Defense of Place News Updates: December 2008 Archives

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December 10, 2008

Great news for parks in Philadelphia and across the country

Philadelphians can breathe easier now that Judge Herron has ruled that the City can not lease 19.4 acres of their beloved Burlhome Park to the Fox Chase Cancer Center for construction of a new facility. In his December 9th (2008) closing statement, the Judge asserted that "so long as a community or neighborhood actively uses dedicated park land, the City is required to hold such land in trust for their use, is legally estopped from divesting such land and is required to maintain these open spaces as public parks."

The 63 acre Burlholme Park was donated to the City of Philadelphia by bequest of Robert Ryerss in 1905 to be "used forever" as a city park. The Park contains ball fields, a grove of 300 year old oaks, picnic area, a playground, golf driving range, library, and a museum. Wanting to expand on to part of the Park was the adjacent Fox Chase Cancer Center which treats 7,500 new patients a year and "desparately needs to expand" to treat an anticipated 12,000 a year. The Center argued that the Park was the only place they could expand without dividing their facility. Park supporters argued that existing older facilities could be rebuilt better and taller to support their expansion. Fox Chase could also look into expanding into one of the closed hospital facilities in the City. Interestly, Fox Chase is looking at establishing a new center in Delaware and is also looking at parkland there as a potential site for construction.

The fight to save the park was spearheaded by a diverse coalition of park users organized by SCRUB, a Philadelphia nonprofit that is the "Public Voice for Public Space". Their legal team, led by attorney Samuel C. Stretton, relied in large part on the public trust doctrine which asserts the illegality of selling parkland that is being actively used. Judge Herron agreed when he stated that "[t]he public trust doctrine protects every square foot of Ryerss' gift of Burholme Park which must remain a park until it ceases to be a viable and active park."

This case sets an important precedent for park advocates across the country and SCRUB and Judge Herron should be commended for their commitment to preserving our public trust lands.

Posted by dop_editor at 04:39 PM | Comments (0)




	« November 2008 \| Main \| February 2009 » December 10, 2008 Great news for parks in Philadelphia and across the country Philadelphians can breathe easier now that Judge Herron has ruled that the City can not lease 19.4 acres of their beloved Burlhome Park to the Fox Chase Cancer Center for construction of a new facility. In his December 9th (2008) closing statement, the Judge asserted that "so long as a community or neighborhood actively uses dedicated park land, the City is required to hold such land in trust for their use, is legally estopped from divesting such land and is required to maintain these open spaces as public parks." The 63 acre Burlholme Park was donated to the City of Philadelphia by bequest of Robert Ryerss in 1905 to be "used forever" as a city park. The Park contains ball fields, a grove of 300 year old oaks, picnic area, a playground, golf driving range, library, and a museum. Wanting to expand on to part of the Park was the adjacent Fox Chase Cancer Center which treats 7,500 new patients a year and "desparately needs to expand" to treat an anticipated 12,000 a year. The Center argued that the Park was the only place they could expand without dividing their facility. Park supporters argued that existing older facilities could be rebuilt better and taller to support their expansion. Fox Chase could also look into expanding into one of the closed hospital facilities in the City. Interestly, Fox Chase is looking at establishing a new center in Delaware and is also looking at parkland there as a potential site for construction. The fight to save the park was spearheaded by a diverse coalition of park users organized by SCRUB, a Philadelphia nonprofit that is the "Public Voice for Public Space". Their legal team, led by attorney Samuel C. Stretton, relied in large part on the public trust doctrine which asserts the illegality of selling parkland that is being actively used. Judge Herron agreed when he stated that "[t]he public trust doctrine protects every square foot of Ryerss' gift of Burholme Park which must remain a park until it ceases to be a viable and active park." This case sets an important precedent for park advocates across the country and SCRUB and Judge Herron should be commended for their commitment to preserving our public trust lands. Posted by dop_editor at 04:39 PM \| Comments (0)

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