Update: On Tuesday, Dec. 10, City Council approved the letter of intent with Partners for Environmental Stewardship.
Previously reported:
City Council will be asked next week to sign off on a major step toward the development of an environmental center and nature preserve on Sunnyside Peninsula.
On council’s agenda for its meeting next Tuesday is authorization of a letter of intent with Partners for Environmental Stewardship, or PES, a nonprofit affiliate of the High Foundation.
It lays out a preliminary set of terms under which PES would build a state-of-the-art environmental education and research center on a portion of the 70 acres of wooded land that the city owns on Sunnyside.
PES would lease the land for the center from the city for a nominal $1 a year. The remainder of the property would become a nature preserve, developed under a master plan created by PES, owned and managed by the city.
The environmental center and nature preserve are key elements of the city’s strategy for revitalizing the Conestoga River, as outlined in Our Future Lancaster, the comprehensive plan for Lancaster that was approved last year. It calls for transforming the river corridor into a nexus for outdoor recreation, environmental stewardship and sustainable development.
The center and preserve would serve for generations as “foundational community assets,” Director of Community Planning & Economic Development Chris Delfs told council members.
The letter that is up for council’s approval is a nonbinding prelude to a “definitive agreement” that the city and PES would negotiate over the following 60 days. It, too, would come before City Council for approval; once approved, it would be a binding contract.
According to the letter, PES will be responsible for financing and building the environmental center, but not the nature preserve. It says the city will seek funding to develop the latter — for example, by adding trails and signage — “in a timely manner,” but will not be considered at fault if it can’t. At minimum, the city is to provide public access to the nature preserve and maintain it as it does other city parks.
Last fall, Delfs’ department issued a request for proposals for the project. While PES was the only organization to respond, his staff determined that it met the city’s objectives. The city issued a letter in January conditionally awarding the project to PES, and the two entities have been negotiating and refining the project since then, Delfs said.
The preliminary budget for the environmental center and master plan is $36 million. The High Foundation would contribute one-fourth, $9 million, and PES would raise the remainder from state, federal and private sources. The letter calls for groundbreaking to take place by July 1, 2029.
The project will involve close collaboration between the city, PES and many other stakeholders, including the School District of Lancaster and other educational institutions, PES Director Diana Martin said. She also the High Foundation’s director of impact, having recently left the Hourglass Foundation to take on her new dual role.
As planning progresses, there will be extensive community engagement and input, she said. PES anticipates finalizing a community engagement plan and presenting it this spring.
PES is a consortium with numerous partners, most of them well-known within Lancaster County’s environmental sector: Lancaster Clean Water Partners, Lancaster Conservancy, RegenAll and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, among others.
The 70 acres in question comprise roughly the north two-thirds of Sunnyside Peninsula. The property includes a former quarry, now flooded, but excludes the Youth Intervention Center property, which is owned by Lancaster County.
The remainder of the peninsula is home to a scattering of private residences and Sunnyside Mennonite Church. About 11 acres is an overgrown former junkyard: In October, a local company, MPLR Holdings, presented a plan to build a 75- to 80-unit “pocket neighborhood” there.
Partner Joe Mugavero said MPLR is excited about the nature preserve and environmental center and believes the two projects would be complementary.
Our Future Lancaster calls for creating an “Eco District” zoning overlay on the southern end of Sunnyside. The overlay would set standards for green building and sustainability to promote development that has “net benefit or minimal impact” on the peninsula’s environment.
