Delco housing development faces opposition

DELAWARE COUNTY

Housing development faces opposition

CONCORD TWP. A controversial development proposal in Concord Township now abuts a national park.

Congress passed legislation this month designating the First State National Park as the first national park in the state of Delaware.

Woodlawn Trustees Inc., the company that owns the property, sold more than 1,000 acres of its land in Delaware to a conservancy group in 2013, which transferred it to the National Park Service. Woodlawn has now proposed building homes on 300 acres of its remaining land in Concord Township, on the Pennsylvania-Delaware border.

A number of residents who use recreational trails on Woodlawn's land have voiced opposition to the plan.

Though the designation of the Delaware land as a national park will not directly affect the development proposal, debates over the property will likely continue in the coming months.

Concord Township's planning commission is expected to hold a hearing on the plans on Jan. 20, and the plans could go before the board of commissioners as early as February. - Laura McCrystal