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by Curt Ashenfelter, KTA Executive Director
Your days of hiking in county and municipal parks may soon be over.
The Pennsylvania Senate is poised to pass a bill that will allow county and municipal governments to sell our local parks for quick and easy cash. House Bill 2224 is now in the Senate Appropriations Committee chaired by Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre.
The legislation repeals longstanding rules that protect our parks and other green spaces. HB 2224 destroys the Donated or Dedicated Property Act, removes court oversight of the sale of public parks, and opens the door to their sale for short-term gain or political purposes.
This bill violates the trust and good faith of citizens who transferred property to a local government to conserve the property for a public purpose. Passing the bill would jeopardize local parks across the Commonwealth and force public-spirited citizens to reconsider whether to give property to local government for public purposes.
This bill eliminiates longstanding rules that ensure government cannot sell parks and other greenspaces if the lands provide a public benefit.
The Pennsylvania House passed the bill in the spring, having escaped any close analysis of its obscure content. Only in recent days did friends of parks and conservation discover the harm that the bill would cause.
In addition to putting parks and greenspaces at risk, the bill:
• Violates the trust and good faith of landowners who donated property for a dollar or sold property to the government at a bargain price with assurances that the land would be used for a public purpose.
• Forces generous landowners to second guess whether they should sell their land at a bargain price for a good cause — a new park — because it shows that government is not to be trusted with such gifts.
• Discards the fair and balanced process local governments have used since 1959 to determine whether public land can be sold.
Parks shouldn’t be undone on a political whim. If enacted, this bill will do tremendous harm to our parks and greenspaces, It will also put a chill in landowners who are considering conservation.
Visit in person, call, write or email your Senator today to encourage him or her to amend a bill that would allow county and local governments to easily dispose of community parks for easy cash. If you do not know the name, office location or phone number of your state senator, click here. If you have time, drop me a short note to let me know who you contacted (or bcc me on the email) - ktahike@verizon.net. Thank you! |