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Abington approves Manorwoods trail grant and MOA addendum as Shade Tree Commission warns of large tree removals
Summary
The board adopted an addendum to the parks memorandum of agreement and authorized a $250,000 PA DCED greenways grant for Manorwoods trail work; the Shade Tree Commission urged stronger tree protections and flagged that a separate 221 Morton Road proposal would remove roughly half the on‑site canopy, according to commission counts.
The Abington Township Board of Commissioners on May 14 approved an addendum to a memorandum of agreement with the parks and recreation department describing the scope for a Manorwoods woodland trail and subsequently adopted a resolution to apply for a $250,000 PA Department of Community and Economic Development Greenways, Trails and Recreation Program grant to complete the trail.
Parks staff (identified in the meeting as Ashley) said the project scope includes a parking lot, trail construction, stormwater improvements, selective tree removal with replacement plantings, fence replacement along Douglas Avenue, a sidewalk along Forest Avenue and a crosswalk to improve access to Albert Thorpe Park. Staff said remaining ARPA funds are available for engineering work this year and that the township plans to pursue the DCED grant to cover construction costs.
"We have the engineer looked at the 2012 plan...we feel pretty comfortable with the design," Ashley said, adding the ARPA engineering dollars must be spent by the end of the year and that staff believes a follow‑on grant can fund construction.
Several residents and commission volunteers urged caution. Patricia Gallagher, co‑chair of the Abington Shade Tree Commission, told the board that during a site visit the Shade Tree Commission had documented numerous trees in excess of 6 inches diameter breast height had been cut and that initial submissions to the township showed the applicant proposed removing 178 such trees (about 44% of the cataloged trees). In a revised submission the applicant increased that number to 195, which Gallagher said represents approximately 52% of existing canopy on the parcel.
"When a plan calls for removing more than 25% of the tree canopy, [the code] requires layout to minimize the removal of healthy trees," Gallagher said, urging the board to impose conditions on the 221 Morton Road application and to move forward with a stronger tree‑protection ordinance.
Commissioner Rothman supported moving ahead with the Manorwoods project and emphasized preserving space where possible, while acknowledging that design changes were made to avoid removing viable large trees and that grant funding is a key opportunity.
The board voted to adopt the DCED grant application resolution (26‑020) and to approve the MOA addendum enabling the parks project to proceed. Officials said the project will return with final design and any required permits and that planning commission conditions for the separate 221 Morton Road preliminary approval include fire marshal review and work with the Shade Tree Commission on tree counts and species replacement.
Next steps: staff will continue design and pursue the DCED grant; the 221 Morton Road land development will return to the board as a future agenda item after required reviews.
