A Chester County politician has introduced legislation that would limit the use of eminent domain on land that has been set aside to be preserved as green or open space, writes Michael Rellahan for the Daily Local News.

State Rep. Warren Kampf of Tredyffrin Township has joined two legislators from Montgomery County in authoring House Bill 2468 in response to a Lower Merion School District threat to acquire the recently opened Stoneleigh Preserve through eminent domain.

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“The Lower Merion School District has decided to use eminent domain to condemn privately owned land permanently preserved by conservation easement, over the objections of many residents of the community,” Kampf said. “This bill will do what most people thought would have happened to all preserved land.”

This proposed legislation seeks to amend the Eminent Domain Code by adding a section that would require any government agency to obtain Orphans’ Court approval before using eminent domain to take permanently preserved land. It would not prohibit the taking of such easement-controlled land but would add a level of court scrutiny to the practice.

Read more about eminent domain and land preservation in the Daily Local News by clicking here.

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