On Thursday, the Snyder Township Planning Commission and the EADS Group held a comprehensive plan community meeting at the Bald Eagle Fire Company.
The planning commission consists of seven township residents, including: Fred Thomas, Bob Ayers, Rich Baumgardner, James Thomas, Eleanore Miller, Ron Kobak and Martin Starr.
The representative from the township’s engineering firm was Rick Treselo of the EADS Group.
About 40 people attended the meeting to learn about the comprehensive plan, which discusses the township’s past and current use of transportation, housing, infrastructure, land use, water and sewer, to name a few.
One of the purposes of the comprehensive plan is to figure out where the township could possibly be in 10 to 20 years. The planning commission has used the year to come up with some past and current findings of the township, along with recommendations for the future.
Some of the major findings and issues presented by the planning commission was that township sewer services have been extended and highway construction continues in the township. Also, 15 percent of the total land area has been developed in the township, there has been a 9.5 percent increase in the labor force and the heaviest township traffic volume is at I-99 south of Tipton.
Major recommendations from the planning commission include balancing growth and development with conservation and preservation, the discussion of zoning, future land use issues and the growth area around the I-99 corridor and Bald Eagle Interchange.
After the findings and recommendations were presented by the planning commission, the public had the chance to comment. Many of the comments had to do with possible future zoning in Snyder Township.
There were those in attendance who believed zoning would take away from their property rights while others suggested it would protect the township from unwanted development such as convenience stores or factories in residential areas.
There was also public comment on the current ordinances the township has in place about things such as junk yards and how those ordinances should be enforced.
There were questions from the public about if growth will really occur or not after I-99 is completed.
Others added the children in the township had no recreational opportunities such as a ball field or a park and wanted to see more recreational opportunities in the future.
The purpose of Thursday’s meeting was to get public input about the findings and recommendations of the comprehensive plan. The plan will now be revised by members of the planning commission and submitted to the township supervisors for review.
No formal township action was taken at the meeting as it was a public input session.
