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Centre Daily Times April 5 2005
Bellefonte OKs plan for growth
Deal links region's development goals
lbrenckl@centredaily.com; By Lara Brenckle
"Bellefonte joined other municipalities Monday night in pledging to work together to guide development over the next decade by approving an implementation agreement for the Nittany Valley Regional Comprehensive Plan.
The unanimous approval was a final step in the long process of forming a cohesive approach to development in the region.
The plan, which was approved in September, unites Bellefonte's planning goals with those of Benner, Spring, Marion and Walker townships.
The implementation agreement states that if the borough or any other municipality proposes a change in its land use, the other municipalities in the region, as well as the Centre County Planning Office, will have the chance to weigh in on the proposal.
In addition to containing a wealth of demographic, cultural and historical information, the plan gives a list of 109 suggestions for creating that consistency. Some of those suggestions are as simple as committing to reviewing the document in 10 years. Others are more complex, requiring intergovernmental cooperation over the short and long-term.
Some of those goals include locating and maintaining new public and industrial water supplies to not overwhelm existing resources, encourage sidewalks and accommodation of bicycle traffic in the region and development of special quarry zones that would permit the often-controversial mining activities in strictly regulated areas.
The plan also wraps the region in growth boundaries, so the municipalities can effectively gauge the positives, such as economic development, against negatives such as increased traffic on local roads. The plan can assist homeowners, both current and future, in determining where they would like to live based on the development proposed around a community.
Currently, said assistant to the borough manager Sue Hannegan, the "triangle" of Bellefonte, Pleasant Gap and Zion is targeted as a high-growth area over the next decade because existing infrastructure could support it.
The plan could lead to changes in municipal zoning ordinances, Hannegan said.
"R-2 (zoning district) in Bellefonte borough is not the same as an R-2 in Spring Township," Hannegan explained. "We want to be consistent. The goal is to develop consistency in the Nittany Valley Region."
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