Imagine Linden: Second meeting on land use plans set for Monday
The second meeting in Crafton’s Imagine Linden public outreach process will take place at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 24, at the Crafton Community Center.
Community members will get a second chance to share their thoughts on how 5.25 acres of land on Linden Avenue should be used going forward.
Those who can’t attend in person can register to join via Zoom.
The Carlynton School District owns most of the property – about 4 acres – and the borough owns the rest. The Carlynton High School baseball team uses the district property as its home field and the land – which years ago housed the former Crafton High School’s football stadium — also serves as a practice field for soccer and youth football.
The borough’s portion of the property, which borders on heavily traveled Steuben Street, houses a miniature golf course. A small portion of the school district property is in Ingram Borough, and the rest of the 5.25 acres is in Crafton.
Several times over the past decade or so, developers have expressed an interest in acquiring the property and using it for commercial purposes. That has prompted the school district and the borough to launch the Imagine Linden process to get an idea of what the community would like to see done with the property, given that it doesn’t currently generate any significant revenue.
In addition to two public meetings, the borough and school district plan to meet with stakeholders and focus groups to get public input. Also, a community survey has been available online since Aug. 14.
OHM Advisors, a consultant hired to lead the visioning process, provided an overview of the situation at the first public meeting, held Aug. 10. About 45 people attended that meeting and most of those who spoke said the current property owners should consider retaining the property and using it as some sort of recreation or community events space rather than sell it to developers.
Chris Riggert, a landscape architect and community planner with OHM Advisors, said at the initial meeting that input gathered during the research and listening portion of the project would be used to develop potential development scenarios for the property. Those scenarios would be made available for comment online and at a community open house.
Riggert said the goal is to finalize a “community vision” and bring it back to the public sometime in November.
Riggert went over several potential development scenarios, including residential, commercial and mixed-use projects. He noted that while OHM is assuming the future development should fit Crafton’s character, provide a mix of uses, strengthen transit and pedestrian connections and include “green and gathering space,” financial considerations also must be taken into account.
Several of the development scenarios were examined as to whether they met certain financial benchmarks or goals.
According to the borough website, neither of the two parcels in question is deed-restricted for the benefit of Crafton youth, so both may legally be used for any purpose.
The website notes that when the school district sold the mini-golf parcel to the borough in 1999 for $1, it came with two conditions that still apply:
- The borough cannot sell the property and it can only utilize it for municipal uses, such as mini-golf, or deed it back to the school district.
- The school district can reclaim ownership at any time, as long as it gives the borough one year’s notice.
The Imagine Linden process is playing out just as the borough lost its community and economic development director, Mike Tedesco, whose last day with the borough was Friday.
Tedesco, who held that post for 16 months, accepted a position with an economic development organization in the Denver area.
Borough Manager Jim Price said Tedesco’s departure would not have any impact on the Imagine Linden process. Price said he hoped to have Tedesco’s position filled by the end of September.
Borough Council President John Oliverio said he was pleased to see so many residents who came to the first listening/engagement session and expressed their thoughts on the uses for the property.
“I look forward to hearing from more residents through the several upcoming surveys and sessions,” Oliverio said.
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