Edgar W. Brick has opted to donate his 37.2-acre property on the 900 block of Mt. Eyre Road into a conservation easement with the township.

 

On Tuesday, April 6, the Upper Makefield Board of Supervisors voted to authorize township professionals to prepare the documents required to allow the acceptance of the easement, thereby ultimately making it official.

The resolution notes that the township has identified the property as a “high priority” for conservation.

 

In Pennsylvania, a voluntary conservation easement is a legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government agency that permanently limits uses of the land in order to protect its conservation/natural values – the upshot of which is that significant development is typically prohibited under terms of the deals.

 

Such easements allow property owners to continue to own and use their land, as well as to sell it or pass it on to heirs. Owners can donate easements, or seek to be compensated by land trusts or government agencies that wish to conserve the land in return for placing an easement on a property.

 

Dave Nyman, Upper Makefield’s township manager, told the Herald that more than 5,400 acres – nearly 40% of the municipality – is either preserved land or under conservation easement.

 

“Open space preservation remains a priority with supervisors, however there are very few unpreserved parcels still available in the township,” Nyman noted.