Lower Paxton Twp. supervisors approved the 90-home first phase of the Stray Winds Farm development last night.
The complete plan -- which calls for an eventual 443 houses, a 10-acre park and paved, lighted paths -- is the first housing plan the supervisors have considered since the presentation of a greenway plan that would link schools, parks and other township destinations for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The township's parks and recreation board hoped the greenway would follow Paxton Creek through Stray Winds, but an agreement between the developer and nearby residents would prevent that.
Stray Winds Area Neighbors, or SWAN, insisted during extensive meetings with the developer that the creek not become a public thoroughfare, Mark DiSanto, CEO of Triple Crown Corp., told the supervisors at a June 12 workshop meeting.
"We need to honor our word on this," he said.
Eric Epstein of SWAN told the supervisors that the neighborhood group would go to court over the issue.
Triple Crown plans to create a greenway, more than 8,400 feet of lighted, paved trail, DiSanto said. It's just not along the creek.
"Part of the agreement with Triple Crown was preserving 150 feet on each side of the creek as a natural wildlife area" that will protect residents' privacy, Epstein said in a phone message yesterday.
"Part of what we worked on with Triple Crown is to preserve land, 48 percent of the land or 111 acres."
Landscape architect William Collins, who created the greenway plan with township residents' input, said, "There are a lot of reasons it would make sense to have a pedestrian path or a bike path in this kind of corridor."
But the path planned by Triple Crown, and approved last night by the supervisors as part of the first phase, also could link to the greenways system, Collins said in a phone interview yesterday.
"Trails are built a segment at a time," he said. "Each development comes in and does its share, and sooner or later they all link up.
"The greenway plan is not about taking property. It's about working with the developer and working with the ordinances. When you have a township as densely populated as Lower Paxton, that's how you do it," Collins said.
Supervisor William Seeds Sr. said the board was happy SWAN and Triple Crown worked together.
"But then again, when they reach agreements we aren't aware of and our board isn't a part of those meetings ... it kind of puts you in a difficult position sometimes," Seeds said. "You respect the wishes of residents, but we as a board have to consider the needs of all the people in the township, not just a given area."
DIANA FISHLOCK: 255-8251 or dfishlock@patriot-news.com