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My name is Paul Lambert. I have lived on Roberts Rd in Brown Twp for 18 years, and served on the committee which developed the Comprehensive Plan for our township. So I too am a landowner in Brown Twp, although my holdings are only 5 acres. But I actually live on my land, and plan to stay for a long time. I appreciate that the owners of large parcels of land in our township are encouraged that development is finally at their doorstep, and the opportunity to sell their land to a residential developer is close enough to taste. But please understand that the process of you maximizing your land value can simultaneously decrease my land value, and neither of us have the automatic right to cause the other party harm. These kinds of things are meant to be worked out through the political process, which is what we see going on right now, in meetings like this. If we are tolerant of and empathetic to each other’s desires, we’ll get a good solution. At the Darby Dan meeting, one large landowner expressed the opinion that dotting our township with one house every five acres is a bad use of land. I understand that what you’re really saying is that as long as your land remains zoned as 5 acres lots, it has lower market value than if higher density development is allowed. But you know what – I agree with you that building out on 5 acre lots is a poor use of land. I believe the best approach is conservation development, with dense clusters of houses interspersed with open space. The Darby Accord is a vehicle for us both to achieve our goals. Another gentleman remarked that the Big Darby Watershed is pristine and ecologically diverse today because their families have been good stewards of the watershed for 150 years. For that we thank you. Nonetheless, your intentions are to sell out and turn the land over to others who might not be so concerned about protection of the Big Darby. The Brown Twp Comprehensive Plan and the plans of the Big Darby Accord have an important role in defining how the folks who buy your land are expected to take care of it after you have gone. I live in Brown Twp because I want to live there, not because I’m an heir to a family farm. I didn’t take my land by force – I was invited into the township by a landowner who decided to sell some property, and I paid for that land with my own money. I haven’t been a passive resident – I have been deeply involved in both the school system and the township. Brown Twp is my home, not an investment. We have a chance to do something innovative and special here: to build a plan for development which gives the landowners an opportunity to sell if you want, and to get fair compensation – while giving folks like me a chance to enjoy a community which balances a rural setting and big-city amenities. Best of all, we can protect a unique ecological environment at the same time. Take the gamble with us – I think it will pay off. |
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