Vince Leonard wants people to know he was just trying to be neighborly when he allowed Chalfont Borough to obtain an easement it needed for a trail project. Whatever tree clearing happened after that wasn’t his doing.
“They approached me when I bought the property and it sounded like a worthwhile thing to do to share a little bit,” said Leonard, president and CEO of Northeast Fitness Solutions Inc. on Hamilton Street in the borough. “And that’s what we did.”
The 20-foot easement was for the Northern Neshaminy Greenway Trail Project to build a multi-use bike and hike trail along the North Branch of Neshaminy Creek near Patriot Drive. It was recently put on hold due to public concerns but is likely to resume.
Northeast Fitness Solutions Inc. previously held rights to that land, which was densely forested and mostly unusable. Leonard said he saw providing the right to move through the area as “something nice to do” for the borough and a way to give back to the community.
Though he said his intentions were pure, Leonard could not have known just how divisive the proposed project would become, particularly among Patriot Drive residents.
He recalls receiving a handful of calls reprimanding him for his involvement, during which he was blamed for Chalfont Borough Council’s decision to preemptively clear trees along the path. He now emphasizes that he had no part in the decision and only provided the land for the council to do with as it pleased.
The majority of Chalfont Borough Council is in favor of the project’s continuation, which was planned out several years prior, and is highly recommended under guidance of the Doylestown Bike & Hike Committee.
According to the council majority, many Chalfont residents, including residents of Patriot Drive, are also in favor of the project, with the council having reported receiving emails and letters expressing approval.
Others, including councilman Mitch Meyerson and other Patriot Drive residents, are opposed to its continuation, due to concerns raised around flooding now that a sizable portion of trees has been removed. That the council has plans to mitigate the damage, such as recently proposed stone trenching, has done little to dissuade dissent against the project.
Northeast Fitness Solutions has since allowed the borough to utilize more land so that these damage-mitigating projects can take place, bringing the total amount of provided land to more than 50 feet, he said.
Leonard notes that the company has nothing to gain through this, viewing it as an act of goodwill, in much the same way as his Styrofoam recycling side business.
“It costs me more money to process (Styrofoam) than it does to send it away somewhere else...” he said. “We don’t charge people for it. It’s just something we do because it’s the right way to do business.”
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