The proposed town is to be called Bryn Eyre, derived from a Welsh phrase meaning eagle hill.
It represents a push back against the sprawling suburbs that have become common since World War II, said Jason Duckworth, vice president of co-developer Arcadia Land Co.
"By building compactly, by building in a pedestrian-oriented way, we can use less land and build more neighborhood-oriented communities," Duckworth said. "It is our feeling about a third of homeowners would prefer a more traditional setting where a child can walk to an elementary school and there is a short commute to work."
Municipal 'secession':
The original plans for New Morgan were much different.
Raymond Carr, a developer, filed to incorporate the borough in 1987 by combining land he owned in two townships. In a 1988 election, most of the 10 residents living on his land voted to form the borough, in which Carr wanted to build a Victorian village, golf course, hotel and other amenities.
The residents of Caernarvon Twp., which lost land to New Morgan, felt shortchanged, according to current township supervisors' Chairman Lewis Gable.
"It didn't give the people that were part of the area they were withdrawing from a say in the thing," he said. "That was a big chunk of our tax area that was pulled from underneath us, and we didn't have a say in it."
About 15 years ago, attempts at municipal "secession" seemed to be a trend.
In Monroe County, a judge refused to allow the owners of Pocono International Raceway to secede from Tunkhannock Twp. to form an independent borough.
In Monaghan Twp., three people voted to secede to form the borough of Chilton. They were developer Robert Mumma II, his wife, and a tenant on the land that Mumma and his business partners wanted to develop into a golf course and homes.
Mumma lost a four-year legal battle to form the borough.
In Monroe Twp., Ashcombe Products wanted to create the borough of Ashcombe on 506 acres in the township. It lost a court fight.
The key factor was a bill signed into law by Gov. Robert P. Casey in 1992 that prohibited the creation of boroughs with fewer than 500 residents.
Caernarvon Twp.'s fight against New Morgan ended when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the case.
The borough, created mostly from land that had been a Bethlehem Steel iron ore mine until 1977, was born. But Carr's plans never came about. Instead, a landfill and a facility for troubled juveniles became the most prominent operations in New Morgan.
Prospects for the borough changed when Arcadia and Carlino Development Group -- founded by Penn National Gaming Co. Chairman Peter M. Carlino -- bought much of its land in 2004. The developers met with officials in a multitude of government agencies and have generated support for the notion of a "new town."
"I am certainly optimistic about it," said Berks County Commissioner Judith Schwank. "It is an area designated as future growth for the county. ... Instead of just incremental, haphazard development, there will be a plan."
Berks County Planning Commission Executive Director Glenn Knoblauch said the agency helped create the New Morgan ordinance that allows for a planned residential development.
"A lot of us saw this as raising the bar, that this could serve as a model of the kind of development that we would want to duplicate in other areas," Knoblauch said.
'Oh, yes, another dream':
The plan is scheduled to unfold in numerous phases. It calls for narrow streets with homes close to the street and garages tucked behind the homes. Offices and light industrial locations are planned to be close by, as are new schools.
The growth of New Morgan could generate 3,600 new students for the Twin Valley School District, which now has 3,300 students. Spokeswoman Kelly McBride said the district has discussed possible new school buildings with the developers.
"It is not too far away to consider what could happen, but it is a question of, 'Is it going to happen?'" she said.
Duckworth, the Arcadia executive, is optimistic. Groundbreaking on the project's first phase could occur next year.
He said a breakthrough occurred recently in discussions about protection of the bog turtle, an endangered species in the area. The state's "brownfields" regulations will allow the developer to meet relaxed environmental standards as it recycles former mine land.
Some neighbors are not excited by the prospect of a "new town."
"You can't stop it. This is what we call 'progress,' I guess," said Ken Rutherford, a retired machinist who lives just outside the borough. "I figure we are going to be a city, from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, one day."
Paul Croy, who also lives nearby, said Bryn Eyre would create more of the crowding he tried to escape when he moved out of Philadelphia eight years ago.
"That number of homes, it sounds like a lot," he said.
Gable, the Caernarvon Twp. supervisor, said, "There has been a tremendous amount of promises made and all kinds of speculation on what was going to go in there, from Mr. Carr on. Now, everybody just looks at it and says, 'Oh, yes, another dream.'"
Most of Williams' job as the New Morgan borough manager is doing things that will help make the dream a reality. In the borough office, she plunks her fingers on the Bryn Eyre drawings to show where she would prefer her new home.
"I am waiting to buy a house. I want to buy in phase one," she said. "I am excited. I am very excited."
FORD TURNER: 255-8486 or fturner@patriot-news.com
BRYN EYRE
# New Morgan was incorporated in 1988, when most of the 10 people living in the 3,500 acres voted to withdraw from two townships and form a new local government.
# The project calls for 12,500 homes, built over 25 years, taking up much of the borough. That would put the borough between the size of Susquehanna (23,000 residents) and Lower Paxton (45,000 residents) townships.
# Developers say the Bryn Eyre project could generate 32,000 jobs.
# It could generate 3,600 students for the Twin Valley School District, which now enrolls 3,300.
# More information: www.bryneyre.com.