A $7.5 million pact between the Park Service and Toll Bros. ends a fight over 62 acres. Children's letters proved pivotal.
By Diane Mastrull and Nancy Petersen
Inquirer Staff Writers
The National Park Service and Toll Bros. reached a deal yesterday that ends the developer's hotly protested plans to build 62 luxury homes inside Valley Forge National Historical Park - and adds another dramatic chapter to an already storied place.
"As of today, the federal government has taken possession of the land," Charles Robbins, a spokesman for Sen. Arlen Specter, said late yesterday afternoon.
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Instrumental in quashing the deal was a letter-writing campaign - by schoolchildren.
"I remember
Bob Toll telling me he was getting letters from schoolchildren all over the country telling him not to ruin Valley Forge Park," said U.S. Rep. Joseph Hoeffel, whose district in 2001 included Valley Forge Park, but does not now. Hoeffel, who also helped get the federal funds earmarked for the deal, said he persuaded Toll and the Park Service to begin talking.
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The Southeastern Pennsylvania chapter of the Sierra Club organized rallies, candlelight vigils and collected more than 2,000 signatures on petitions urging the federal government to the rescue.
Yesterday, Hoeffel said the Sierra Club "deserves a lot of the credit." Indeed, its members were rejoicing.
link: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/9093422.htm (registration required)
Well done! Note: a repub praising the Sierra Club