The Salisbury Township School Board held a special school board meeting Oct. 25 to vote on the land sale resolution and agreement of sale for property owned by the district located on East Emaus Avenue.

The property held by the school district has a long and at times contentious history. The land was taken by eminent domain from private landowners in 1967 in order to build a new senior high school which board members at the time saw as necessary due to an increase in enrollment. Eminent domain is defined as the power of government to take private property for public use in return for just compensation.

In the 56 years the district has held the property, it has never been utilized and is currently described in the resolution to authorize the sale as “unused and unnecessary property for school purposes.”

Over the years the district has made several attempts to sell the property.

In 2005, the district signed a $3.1-$4 million deal with Signature Homes, a Doylestown developer, to erect 70-90 homes as an age-restricted community. Public outcry over retaining open spaces, environmental concerns and Signature’s desire to build more units than initially agreed upon caused the deal to fall through.

In 2008 and 2010 Salisbury Township considered purchasing the undeveloped land which was met with sharp criticism from some residents who did not see the point of using tax dollars to buy land they had already paid for.

During the brief Wednesday night meeting the board approved an agreement to sell the three parcels totaling 48.88 acres located on East Emaus Avenue to Tuskes Homes in the amount of $1.45 million.

The vote count was 8-0 with director Thomas Spinner being absent.

According to district Superintendent Lynn Fuini-Hetten, proceeds from the sale must be used for capital purposes and the district is working closely with D’Huy Engineering to update the master facilities plan.

Once the plan is updated, facility needs will be a priority. She noted the district is committed to being “very thoughtful about using the funds” generated from the sale.

An operations and finance committee meeting will be held 7 p.m. Nov. 8 in the administration building, 1140 Salisbury Road, Allentown.