Peters Council approves naming rights for township parks and recreational facilities

Peters Township Council on Aug. 15 approved naming rights for township parks and recreational facilities, a move that could prove financially helpful if the municipality acquires 93 acres of the former Rolling Hills Country Club.
“It is good to have a policy as to when and how we name a facility,” said Michael Silvestri, township manager. “We did have one about naming it after someone, and generally it could not be someone living. But the other reason is to look at a way to finance facilities.”
The township and Peters Township School District plan to file eminent domain proceedings against Pinehurst Land Partners LLC, which owns the 190-acre Rolling Hills site. Township officials have said a $9 million bond issue to help fund the municipal portion.
The stated objective is to use the land, which sits along East McMurray Road, for recreational purposes, such as parks, fields and even a swimming pool. The district, meanwhile, wants the land for a school campus, possibly a new high school.
Silvestri said naming rights for township recreational facilities or parks have not been requested in the past, but the new policy could make it easier to finance those kinds of projects. The naming rights could be for people and places, historic events, and major gifts.
“The policy basically suggests 50 percent of the project cost,” Silvestri said.
Robert Lewis, council president, voted against the policy because he said it could lead to too much commercialization.
In other matters, council announced it will hold a meeting at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 6 in the auditorium at Peters Township Middle School to discuss changes to the township’s zoning ordinance, including a proposed mixed-residential overlay district that would allow for a variety of housing and a conservation residential overlay district that encourages the development of more green space.