Evans City blindsided by Jackson Township attempt at eminent domain
EVANS CITY — This is not the first time Jackson Township has tried to acquire 132 acres of land along Lindsay Road; however, this latest attempt “came without warning,” according to Evans City solicitor Ryan Mergl.
Last week, Jackson Township supervisors voted to start proceedings to acquire the land, which includes an 18-acre lake and dam, through the legal process of claiming eminent domain — a decision that Evans City solicitor and other borough leaders criticized at their meeting Monday, June 3.
“Last year, Jackson Township offered to provide police service in exchange for the property, and that offer was declined,” Mergl said. “No further discussion took place, and at their last meeting, they decided — with no forewarning — to exercise eminent domain over the property and rezoned it.”
Eminent domain, as defined by the state of Pennsylvania, is “the power of the Commonwealth to take private property for public use in return for just compensation.”
The affected property is located within Jackson Township but owned by Evans City.
Mergl said the borough would be willing to sell the property if Evans City received a reasonable offer.
“It’s not that we don’t want to sell; it’s that we want to be compensated for the fair value of the property,” he said. “And we would like to do it properly, and they have not done that.”
The solicitor said that the borough council attended the rezoning hearing in Jackson Township to fight the rezoning of the area, as it was going to devalue the property. The borough council members did not realize until that meeting that the township would attempt to acquire the newly zoned land by eminent domain.
“They were trying to lock in the lower price for themselves,” said Evans City council member Mark Widdersheim. “They went from 1.5 acres allowed per lot to 2 acres. At a 2-acre minimum, you have a lot less lots for developers to do, so naturally developers will devalue the entire acreage.”
According to a news release from Jackson Township officials, the reason to acquire the land stems from the township’s concern with the potential loss of the “dam and lake as an asset.” The statement indicated that because of finances in Evan City, the township was better suited than the borough to maintain the natural resource.
“Evans City borough’s financial resources, as illustrated in a 2022 Strategic Management Planning Program Study, prepared for the borough by their third-party consultants, illustrates that the borough will have minimal resources for capital improvements to scale the necessary development of the property for public recreational purposes for the foreseeable future,” the news release stated.
“There’s nothing to fix,” refuted Mergl. “It’s well maintained; it’s in perfect condition, and there’s no issues.”
The news release also took issue with the property being closed to the public with a “no trespassing” sign posted in the vicinity of the property’s entrance.
Cheri Deener-Kohan, Evans City council president, said the reason for the closure was for liability purposes.
“It comes down to safety,” Deener-Kohan said. “You’re not going to have somebody that’s sitting there watching it 24/7.”
As for maintaining the property, Deener-Kohan said that claim was not accurate.
“We mow it every single week,” she said.
Deener-Kohan also noted that the borough is on the “tail-end” of paying off a 10-year, $194,000 loan to fix the area property, including the dam.
Chris Rearick, Jackson Township manager, said due to possible impending litigation the township would not be making an additional public comment at this time and referenced the May 23 news release.
Jackson Township has signaled that it intends to pay more than $1.2 million to Evans City for the land, which is the value indicated by an appraisal from August, which was commissioned by the township.
According to the news release, Evans City would still be entitled to any royalties from the land’s oil and gas rights.
