Hundreds of residents have organized to try to convince the Downingtown Area School District to end the agreement to sell 237 acres of farmland to Audubon Land Development, which plans to build 1.96 million square feet of warehouse space on the property, writes Bill Rettew for the Daily Local News.

The warehouses would be constructed at the former Siemens property, at Lionville Station, just north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Downingtown interchange.

The school district has entered into a contingency agreement of sale with the developer to buy the Lionville Station property. The district acquired the property for $22 million in 2006 and agreed to sell it for over $96 million in July 2022.

“The decision for what will or will not be built on the Siemens property can only be determined by Audubon Land Development and is governed by the township’s zoning and land development approval process,” wrote the district on its website. “The area is currently zoned for commercial and industrial use and has been so for many years.”

The school district plans to use funds from the sale to build a new 5/6 center.

Read more about the proposed development project in Downingtown and details about the new 5/6 center in the Daily Local News.

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The former Siemens property was the topic of discussion at the DASD’s School Board meeting on July 12, 2023.