Mount Manresa, an oasis of nature, must be saved
We urge the City Planning Commission and our political leaders to save this 102-year-old site, covering 15.4 acres and including features such as a steep hillside, mature woodland, a grotto, a brick water tower, and a chapel.
Considerable zoning and redesign powers should be used to protect this unique piece of property perhaps through a conservation easement, while allowing limited public access.
Too many of Staten Island’s jewels are being swept away in the name of development. Mount Manresa is just the latest example. Camp St.. Edward in Pleasant Plains has been remade into upscale housing. Several years ago there was a proposal to develop condominiums at the St. Charles Mission Center on Flagg Place.
With public support, however, there have been some successes. Mount Loretto By-the-Sea and Northern Mount Loretto Woods have been saved and a new 33-acre natural area, Sharrotts Shorelands, is now public land, thanks to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Hopefully all of Pouch Camp will be saved as well.
With continued attention to the sale of Mount Manresa, Protectors hopes that this unique piece of property can be preserved for the people of Staten Island.
[The writer is the president of the Protectors of Pine Oak Woods.]
