Capital Area Greenbelt Association, PennFuture Celebrate Agreement Permanently Protecting Public Park Land.

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The Capital Area Greenbelt Association (CAGA) and Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture) announced today that their ten-year legal fight to protect a section of the Capital Area Greenbelt near the Harrisburg Mall came to a successful resolution on December 13, when Dauphin County Judge Lawrence F. Clark, Jr., dismissed a lawsuit filed in 1996 against Dauphin County and McDonald's Corporation. The lawsuit was dismissed because all parties had reached a settlement, the final part of which occurred last month when the Dauphin County Commissioners executed and recorded a Conservation and Preservation Easement that permanently preserves the Greenbelt corridor between Route 441 and Paxton Street as public park land.

"The big winner here is the public," said PennFuture Senior Attorney Kurt Weist, who represented CAGA in the lawsuit. "Thanks to this creative agreement, public park land is protected forever, the county taxpayers received revenue from the sale of an alternative lot, and McDonald's was able to build its restaurant."

The original dispute centered on a lot at the corner of 32nd and Paxton Streets that includes an entrance to the Greenbelt recreational trail and a portion of the Greenbelt corridor. When the county proposed to sell the lot to McDonald's in 1996 for the construction of a restaurant, the Greenbelt Association and one of its members filed suit in the Court of Common Pleas to block the sale, arguing that a portion of the lot could not be developed because it had been permanently dedicated to "public park purposes" when acquired by the city of Harrisburg through eminent domain in 1913. In 1999, Judge Clark ruled that "CAGA is a 'de facto public trustee' of the Greenbelt" that has the legal right to sue to protect Greenbelt lands against development. The parties then engaged in settlement discussions that resulted in the 2002 agreement.

The settlement agreement involved substituting a county-owned lot at 29th and Paxton Street that borders the dedicated Greenbelt corridor for the one three blocks away. In exchange for the county's commitment to preserve the original lot as public park land and McDonald's commitment to abandon its plans to develop that parcel, CAGA agreed that it would not contest the sale or development of the replacement lot.

"By conveying an easement to the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy that preserves the entire Greenbelt corridor between Route 441 and Paxton Street, the Dauphin county commissioners recognized the importance of public park land to the quality of life," continued Weist. "The commissioners have honored the city's original purpose in acquiring these lands, and have served both present and future generations of local residents by preserving them." Weist commended County Assistant Solicitor Bruce Foreman and Conservancy attorney John B. Zonarich for their work in creating the easement.

Former CAGA President and historic preservation expert Doug Reynolds emphasized the historical significance of the lands being preserved. "The Greenbelt was designed by renowned architect Warren Manning and is a living example of the City Beautiful movement of the early Twentieth Century," said Reynolds. He thanked the county commissioners and the Conservancy for acting to preserve "a tremendous recreational resource, and a significant piece of history."

The Greenbelt, originally called the "Harrisburg Parkway," is a linear park that forms a 20-mile "emerald necklace" around Harrisburg. CAGA was formed in 1993 to resurrect, maintain, and preserve the Greenbelt's park lands and the recreational trail that connects them. The first proposed site for the McDonald's at 32nd and Paxton Street is now home to "Dock Woods," a grove of trees dedicated in memory of turn-of-the-20th-Century Parkway proponent Myra Lloyd Dock of Harrisburg.

PennFuture is a statewide public interest membership organization that advances policies to protect and improve the state's environment and economy. With offices in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and West Chester, PennFuture's activities include litigating cases before regulatory bodies and in local, state and federal courts, advocating and advancing legislative action on a state and federal level, public education and assisting citizens in public advocacy.