Delco Woods Preservation and Recreation Project Enters First Phase of Development
JMT and our project partners, Toole Recreation Planning and Natural Lands, are working with Delaware County, PA, to preserve Delco Woods, a significant natural resource and community space.
Located in Marple Township in eastern Delaware County, Delco Woods is the county’s largest unprotected forest. For several decades, the 213-acre site has been threatened with residential development, which community activists and residents have strongly opposed. The county successfully acquired the land through eminent domain in 2021 and needed a plan to protect the site.
As a subconsultant to Toole Recreation Planning, JMT led the development of a master plan to make Delco Woods an accessible and inviting community resource, with Natural Lands providing ecological and natural resources services.
The community of Delaware County is deeply invested in Delco Woods’ future, so community outreach was essential to the master planning process. Toole Recreation Planning spearheaded the project team’s public outreach efforts. The project team selected a 15-person community advisory committee from 350 interested applicants, and more than 500 people participated in public meetings. Ultimately, the public outreach program involved 6,000 people. Numerous stakeholder groups supported the master plan, underscoring the project’s significance to the community.
Now, the project is moving into the first phase of development, which will include a formalized parking area and an accessible loop trail, making important strides towards making the park safe and accessible.
“This team helped bring everything together for the master plan,” said Andy Mears, JMT’s landscape architect who led the master plan effort. “Now we’re excited to work with the county to open up the park and implement the master plan.”
JMT assisted the county with acquiring grant funding for the first phase, and the county aims to develop each section of the master plan as funds become available. As development progresses, the park will provide historically marginalized and underserved communities in Delaware County with exciting new recreational opportunities and protect the community’s vital natural resources.
“What Delaware County accomplished here is heroic, and they don’t often get the credit they deserve for the hard things they do,” says Ann Toole, owner of Toole Recreation Planning. “What they’re doing with this park will benefit residents for generations with recreation, clean air and water, stewardship, and a welcoming place in the great outdoors. We spent a lot of time making sure that marginalized communities in the county will have access to a great recreation space.”
JMT is proud to work alongside our project partners in this important effort to protect Delco Woods and create a safe, accessible, and welcoming community space for the residents of Delaware County.