Board discusses converting Plymouth Meeting Park to educational meadow, creates follow-up steps

Members of the Plymouth Township Environmental Advisory Board discussed a proposal to repurpose a landlocked parcel known as Plymouth Meeting Park — the parcel behind Plymouth Friends School and houses on Meetinghouse Lane and Sierra Road — as an educational meadow and community open-space project.

The Friends School has indicated it will break its maintenance lease due to capacity concerns; the board proposed the EAB lead a project to naturalize the roughly 1–1.5 acre site, create cut trails and signage, and partner with the school for science-class activities. One member said the parcel could be an "educational area" and "living lab" for student classes and neighborhood use.

Board members discussed access constraints (no dedicated parking; the parcel is landlocked), the site’s concrete channelized swale that feeds to Plymouth Creek and how that affects riparian-grant eligibility, neighbors’ easements that might allow machinery in for plantings, and township willingness to provide some funding and mowing support. The board agreed to draft neighbor outreach letters and to return next month with bullet points and a plan for responsibilities.

Next steps: Form a small working group to draft a neighbor outreach letter, confirm grant eligibility for riparian-buffer funds, and coordinate with the Friends School on an educational program and timeline. Staff offered to help with site details (detention-basin piping) for any naturalization design.

Provenance: Discussion and site details are from open-space agenda items and member exchanges recorded in the meeting transcript.