Major update on Save the Mozino Forest
The Save the Mozino Forest organization reports two new developments. The developer has filed an application for a permit to build 51 single-family homes and he has given the group one year to raise the funds to buy the tract from him and preserve it instead.
According to the group, developer Greg Lingo of Rockwell Development Group has done what he pledged to do at community meetings and in the press. On Nov. 2, he filed an application for a permit to build 51 single family homes on the Mozino tract.
He will give the Save the Mozino Forest organization a year to secure funding to purchase the forest, which he has said he would sell to it for about $8 million.
The organization is pursuing all avenues to secure the funding through federal, state and local grants and conservation organizations, such as Natural Lands. It is hoped the passage on Nov, 3 of the Water, land and wildlife bond issue for $120 million will also benefit this project.
The 15-acre Mozino Tract, across from the Drexeline Shopping Center is the last undeveloped tract in Upper Darby. It is the wedge-shaped parcel where Township Line Road and State Road diverge, behind the Collenbrook United Church. The township is the largest and most densely populated municipality in the county and borders Philadelphia.
If the Save the Mozino Forest group cannot come up with the funding, Lingo will proceed with his proposal to build 51 single family homes on the tract “by right,” meaning he has the right to do that under current zoning. A proposal that would have changed the zoning to allow him to build 141 mixed use units has been tabled and is not likely to get enough votes in the Upper Darby Council to pass.
Save the Mozino Forest is asking everyone interested in preserving the tract to get involved by signing a petition, attending council meetings and donating to the project. The next council meeting is Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Municipal Building, 100 Garrett Rd.
The Upper Darby Planning Board will meet Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. in the Municipal Building and supporters are asked to attend and comment. Wear a green shirt as a sign of support.
For more information and to make a donation, click HERE. Or go to its Facebook page.