A portion of a plot of land owned by Carbon County is getting a new owner, while the remaining portion of the parcel is up for sale.

On Thursday, the county commissioners approved an agreement with Lehighton to allow the borough to hire a licensed surveyor to conduct a survey of approximately 23 acres of the former Packerton Yards rail yard. The plans call for potentially subdividing and transferring that portion of the land to the borough.

Commissioner Wayne Nothstein said the acreage the county will transfer is only in Lehighton, with the remaining 40-plus acres located in Mahoning Township.

He pointed out that most of the land is in a flood plain, between the Lehigh River and the railroad tracks.

As for what plans the borough has for the parcel, in 2019, when the initial plans for the 23 acres to be transferred to the borough occurred, Lehighton had planned on creating a recreation area along the Lehigh River.

Lehighton Borough Manager Dane DeWire said Friday morning there has been discussion at past borough council meetings.

“There is a piece of land along the Lehigh River, that if the borough pays for and has done a subdivision plan, then they can split the property at the Mahoning/Lehighton line, and they can gift us the portion of property under the Lehighton Borough limits,” DeWire said.

“The property would be used for recreational purposes, and we would provide the county any necessary easements to access the property moving forward.”

DeWire explained that the borough’s goal for the property is to create a park, trails, boat launch.

“It’s part of our long-term goal of boosting our downtown business district, our riverfront district, and it’s going to tie in with the D&L Trail down there,” he said.

DeWire said that Lehighton Borough Council had authorized him to advertise for a request for proposal for the survey work.

“At this point, as soon as I speak with their solicitor, I’ll be sending out RFPs for surveying work and deeds study work in the hopes to get subdivision plans put together for land acquisition,” he said. “Eventually the subdivision plan needs to be turned over to the Norfolk Southern Railroad so they can provide an easement under their trestle down by Dunbar Beach.”

The remaining land

With regards to the rest of the former Packerton Yards parcel in Mahoning Township, the commissioners said that it remains up for sale.

The commissioners noted that there had been some questions from business owners about the site and they are willing to hear from anyone interested in making an offer.

“There’s always somebody looking,” Nothstein said.

Carbon County purchased that property in 2004 with the vision of creating an industrial area; however, after long legal battles, which included several injunctions and finally a ruling against the county’s request to not install sidewalks into the site, the land has sat vacant ever since.

Reporter Terry Ahner contributed to this report.