Still Time to Correct Poor School Planning
As many long term Elizabethtown Area residents are aware, regional planning has been an issue as municipalities, school districts, and others struggled to communicate and cooperate. That is all about to change since Northwest Lancaster County neighbors will discuss regional planning on May 22.
Residents of the northwest region of Lancaster County are invited to discuss a regional partnership at 7 p.m. May 22 at Elizabethtown Area Middle School, 600 E. High St.
The regional partners are Elizabethtown Borough, Conoy, Mount Joy and West Donegal townships. They seek new opportunities for partnership, growth and prosperity through the development and implementation of a regional strategic plan.
Take a look at two scenarios involving regional planning, and see how regional planning can help the process.
Scenario #1
The School District has plans to turn East High Elementary school into an intermediate school. Within a span of 6-8 months, they rapidly develop a plan to put the school in a remote, walker inaccessible location. The location causes problems because the roads and intersections cannot adequately support the traffic, and is a duplication of services that exist elsewhere in the borough. They develop the plan, and publish the construction schedule. Then they present this plan to the Mount Joy Township Planning Commission and ask for public comment. By law, they hold the Act 34 hearing, and once again ask for public comment. The Public and Elizabethtown Borough have serious concerns about the plan and location, but the school district is apparently too far along in the construction development process to react to these concerns. At this point, they probably feel that any location change equates to a delay in their projected opening of the school. So, in essence, the School District took it upon itself to decide what plan is best for the four municipalities and taxpayers. The result is that little or nothing will be done to the roads and intersections, and they will slowly need to be fixed at taxpayer expense after the problems arise. Also because of the plan, the school in the land locked and isolated location will be hampered for years to come.
Scenario #2
The school district recognizes that an Intermediate school serving the entire district will impact the entire region. They ask the Municipalities though the planning process for input on the best place to locate the school that will minimize traffic, and lessen the impact and requirements to improve roads. Not everyone will agree on the location or the plan, but everyone will have a chance to make their points, and in the end, through compromise and logic, the best location will be chosen for the school. This process would ultimately pick a location that has suitable and sustainable roads and intersections, and serves the school’s purposes. This process will also consider conformance with Smart Growth goals of the Borough, Township and Lancaster County. Everybody ultimately benefits in this cooperative scenario, and we all achieve the goal of Smart Growth that serves the needs of the community and school at the same time.
The School has not yet cleared the Mount Joy Township Planning commission approval process, and the ACT 34 process allows for public comment. This proposed school project needs to be discussed at the May 22nd planning meeting, and a sixty (60) to ninety (90) day hold on pursuing the Bear Creek Intermediate School must be considered in order to explore alternatives with the community. The concerns raised so far with regard to transportation and walkability warrant a more detailed review.
As citizens, you are being asked to attend this meeting.
