In a decision that may set a legal precedent for other municipalities, Upper Pottsgrove has moved forward on building a new municipal complex on land originally designated as open space, writes Frank Kummer for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Township officials announced on Tuesday that they were beginning work on the new complex’s parking lot despite an upcoming hearing on a civil suit filed by residents in 2023 to prevent the complex from being built.

The land at the center of the controversy is the 36-acre farm of Thomas Smola that the township bought in 2008 to be used for open space. The money for the purchase came from the township’s open space fund.

Upper Pottsgrove officials, however, have said that a new larger municipal complex is badly needed, and the plan is for only 1.2 acres of the land to be used for the complex. On the rest of the land, they plan to build public trails.

Township residents have applied for an emergency court injunction to try to stop the work on the parking lot.

A judge will hear the injunction request on February 15 in the Court of Common Pleas in Norristown.

Read more about the open space civil lawsuit against Upper Pottsgrove in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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