April 3, 2007
GREENWAY PLAN - LOWER PAXTON
TOWNSHIP
Public Meeting No. 3
Attended and reported by Watson
Fisher.
This meeting was the third and
final public meeting regarding the development of the Greenway master plan for
the proposed long-term development of hiking and biking trails in the township.
This general effort has been under way for a number of years and the Landscape
Architecture Firm of Simone Collins from Berwyn, PA began the formal
development of an actual master plan late last year.
This presentation marked the
completion of the ÒDraft PlanÓ phase of the consultantÕs work. There will now
be a review and comment period leading up to a scheduled meeting with the
Greenway Committee on June 6, 2007, followed by a submission of the Final Plan
to the Board of Supervisors at their regularly scheduled meeting at 7:30 pm on
Tuesday, June 19, 2007. It was stated that the Draft Plan could be reviewed at
the township office. At some point it could be on the new township website but
that sounded unlikely. Comments and suggestions regarding the plan can be made
to:
Simone Collins
511 Old Lancaster Road
Berwyn, PA 19312
Email - sc@simonecollins.com
Presentation of the Draft Plan and
the accompanying documents and information was made by Brian Styche of Simone
Collins. He reviewed the planning process that had taken place leading up to
this point. It began with the Inventory and Analysis phase of reviewing all the
existing documents, codes, ordinances, maps, comprehensive plans, etc.,
followed by the Site Reconnaissance phase of touring the township, identifying
potential trail locations, existing traffic corridors, township facilities,
open spaces, areas of future developments, etc. This led to the identification
of potential trail locations in the township. After that a preliminary plan was
prepared and presented for review and comment at the public meeting in
February. This then led to the preparation of the current Draft Plan.
The plan as presented has been
refined to show potential trail locations that have been narrowed down from the
previous plan. Criteria used for selection of the trail locations include
maximum safety, maximum use of existing facilities including sidewalks,
avoidance of intrusion onto private property, and limitation of locations where
the cost of trail development would be very high. Mr. Styche reviewed the
various user groups that the trails would be designed to accommodate and the
various classifications of trails for hiking, bicycling, and both that would be
planned. He presented early estimates of cost for the construction of the
various parts of the plan and stated that of course whatever work was done
would be incremental over a long period of time. He also outlined the potential
funding sources, which included state grants, the county, the township, private
corporations, local foundations, and developers. He said his firm would be able
to work with the committee to begin the preparation of grant applications.
During the question and answer
period several concerns were raised. One was the concern as to who would be
responsible for the maintenance of the trails. The answer was that in most
cases the township would maintain them. The other main concern was for the
protection of homeownersÕ private property adjacent to the trails and the
possibility that trails could be proposed to cross private property. Citizens
were assured that no trails would be built where there was an objection raised
by any adjacent property owner. In conclusion it was restated that two major
planning priorities were 1) what is the most that can be done using the
existing infrastructure and 2) what does the Planning Commission need in the
way of suggestions and possibly new ordinances to assist them in early
negotiations with developers on future projects to aid in the implementation of
the Greenway Plan.
April 3, 2007
LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING
(7:30-8:45pm)
Attended and reported by Ted
Robertson.
Police officer Timothy Hicks was
promoted to Corporal.
Mr. William Johnson of Conway Road
in Hodges Heights presented a petition on behalf of the residents of Hodges
Heights to close the leaf waste collection and compost site on the township
landfill site just south of Hodges Heights. Mr. Johnson cited violations of
regulations (DEP) concerning the operation of such sites. He also cited a study
by Gannett-Fleming, Inc. concerning the operation of this site dated January
2007. There was a fire at this site Tuesday, April 3, 2007, around 12:00 noon
in one of the non-turned compost piles.
Mr. Wolfe announced that fire
hydrant flushing would begin April 2nd and continue through mid-June.
Under old business, the
re-appointments of Lou Ann Berg and Robert Reitzel, Sr. to the Recycling
Committee were approved.
The bid for the lease of a cell
tower site on township property was awarded to American Tower, Inc. The bid
from the second bidder was deemed incomplete.
Under new business, the request
from Kevin Richer to extend and reduce the financial security provided by the
Consent Agreement was modified as the agreement provided for an automatic
extension. The reduction of the amount was denied.
Under subdivision and land
development, the resolution 07-17, accepting the streets in Kendale Oaks, Phase
I was not considered:--no reason given. Resolution 07-18, the planning module
for the Sheetz Convenience Store on Route 22 was approved.
An audit of the property tax
collector for the year 2006 was approved 3-2. This is standard procedure in the
event of a change in personnel. The township exposure will amount to
2000.00+/-.
For SWAN consideration: Re:
Compost site at Hodges Heights. Mr. Johnson's presentation was factual. I've
had occasion to use the site many times last year. Mr. Johnson gave me a copy
of the Gannett-Fleming report, which I have read. Would SWAN consider backing
the petition to close the leaf collection/compost site?
April 10, 2007
LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS WORKSHOP MEETING
(7:30 - 8:45 PM)
Attended by Watson Fisher and Ted
Robertson. Reported by Ted Robertson.
Lori Wissler gave an overview of
the Walnut Street Corridor Study as it applies to Lower Paxton Township. The
engineer involved is recommending sidewalks on both sides of Route 22, bus
lanes, a landscaped divider and a change in zoning to residential/commercial
along Route 22. Of course, the engineer is not paying the bill. The Supervisors
indicated they may go along with the sidewalks.
Mr. Wolfe reported that the
results of the PHMIC (PA municipal health insurance corporation) was a savings
of approximately $158,000 for 2006 for the township.
Mr. Wolfe gave an "executive
summary" of the fiscal fourth quarter of 2006. There was too much detail
for this report. Suffice to say, the Township ended 2006 in very good financial
condition. However, it was noted again that expenses continue to grow faster
than revenues. The Supervisors and Staff should be commended for a very good
job as far as the fiscal management is concerned.
April 11, 2007
LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
Attended and reported by Watson
Fisher
JOHN NULL, 5817 & 5819
LINGLESTOWN ROAD -Rezoning Request Mr. NullÕs request was to rezone
this property which is south of Linglestown Road and east of Ranger Road from
R-1 Low Density Residential to CG Commercial General. He stated that the
property which now contains two commercial operations had previously been zoned
C-1. Unbeknown to him under the new zoning ordinance it was rezoned R-1. Staff
review of this request suggested that if it was to be rezoned it should instead
become CN Commercial Neighborhood consistent with an adjacent property instead
of CG Commercial General as requested. This would avoid a spot-zoning
situation. The commission agreed that the rezoning was justified and that it
should become CN and not CG. The applicant agreed with this change to his
request.
The commission denied the original
request to rezone this property CG and then recommended approval of a revised
request to rezone the property CN Commercial Neighborhood.
LEN MAUR - Preliminary/Final Land Development Plan #07-05
- This project is located on a
9.4-acre tract on the north side of Linglestown Road and east of Colonial Road
between the Weis Market and the new Dunkin Donuts & Baskin Robbins store.
It will be called LenMaur Plaza. The property is zoned CN Commercial
Neighborhood. The development will consist of three buildings, two fronting on
Linglestown Road and one at the rear of the property. The larger one at the
front will be a two-story restaurant. The upper level will be a high-end eatery
and the lower level will be a casual dining restaurant. The two facilities will
have a total capacity of approximately 587 seats. The smaller building at the
front will be a Day Spa. The building at the rear of the site will be a
two-story corporate headquarters office building.
The plan presented showed a total
of 427 parking spaces, which is approximately 30 short of what is required by
code for the three facilities. The applicant will submit a request to the
Zoning Hearing Board for a special exception to allow for shared parking among
the three facilities to meet the parking requirement. Access to the site will
be from Linglestown Road to the main parking area behind the two front
buildings. This area will be connected to the east and the west to the parking
lots of the two adjacent properties. The commission felt this interconnectivity
was a good feature to allow for ingress and egress to the site from Colonial
Road and Patton Road.
A neighbor whose house backs up to
the northern property line expressed concern that late night noise from the
restaurant parking lot and early morning trash trucks could become a problem
for his residential neighborhood. He requested that consideration be given to a
wider buffer along the rear property line and/or a fence for adequate
screening. The applicantÕs representative promised that he would explore
several possible options to address the problem.
The commission tabled the plan
pending resolution of the shared parking matter that will be going before the
Zoning Hearing Board.
CROSSPOINT UNITED METHODIST
CHURCH - Preliminary/Final Land
Development Plan #07-06
This church on a 10.5 acre lot on Colonial Road between Crums Mill Road
and Valley Road, formally the Colonial Park United Methodist Church, has a
three phase plan to enlarge the church building and expand the parking. This
submission is for Phase 1, which involves only increasing the current parking.
The applicant requested three waivers and agreed with the county, staff, and
HRG comments.
The commission recommended
approval of the plan including the waivers and the comments.
FOUR SEASONS HOA/NEWSIDE
ROAD CEMETERY - Final Subdivision
Plan This submission
involves the transfer of a small 2600 square foot cemetery property on the
north side of Newside Road south of Union Deposit Road currently owned by the
Four Seasons Development HomeownersÕ Association to Lower Paxton Township.
The commissioners recommended
approval of this plan.
The commissioners received copies
of the draft of the Walnut Street Corridor Study, which was recently made
available for review prior to being finalized. They decided to prepare their
comments on this draft document and to meet next month before their regular
meeting to formalize their recommendations.
There was a discussion about the
possibility of creating a Business Improvement District or districts in
the township. These districts fall under the overall heading of ÒNeighborhood
Improvement DistrictsÓ which can be created under a state law governing how
they are funded and run. If created they are funded by assessments to the local
businesses and they provide for such things as beautifying the business area,
advertising the businesses in the area, attracting new businesses to the area,
addressing traffic problems, coordinating business promotions, etc. It sounded to the board that this could
be something that might tie in with the proposals in the Walnut Street Corridor
Study. The commissioners felt they needed to be briefed on this matter by
someone familiar with it and it was suggested that the executive director of
the downtown Harrisburg district would be able to help them. Efforts will be
made to set up a Planning Commission workshop meeting with him in the near
future.
April 12, 2007
LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP
PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING
*****This update should be
in the next newsletter*****
April 17, 2007
LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING
(7:30
-8:40 PM)
Attended and reported by Ted
Robertson.
Mr. Wolfe reported that the fire
hydrant flushing will continue thru June.
Proclamation 07-01 designating
April 25 as Arbor Day in Lower Paxton Township was passed 5-0.
Resolution 07-21, the
authorization to submit a grant application for greenway development to PA-
DCNR, was passed 5-0. The total grant money from PA-DCNR and PA DOT could
amount to $2,475,000.
Ordinance 07-02, the rezoning of
6500 Union Deposit Road (Conjar property) from AR to an Open Space Overlay
District was tabled. There were some questions concerning the contiguous open
space, and the method used to calculate the open space. This will be on the May
workshop agenda.
Preliminary/final subdivision plan
for the combining of the two adjacent lots into one lot on the above property
was passed 5-0.
Resolutions 07-19 and 07-20,
accepting the planning modules for Schiavoni LTD and 4800 Linglestown Road,
were passed 5-0.
May 1, 2007
LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP
PLANNING COMMISSION/SUPERVISORS WORKSHOP (5:45 - 7:15 PM)
Attended and reported by Ted
Robertson.
The entire meeting was devoted to
reviewing certain revisions to the new zoning ordinance and the subdivision
land division (SALDO) ordinance. As before, we were not permitted to have
copies of these revisions. Mr. Wolfe assured me that I would be given a copy of
the final draft as soon as it is completed. Mr. Wolfe indicated that at least
one or more of these meetings would be required before completion.
May 1, 2007
LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING
(7:40 -8:15 PM)
Attended and reported by Ted
Robertson.
Under public comment, Larry Gaiski
asked the Supervisors when the sidewalks would be installed in Chelsea Falls.
Also asked who is responsible for installation. Staff will research original
final sub-division plan and give Mr. Gaiski an answer.
Under new business the audit of
the Capital Tax Collection Bureau will be done on a sample test basis, rather
than a dollar for dollar basis, as originally designated.
I asked Mr. Stine about the matter
concerning Stray Winds Farm/Triple Crown Corporation roadway improvement
agreement with the Township. He said it was a technicality and would probably
not result in a change in the agreement.
May 2, 2007
LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP PARKS
AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING
Attended and reported by Watson
Fisher.
The major agenda item and the one
of most interest to SWAN members was the discussion of Triple Crown
CorporationÕs submission for the Stray Winds Farm Proposed Community Park.
Triple Crown is proposing to build the Community Park in lieu of paying the
recreation fees for the Lower Paxton Township portion of the development. The
fee in lieu, based on the township ordinance, is estimated to be $1,060,000.
Mr. Peter Leone of Triple Crown
gave a detailed presentation of the park plan and its estimated cost. The park
would be located on both sides of McIntosh Road just west of Paxton Creek and
would consist of a 2.07 acre Recreation Lot on the north side of McIntosh Road
and a 4.32 acre parcel directly across on the south side of McIntosh Road
including a Parking Lot for 25 vehicles, a Recreation Lot, a Playground, a Basketball/Tennis
Court, a Picnic Area, a Pavilion, a Gazebo, and a safety fence along McIntosh
Road. The park project also would include an 8 foot wide lighted macadam
walking trail going through the park and extending east to west across the
development with a series of eight workout/fitness stations along the trail. At
the western end the trail would connect to the similar trail in the Susquehanna
Township portion of the development. The SWF homeownersÕ association would
maintain the trail including the lights.
The plan would be to construct
these facilities in Phase 2 of the 7-phase construction schedule, which would
mean that they would be built in the next 3 years. TTC plans to take the
proposed plan to the Workshop meeting on May 8 and then to the formal
SupervisorsÕ meeting in June. They noted that the overall plan has received the
approval of the Planning Commission at its March 14 meeting pending resolution
of the unresolved outstanding legal matter.
Not surprisingly, the initial
estimated cost of developing the park areas and the trail was $1,060,000. A
revision to the original plan reduced the number of trail lighting fixtures by
increasing their interval from every 40' to every 160' resulted in an estimated
savings of $100,000. This amount then would be all that would be left of the
total fee in lieu for the township to use for other recreational needs.
In open discussion the board
stated that they were impressed by the work TTC put into the planning for these
facilities but they expressed serious concerns about the viability of the plan
for this large development. The recreation area designated for the play fields,
picnic area, parking, etc. is less than 7 acres for this very large development
which is less than is required by the current ordinance. It was noted that the
areas reserved for recreation were pretty much otherwise unusable space in the
overall plan. There was an understandable concern that the two adjacent
portions of the recreation area are split by what will become a very busy main
thoroughfare, McIntosh Road, which creates a very serious safety problem. It
was also noted by one of the board members that previously SWANÕs stated
position was that such a facility should not be built as part of this
development. It was stated that if the facility was not built as shown it is
hoped that the trail would be built in any case. They generally felt that the
recreation areas proposed would not provide enough benefit to this large
housing development to be worth $960,000. They acknowledged that even if they
withheld their approval the supervisors might well approve the project at their
formal meeting in June.
The board then resolved that for
the stated reasons they would not be able to recommend approval of this plan
and to send it on to the supervisors. Their resolution stated that they did not
feel that the project was big enough or adequate enough to meet the
requirements of the ordinance, it was not large enough or provided enough
facilities to be worth the projected cost, and it had a serious safety problem.
Their resolution denying approval of the plan was approved unanimously.
Other items on their agenda that
were discussed were as follows:
~ Koons Pool will operate this
year in spite a DEP problem regarding how the pool water is backwashed. This year
the backwashed water will be discharged onto the lawn with DEP approval.
~ Scheduling of the summer use of
the fields at Koons Park is an ongoing problem. A revised scheduling system is
being considered.
~ At George Park work on the
in-line skate park, the nature trail, and some paving is underway.
~ A draft letter of understanding
between the Friends of Lower Paxton Playgrounds and the township was approved
for execution.
~ A report on fund raising for the
proposed Skateboard Park was reviewed. The board felt that successful fund
raising for this project would be difficult.
~ The Greenway Committee at their
meeting earlier in the evening developed notes to pass on to the
consultant. The final draft plan
is being finalized and will be presented to the supervisors at their June 19
meeting. Estimated cost for design services for the entire extended project is
$460,000 and the estimated construction cost for the entire extended project is
$2,500,000. Consideration is being
given to filing an early grant application for trails proposed in the
southwestern portion of the township. This effort is intended to get agencies
familiar with the project even though the chance of being awarded a grant this
early are very remote.
~ A group wants to meet with the
township to consider being allowed to cover the existing outdoor tennis courts
at Brightbill Park with a removable dome to provide for year round use. The
board will discuss whether they want to consider such a joint project at their next meeting.
~ Fine Line Homes turned over to
the township deeds to two parcels of land along Nyes Road totaling
approximately 5.5 acres from Phase 1 of the Huntleigh development. This land
can be used as part of the proposed Greenway trail project.
~ The annual election of officers
reappointed the present Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Secretary to another
yearÕs term.
May 3, 2007
LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP
ZONING HEARING BOARD MEETING
(7:00 - 9:00 PM)
Attended by Watson Fisher &
Ted Robertson. Reported by Ted Robertson.
Docket no. SE 07-01 concerned the
property north of Linglestown Road between the Weis Market property and the
Dunkin Donuts property. The owners/developers intend to construct a two-story
building with two restaurants, a stand-alone spa, and a corporate office
building on a little over 9 acres. They were asking a special exception for
thirty shared parking spaces to meet the number of spaces required by the
Township ordinance. Chairman Dowling recused himself from this vote. The
special exception was approved 3-1 after much needless "debate"
(posturing).
Docket no. 1229 was requesting a
second stand-alone sign for the Dunkin Donut's property mentioned above. The
Hearing Board suggested the existing stand alone "menu" sign be attached
to the building (a move of a few feet), and the building sign on the West side
be taken down to provide for the desired stand alone sign. After a call to
Dunkin Donuts by the owner, who apparently approved the above changes, the
board approved the changes 5-0.