Hershey Links golf course

Hershey Links golf course is located on Hanshue Road in Hummelstown, PA. Photo by: Christine Baker | cbaker@pennlive.com

The clock is ticking toward the last round of golf on the Hershey Links. This month, the golf course is scheduled to close, and it won't be reopening in the spring.

Instead, the course will remain closed, part of a plan to build student housing on the grounds for Milton Hershey School in Derry Twp., a year-round residential school for kids from impoverished backgrounds.

To say that plan might face an uphill climb in South Hanover Twp., however, might be an understatement. Over the last several months, residents in the area around the Hershey Links, which is near Route 39, have been banding together to oppose the course's closure.

On Thursday evening, a citizens group held a community forum on the issue at South Hanover Elementary School that more than 200 people attended.

Hershey Links golf course is located on Hanshue Road in Hummelstown. Milton Hershey Middle School can be seen in the rolling hillside that overlooks the 175-acre property. Photo by: Christine Baker | cbaker@pennlive.com

The group's chief concerns are the impact closing the course, and subsequently building student housing, would have on the surrounding community, such as a loss of open space (not to mention the golf course) and a loss of tax revenue for the township and public schools.

The Milton Hershey School Trust is the $8.9 billion-plus endowment left by Milton Hershey to fund the Milton Hershey School. The trust fund is managed by the Hershey Trust Co., which shares a board of director with the school.

The school's trust company purchased the golf course in 2006.

At the time, said Robert Knupp, a former solicitor for the township, the Hershey Trust Co. said it would build on what was called the "Venice" property along Swatara Creek. The organization told the township it was planning on purchasing Wren Dale as a buffer to those student homes.

The school was, according to its master plan, also planning on building on three other properties, one in East Hanover Township and the other in Derry Township.

"The trust [company] assured the township at the time they had an intent to build in three locations," Knupp said, adding that the plan did not include the Wren Dale property.

In fact, said Tom Bowen the group's president, language in the school's plan said "the golf course should remain and serve as a buffer."

For the trust company to close the course, Bowen and Knupp argued, would go against what they had told the township when they sought original approves to build student homes on the Venice property.

The school began to develop the land to immediate south of the course several years ago for student homes, part of its plan to increase student enrollment. By the spring, it is expected to have completed building 32 homes on the existing site, maximizing its capacity.

In order to redevelop the course into student housing, the school would likely seek to rezone the property from residential agriculture to a tax-exempt zone. Township officials said they have not had any requests to do so, nor have they had any formal plans submitted for the property.

Rezoning the property tax-exempt would have repercussions not only for the township, but also for the Lower Dauphin School District, said Bowen, who said that the school district would both lose tax income and would have to educate the children of school employees who would live on the site.

"Costs are going to up; revenue is going to go down," he summarized.

Knupp said the group and state Rep. Ron Marsico, R-Lower Paxton Twp., met with representatives from the school and the trust company in late September, during with they outlined their concerns. They said they have not heard back.

No representatives from the trust company or the school were present at the meeting Thursday. In the past, the trust company has said it recognizes the resident's concerns and was committed to being a good neighbor.

Marsico, who said Thursday evening that he shares many of the concerns of the South Hanover Township residents, said, "What is truly disappointing is that we have not heard a word from the trust."

Marsico said he believes the trust company should reconsider plans to close the course.

"I do not feel this valuable asset should be destroyed," he said.

The decision to close the course also had golfers scratching their heads.

John McNair of the Harrisburg District Golf Association said Hershey Links was a premier facility that benefited the community. The group has also opposed the course's closure.



"Why ... would they want to do this in the first place?" he asked. "I just don't get it."

*This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Robert Knupp's name.