In Amish country, TND suffers a setback
New Urban News Article with images, 3/1/2008
Lancaster County has a regional plan that supports smart growth and many projects underway, but one township may have gone too far too fast.
Two major new urbanist plans were shot down when a traditional neighborhood development (TND) ordinance failed to win approval near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in January. It’s not clear what will happen to the Independence and Lime Spring projects in East Hempfield Township — but if they had been approved as previously submitted, they could have served as models of TND in central Pennsylvania.
Despite the setback, new urbanist planning is at the heart of efforts to preserve farmland in one of the most productive agricultural areas in the eastern US. The county has lost substantial land to suburban development in recent decades.
Lancaster County officials have been talking about TND and smart growth since the early 1990s. These discussions culminated in a regional plan called Growing Together, approved by 11 municipalities, including East Hempfield, in April, 2007. The plan — encompassing 169 square miles and 193,000 people surrounding and including the City of Lancaster — calls for mixed-use, compact growth in 35 targeted areas, and encourages transfer of development rights to save farms. Five municipalities have TND ordinances that support the plan, according to county planner Danny Whittle. Seven or eight other municipalities in the county have adopted TND ordinances, he adds.
