North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania

2 3 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9 Preserving today to prosper tomorrow D evelopment is good. It’s growth. It’s progress. But sometimes, all that future casting needs to include holding on to what is. And for North Whitehall Township in eastern Pennsylvania, that holding on comes in the form of the Farmland and Open Space Preservation Project. Located in the northwestern area of the Lehigh Valley, North Whitehall Township is busy preserving, protecting, and planning for the future. It’s home to 16,000 residents and covers 28 square miles-- much of which is farmland. North Whitehall Township, PA North Whitehall’s roots are in farming. “At one time, we had maybe 50 farmers,” recalls Dennis Klusaritz, Vice Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. “Now, we’re down to about a dozen or so. Farmers are joining off. They are getting older and their kids do not want to farm anymore. So, they sell their property and then builders buy the property and start building.” Helping to preserve the farmlands has been important to Klusaritz. “I’ve been on this board for over four years. During my first year in office, I was instrumental in getting money for farmland preservation.” The plan made it to the ballot and the people supported it. “Now,” he says, “we’re getting money to purchase farmland… we’ve purchased two farms in 2022, which is a good start for us. [I’m] so proud that we did that in my first term here.” Those farms are now preserved, meaning there can be no more building on those properties. The township continues to query larger farms, in a continued preservation effort. In today’s day and age of building and developing, this, obviously, is a rare - and special - undertaking. “We have five preserved farms in the township, totaling 434 acres,” Township Manager Randy Cope adds. One of those farms still going strong is Jaindl Farms, who produces upwards of 850,000 turkeys a year. “It’s a big operation,” Cope states. “They supply the annual turkey to the White House… there’s a tremendous history for that AT A GLANCE NORTHWHITEHALL TOWNSHIP WHAT: North Whitehall Township WHERE: Located in Eastern Pennsylvania WEBSITE: http://www.northwhitehall.org/ Photo Credit: Suzanne Lorah