Hearings scheduled in Fayette townships for comprehensive plan
Starting this week, residents and business owners in three Fayette County townships can get a look at an updated version of a plan laying out the townships’ goals in a range of areas.
The Multi-Municipal Comprehensive Plan for Franklin, Jefferson and Perry townships is being updated for the first time since 2007, said Tammy Stenson, senior planner with McMillan Engineering, which is preparing the update with the help of the three townships.
“Most of the issues identified, or desires, if you will, were actually achieved,” said “So we have a whole new set of desires that the townships would like to see.”
Stenson said the plan encompasses a wide range of issues: housing; recreation; parks; infrastructure; economic development; assets; transportation; abandoned, vacant or blighted structures; overall management of government; and any opportunities for cooperation between these three municipalities. The plan serves as a guiding document, not a legal document, for the townships, which all operate under the county-wide zoning plan, Stenson said.
“Basically, that will show where you want your higher density of development, where you would like your commercial or industrial,” she said. “Honestly, from the 2007 land use to today’s future land use map, hardly anything has changed in terms of potential use. That’s really regulated through zoning, but everybody was comfortable with the development that’s occurring now. Most of them are agricultural areas, huge working farms.”
Creating the plans also helps municipalities when they look for grant funding, Stenson said.
“More times than not, most grants ask ‘Is this particular project consistent with the adopted municipal comprehensive plan?'” she said. “We try to get as much as we can in there. That way, they can score higher when a grant is being reviewed at the state or federal level.”
Municipalities are encouraged to update the plan every 10 years, Stenson said. Because of the funding needed to hire someone to develop the plan, many of them will update every 15 to 20 years.
Unlike the 2007 version, the plan does not include Menallen Township, which created its own update, Stenson said.
Meetings are planned in all three townships starting this week. Each one will run from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Drafts of the plan will be available at the meetings, as well as maps of the townships. There’s no formal presentation at the meetings, so people can come at any point, Stenson said.
“We want people to ask questions,” she said. “Some people are more interested in the parks and recreation section, and don’t care about infrastructure. So it’s more informal: ‘What questions do you have?’ ‘Is there something you feel we need to include after our last round?'”
If the public is comfortable with the plan, each township will hold a public hearing on the plan that will allow for additional comments. If there are no significant changes needed, the supervisors will be able to adopt it at that meeting. If not, the plan will need to be amended to incorporate the concerns, leading to another round of hearings.
“That’s why we’re trying to get as much input as we can now,” Stenson said. “That way, we start the actual adoption of the plan and we don’t have to go back one step.”
The meeting schedule is:
• July 28, Franklin Community Park, Pavilion No. 1, 115 Warchol Road, Vanderbilt.
• July 30, Jefferson Township Municipal Building, 262 Stuckslager Rd., Perryopolis.
• Aug. 4, Perry Township Municipal Building, 1 Township Dr., Star Junction.