Letter to the Editor, Feb. 10, 2012
Who benefits in the absence of planning?
EDITOR: What is a planning commission - and why should we have one?
There are far more reasons to have a planning commission than there are reasons to disband one. Who benefits when a township has a functioning planning commission? Or more to the point in Sheshequin, who benefits in the absence of a planning commission?
The Sheshequin Township Planning commission was formed in 2002, comprised of 9 unpaid volunteers, with an initial task of creating a "comprehensive plan," to gather and define the township's vision, and to guide future growth in a way that would preserve that self determined vision. It took several years of dedicated work and community input to finalize that plan.
Creating a plan is just one of many ways a planning commission can assist a township; while a commission does not have "authority," they can be a valuable resource in gathering and studying information, acting as advisors to bring forth a broader base of knowledge, and therefore allowing for better informed decisions. Towanda Borough provides a case in point - as the borough council is now addressing citizen complaints, the council has several committees, including their Planning Commission, helping to work on a draft ordinance.
In Sheshequin, however, a comprehensive plan that needs revising to meet and adjust to industry growth at an unprecedented rate sits gathering dust; and instead of supervisors delegating tasks, allowing a willing planning commission to share the load, we have struggled with dwindling support from our governing body. Why? Do they NOT want citizen participation?
Over the past several years, appointments were not made by the supervisors to fill vacancies. No publicity was attempted through the newspapers to find other interested residents, and now suddenly, with no prior discussion, they have determined to disband a committee of volunteers that cost the township nothing.
What are their reasons? Not the "reported" reasons, but the real ones? It was reported that they "have been advised not to comment on the proposed dissolution." Advised by whom? Why? The Sunshine Law requires public deliberation of discussion and decisions unless they involve personnel or lawsuits, and neither of those exemptions apply.
What discussion lead to this sudden proposal? And why, with a decision made in December, did they not notify the members, either by phone or at least by mail? What a rude surprise it was, when we traveled to our January meeting on perhaps the most frigid of nights this winter, with blustering winds and single digit temps, to find a letter from the secretary just left on the table!
Some who didn't brave the cold that night didn't even get word until they read it in this newspaper just last week.
The affront is amplified by the "reasons" the supervisors alleged, and then fed to the press rather than discuss with the planning commission. (Sadly, the paper did not followup with any planning commission members either, so had a very one sided "report.")
Consider this: "... meetings were often canceled, primarily due to low attendance." Several meetings were cancelled only after confirming with the supervisors or the secretary, in advance, that there were no items on the agenda for the committee to address. And if blizzards or floods made travel impossible, we are faulted?
Attendance was also impacted by the fact that the supervisors did not fill vacancies on the commission. For the first half of 2010, one third of the commission seats remained empty. In 2011, one resignation remained empty for over half the year, while another seat was never filled.
It takes only one illness or injury, one conflict with an evening school event, perhaps one downed cow, to cause an already under-filled commission to fall short of quorum!
More of their letter: "There has been no interest in the township to develop a zoning ordinance." This is based on what? As part of the process of defining the township's vision, a survey was done in 2003. From April 4, 2003 planning commission minutes, results of that survey noted, "'rural atmosphere' as the highest ranking reason for locating in Sheshequin, with 'location' being the best aspect, 'farmland' being recognized as most important, and 'light ag' receiving the most votes for future development." With the advance of drilling, we have heard some people recently express an interest in taking a new look at zoning. It may not be the right solution for our township, but it does no harm to examine the issue, and perhaps poll the residents to get a more balanced picture than letting just two supervisors dictate their limited point of view.
As a planning commission, we had begun trying to look at neighboring townships' ways of handling the issues, and had begun discussing and trying to locate the comprehensive plan that took so many hours to create and had input from many residents. We have several members who are willing to invest more time, but we do need to seek out more of our neighbors to fill vacant seats on the commission, to share the work and to ensure a full range of views are represented.
"The Supervisors are satisfied with the county review of land development and subdivisions and do not want to take on those expenses." More glaring problems here: A phone conversation with the county planner will affirm, it's always better to have local eyes review local land development - we live here, we know the lay of our land better than they do. While we do not have "authority" to change anything, we have the opportunity locally to notice something they might have missed at the county level, and they are happy for the input. So why are two supervisors, whose workload is ever increasing, unwilling to accept free help? "Those expenses" they stated are non-existent; we are volunteers!
A planning commission can fulfill a crucial role - especially in these times of unprecedented rapid change and growth. The only reason not to have a planning commission now would be to allow the supervisors to rule without vision.
Unless the supervisors are correct - perhaps no one cares? If that is the truth, then there is no need for a planning commission, and all decisions can be made in a vacuum with just a majority vote of two.
We sincerely hope that's not the case; we haven't volunteered for this many years thinking no one cared. Perhaps, instead, the problem is that the residents don't know their opinion IS important, and aren't aware that there is a way for them to contribute in shaping their future. This isn't the time to disband the planning commission, it is time to FIX it. The framework is already there, and at no cost. We need a few residents to step forward, and we need the willingness of our supervisors to allow us a voice.
To derail us now, and then decide some time later that we needed a plan for change, rather than react to it, will be too late and far more costly. Starting over later will require more legal fees, more publication fees, more time.
We need to know before this vote is final on Feb. 13, what is the REAL reason the supervisors want to throw us away now? Who will benefit?
Laura H. Hewitt
On behalf of the Sheshequin Township Planning Commission