SUSQUEHANNA TWP., Pa. - As the state's Department of General Services considers a plan to sell around 300 acres at the site of the former Harrisburg State Hospital, Harrisburg's mayor recently inquired about the potential of annexing it.
The rationale is a simple one: to increase the city's potential tax base. It comes as dozens of community members listened to a presentation made Tuesday by DGS and state-hired consultants on the matter.
"We heard over and over, as far as redeveloping the state hospital property, it's a unique opportunity for the community and the region," Tracy Runkle, with the Department of General Services, said during a presentation made Tuesday.
Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse would seemingly agree, according to a letter he sent to Governor Wolf and General Services Secretary Curt Topper.
In the letter dated June 15 of this year, he called it a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Harrisburg to establish a sustainable tax base for its future recovery."
The hold-up to his idea would be that much of the land is within the boundary of Susquehanna Township.
"Annexation is a non-starter," township board President Frank Lynch said.
Lynch said the letter came as a surprise to him, and that the township never heard from Papenfuse about the idea. Attempts to reach Papenfuse's spokesperson Tuesday for comment were unsuccessful.
The Department of General Services, which states it has no say in the matter, pointed Papenfuse to the Pennsylvania Constitution in its response, which states that such an annexation would require a majority vote by referendum in both municipalities, something Lynch says the township has no intention of proposing.
"We enjoy tremendous relationships with the mayor and the city of Harrisburg," Lynch said. "We have great relationships. but that does not extend to giving away land."
Instead, General Services could sell the land to developers, with the township reaping the potential tax windfall that comes with it, or leave it as open space, among other options.
"Most of you don't want to be left holding the bag if a deal goes south, so we perform a fiscal impact analysis on the project to make sure that whatever is being recommended is also fiscally prudent to the municipality," Todd Poole, with 4Ward Planning, said
After years of false starts on what to do with the land, civic leaders are hopeful this plan will lead to good use.
"A lot of people have a lot invested in the state hospital grounds; it's not just a bunch of empty buildings," Lynch said. "It's a part of our community, it has been for all of our lifetimes and we want to make sure that it's done right."