Growth issues will be addressed in 2005

By TOM KANE

RIVER VALLEY — Growth is in the air. So also are plans to face and manage it.

In Sullivan, Wayne and Pike counties, officials and residents are systematically addressing important issues associated with rapid growth.

Pike County Comprehensive Plan and process

After putting enormous effort into surveying residents and township officials and getting a clear picture of how people feel about what needs to happen, the Pike County Planning Department will focus attention in 2005 on the growth corridors around Route 739, the area between Milford and Matamoras and the Route 6 corridor.

The department will be working on an action plan for protection of natural resources, the preservation of water quality, the establishment of multi-municipal partnerships to address growth, the preservation of historic and scenic resources and related subjects.

The department is presently forming environmental advisory councils that will react to planning strategies the county wants to implement.

Sullivan 2020

The Sullivan County Planning Department, with its new commissioner, Dr. William Pammer, has initiated a comprehensive plan and process called Sullivan 2020.

“The plan will not be complete until April or May of 2005,” said deputy commissioner Julie Clark. “At that time we will set a timeline to accomplish project goals.”

Priorities that were identified through a series of community meetings were public transportation, work-force housing, managing the development of commercial corridors like Route 17B and Route 52 and the need to hold training sessions on zoning and other land use practices for planning board members, according to Clark.

The 2020 committee is made up of representatives of every town, business people and other interested groups. The committee, which will meet monthly through April, acts as a sounding board for what the department is planning.

Wayne County land study through GIS

The county has begun a study of agricultural land use by means of a GIS (Geographic Information System) map from existing photographs taken in 1959 and 1997.

“It’s going to help us identify agricultural, residential and commercial uses as they have developed,” said Ed Coar, Wayne County director of planning.

“It will also tell us which lands could be used for further development,” he said. “It will be a good launching pad for a comprehensive plan which we will then begin.”

The GIS will be completed by mid 2005, he said.

Proposed ridgeline development ordinances

The river towns of Shohola, Highland, Lumberland and Tusten are joining efforts through a grant from the Upper Delaware Council TAG program to approve an ordinance that will set guidelines on how development will happen on the ridge.

The ordinance is being designed by Tom Shepstone and Carson Helfrich, two local planners and municipal development experts, and is expected to be in place by the spring of this year.

The ordinance will not prohibit building homes on the ridge.

“It will provide guidelines that will ensure that any building will protect the nature of the ridge,” Shepstone said.

“We’re trying to preserve the corridor as a feature of positive economic development,” Helfrich said.

“We want to provide a standard to preserve the existing character of the corridor.”

The proposed Delaware River Valley Greenway

One project that has elicited both enthusiasm and some opposition is state Senator John Bonacic’s proposal to create a Delaware River Valley Greenway.

The greenway legislation is being drafted and is expected to be ready for dissemination to river towns later this month, according to Bonacic’s staff.

According to the senator, a Delaware River Valley Greenway would be an innovative state-sponsored program created to facilitate the development of a regional strategy for preserving scenic, natural, historic, cultural and recreational resources in the river valley. At the same time it would encourage compatible economic development and maintain the tradition of home rule for land use decision-making.

Once the legislation is finished, both Bonacic and Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther will submit the draft to river valley officials to get their comments. They both plan on sponsoring the legislation to the full legislature soon after, they said.

Six out of the seven river towns reacted positively to the preliminary proposal with the exception of the Town of Fremont and the Delaware County Town of Hancock. Long Eddy activist Noel van Swol has been vocal in opposition to the proposal, warning that it was an intrusion of the state into local government and an opportunity for others to benefit rather than local residents.

The Pike County Conservation Partnership

The Pike County Conservation District, Pike County Planning, Delaware Highlands Conservancy and Penn State Cooperative Extension will provide workshops and educational programs, according to John Jose of the Pike Conservation District. Their work will include educational outreach efforts to Pike residents and municipal officials, encouragement of citizen involvement in the community planning process, and will support long-term viable “smart growth” strategies.

Plans of the visioning committee

The Visioning Committee of the Upper Delaware River Corridor, which has begun its third year, will continue to conduct seminars, community meetings, displays and major forums on issues that are vital to the towns and townships on both sides of the river.

A series of meetings will continue on conservation subdivision, and will expand by introducing models that have been successful in other places that are similar to the area.

Another series of training sessions will focus on the key role played by the town and township comprehensive plans. The plan is a guide for the development of zoning, land use and other development decisions.

A fully developed local Geographic Information System model by the University of Maryland, NASA and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute will be presented to area towns and townships in December 2005. The model will demonstrate by means of sophisticated computer-assisted satellite photography what the area will look like if present growth patterns continue.