Charlestown Township
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A special meeting was held on November 8, 2004, at the Great Valley Middle School, Room 154. Kevin R. Kuhn, Chairman, Paul Hogan, Hugh Willig, Linda M. Csete, Township Administrator, Melanie M. Lammers, Recording Secretary, and those on the attached list were present.
The meeting was called to order at 7:32 P.M.
Mr. Kuhn thanked everyone for coming and said the purpose of the meeting was to get everyone up to date on the Regional Plan. He said it is not a plan to reduce or stop development, but rather a plan to share with neighboring Townships in order to get a better Comprehensive Plan regionally.
Mr. Jim Kise, principal of Kise, Straw & Kolodner, presented an overview of the Regional Planning project.
The following maps were displayed:
Phoenixville Area Regional Comprehensive Plan – Regional Perspective Map
Phoenixville Area Regional Comprehensive Plan – Environmental Resources
Phoenixville – Charlestown Township Existing Land Use Map
Phoenixville – Historic Resources Map
Phoenixville – Existing Land Use Map
Regional Traffic Congestion Map
Mr. Kise said the following six municipalities are participating in the regional planning:
Charlestown
East Pikeland
East Vincent
Phoenixville
Schuylkill
West Vincent
He said the project is very complex and consists of the following organizations:
Cahill Associates – environmental
Traffic Planning and Design Firm – transportation issues
Urban Partners – economics; trends and marketplace
Smith & McMasters – implementation
Mr. Kise’s presentation is attached, but in addition, he had the following comments:
He suggested improving a rural road into a two-lane road instead of widening existing two-lane roads. He said this will difuse traffic, rather than concentrate it on certain roads.
With regard to historic resources, he said he cannot overstate how important it is to get the historic inventory up to date and current. He said it can help to slow or reduce development, because Section 106 is a federal statue which requires a developer to prove they will not be having a negative impact on a historic building. He said this can be used to help ensure PennDOT tries to solve its problems in a more desirable if unconventional way.
Mr. Kise noted the residents returned 15% of the surveys. He said this is an unusually large return that indicates people are involved and concerned.
Mr. Kise held a visioning exercise at the end of his presentation to ask the residents what they love about Charlestown and what their concerns are. Following are the results of that exercise:
Loves:
Concerns:
Mr. Kuhn noted that it is ironic that most of the things that people like about the area are the same things that lead to their concerns. He also said that Charlestown would not be part of the regional plan unless, after this planning is all done, they decide it is in the Township’s best interests. He said he has attended the regional meetings for three years, and just in past six months, the group has signed on a consultant in order to develop the regional comprehensive plan.
Mr. Kise said there is a sense of urgency surrounding planning, because he said the growth that was expected to take place in a ten-year period beginning in 2000 has already taken place in four.
Mr. Allen asked if the Township would lose control if they were part of a Regional Plan, and Mr. Kise said they would jointly plan the zoning, but would maintain the present identity of each municipality. He said each individual municipality would implement and enact the zoning within their own township in relationship to the other five municipalities. He said what gives it standing in the courts, is that it has been done in common. Mr. Willig said the same concerns came up when doing the Comprehensive Plan five years ago.
Mr. Kise urged everyone to attend the ongoing Regional Planning meetings and said he would post
his presentation on the www.phoenixvilleregion.org website.
[Now invalid. See —
www.phoenixville.org/_Economic/ReportsPlansStudies/PhoenixvilleAreaRegionalPlan.html.]
Mr. Hogan moved to approve the International Salts bid, and Mr. Willig seconded. Mr. Kuhn called for discussion, and there being none, called the vote. All were in favor.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:08 P.M. The next Board of Supervisors meeting will be held on November 15, 2004 in room 154 of the Great Valley Middle School.