Mozino Tract defenders call for Upper Darby Council to save the 15-acre forest
About 60 Upper Darby residents turned out to a public forum Aug. 3 to demand that the township council reject a mixed-use zoning ordinance that would permit the development of 143 housing units on the last undeveloped, forested area in Upper Darby.
The tract, across State Road from the Drexeline Shopping Center, is known as the Mozino Forest. It consists of 15 acres of forested land comprised of about 2,000 trees. It abuts another 8.5-acre plot, the historic Collenbrook Farm. Collen brook, a tributary of Darby Creek, runs through it.
A new conservation group, Save the Mozino Forest (SMF), sponsored the forum, held at Collenbrook Church, and plans other public forums, as well as urging supporters to attend planning commission and township council meetings to express their opposition until the issue is resolved.
The new organization, less than two months old, has established a website – savethemozineforest.org and Facebook page – and has already collected more than 900 signatures on a petition (on the website) to present to the Upper Daby Township Council. It is also meeting with conservation groups, township, county, state and ultimately federal officials to explore how the township could raise money to buy the developer out.
Upper Darby Planning Commission Vice Chair Lee Jordan and Chair Jeff Roken were the only members of the commission to vote against recommending the ordinance to council.
Jordan and Bonnie Hallam, a former chair of the township Environmental Advisory Committee and chair of Tree Tenders of Upper Darby, are among the team of about 10 people who formed SMF group. The Upper Darby EAC is currently considering recommending that Council reject the proposed ordinance and instead explore ways to save to forest.
According to them, developer Rockwell Development Group, a Florida corporation with local offices in Media, brought the Community Mixed Use ordinance to the planning commission a year ago. It recently passed by a 3-2 vote.
SFM member Jim Johnson said the township is 7.5 square miles, has 85,000 residents and has only preserved 6% of its area for open space, half of what Philadelphia has.
“Stop the rezoning and save the forest. We must do both,” Hallam told the crowd. All the attendees seemed to be in agreement with that. Many were concerned about increased burden on the school district, taxes and increased traffic if the project is built.
SMF contends the 65-year-old mixed deciduous tree forest should be preserved for several reasons: The plot is habitat for many wildlife species, including deer; a proposed trail through the tract could connect Collenbrook Farm to the Darby Creek Trail System, the trees absorb 48 pounds of CO2 annually, and the trees and brook substantially reduce stormwater runoff.
Moreover, SMF says, the proposed development of 143 high-end housing, believed to be in the $750,000 to $1 million range, will do nothing to relieve the need for affordable housing in the densely populated township
“We are not against development. We want to see redevelopment, like 69th Street,” Jordan said referring to the increasingly rundown main commercial area of the township.
A BIG HILL TO CLIMB
The group and its supporters have a very large problem to overcome if it is going to save the forest.
Under the current zoning, Rockwell could go in and start building up to 52 single family homes right now without Council’s permission. It would just have to go through the standard sewer and water permitting process, submit site plans and do an engineering and traffic study.
Johnson said that no one knows how much Rockwell is paying the Mozino family for the property but the group believes it was purchased under a contingency agreement to get the zoning change through. SMF is trying to contact the Mozino family and asks if anyone has contact information for them to let it know.
The Drexeline Shopping Center went through redevelopment a few years ago that increased traffic on State Road, while Christiana Care is building a mini-hospital just up Township Line road, about two football fields away in Springfield, that is also likely to increase traffic in the area.
Upper Darby Councilman Kyle McIntyre, who attended the forum with fellow Councilman Brian O’Neill, explained that under the current zoning, council was powerless to stop the single-family home development, but if it passed the Community Mixed Zoning ordinance, it could inset some limitations and controls on it.
He said that if Council did nothing, it’s possible Rockwell could pull out because it may not find the single-family home zoning profitable enough, or the developer could go ahead and build and Council couldn’t stop it.
Mcintyre said he, O’Neill and a third council member are gathering all the information they can to inform the rest of Council and explore other avenues. He promised the process would be completely transparent.
He is going to recommend that Council have a special meeting just on the Mozino Forest issue where residents and the developer can answer questions and make their case to Council. He doesn’t believe the votes are there to pass the proposed ordinance right now and it is not on the agenda for the next council meeting.
McIntyre and O’Neill are scheduled to meet with Rockwell and McIntyre said the first question they will ask is, “How much did you pay for the tract?” The answer to that question is important because it will guide Save the Mozino Forest group in trying to find funding so the township can exercise eminent domain or a conservation organization can buy it from the developer.
Jodine Mayberry for the Clearinghouse
PHOTO/Clearinghouse View of Mozino Tract from Drexeline Shopping Center
