When the Franklin County Economic Development and Planning Department moved their headquarters to the Lazarus building on South Front Street last month, it caused some problems for townships working on their comprehensive plans.
The issue was discussed at the Sept. 9 Pleasant Township Trustees meeting.
"We had some communication issues," said Tom Fancher, chairman of the Pleasant Township Comprehensive Plan/Land Use Review Committee. "We couldn’t communicate with them because their phone lines were not functioning."
The committee had hoped the county would have the comprehensive plan text drawn up so they could present it at a public meeting later this month, but the relocation of their offices caused that date to be pushed back.
"We are hoping to have the next public meeting within the next 45 days," Fancher said. "That is what we are shooting for. As a committee, we want to get this done with as soon as possible, but we have to have the product finished before we can present anything to the township."
The committee and the county have been working on Pleasant Township’s Comprehensive Plan for over three years now, and held their last public meeting on March 27.
At that meeting, they unveiled what the residents would like to see, or what they do not want to see, for their township in the future.
They discussed commercial development, residential development, farmland, transportation and the environment.
According to the data complied from the residents, they would like to see commercial development in areas with access to major roads such as Interstate 71 and Harrisburg Pike. The developments would include retail stores, office space and heavier commercial.
They also requested small-scale commercial along Norton Road, and small restaurants or small-scale retail along Alkire Road from Georgesville to Gardner Road.
The residents disagreed with the committee and the county with their desire to have small retail shops and restaurants in Pleasant Corners.
Among the other items residents wanted to see were bikeways for cyclists, widening the roads to make them safer for pedestrians, a speed limit reduction, and preserving the scenic beauty of the Big and Little Darby.
Fancher said the county is progressing with the updated draft based upon the input from that March 27 meeting, and as soon as they get it, they will start putting the public workshop together to present it to anyone who is interested. He said they would even put up stations (for commercial development, residential, farmland, transportation, etc), where residents could ask the committee or county members in-depth questions about that subject and get answers.
In other news
The trustees announced that the annual fall clean-up will take place on Oct. 10 and 11 at the Fire Department located at 5373 Norton Road. The clean-up starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. each of those days.
Also on Oct. 11, the Village of Harrisburg will host a car show from noon until 6 p.m.
