Upper Milford supervisors, at their Nov. 5 meeting, told several residents concerned about the future of the Kohler property they are a long way from making a decision of whether to buy the property to preserve it as open space.

Lynne Sallash, of Salem Ridge, told the board she and her neighbors are circulating a petition urging the township to buy the land and asked whether it is worth continuing the effort.

“It’s too early to say which way we’re leaning,” supervisors Chairman George DeVault told her, but Supervisor Robert Sentner said, “petitions can’t hurt.” He urged Sallash to try to get signatures from residents outside her neighborhood.

It would mean more to supervisors, he said, if they know residents of the entire township support township acquisition of the land.

There is currently an agreement of sale for the 32-acre property, adjacent to Salem Ridge and Mink Estates, with Kay Builders, which has presented two sketch plans to the planning commission for residential development of the property. Residents of the two neighborhoods fear the increased traffic and other issues as a result of such development.

Scott Bieber, of St. Peter’s Road, a member of the open space committee, said he does not live close to the Kohler property, but still would like to see the supervisors “do all they can to acquire this land.”

Beiber said preserving the land in this way would keep school taxes lower and prevent increased traffic.

Frank Caputo, chair of the open space committee, said the committee is going to be looking at acquisition of the property “very, very hard,” but would like the whole township to support it, not just residents of those two neighborhoods.

Dennis Daly challenged comments by another resident at a previous meeting that using the property for recreation would also increase traffic.

Daly said that would probably mean 50 or 60 more cars there, mostly on weekends, which would be much less traffic than 200-plus homes would generate.