Conewago Online Report
Conewago Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Planning Commission Approves Draft Comprehensive Plan With Changes

After receiving public comment at meetings in October and November, on Mon., Jan. 26, 2009 the Conewago Planning Commission met to consider its recommendation on its new Draft Comprehensive Plan , which guides changes to township zoning. It approved a number of changes to the Plan, which went a long way toward addressing criticisms received at the public meetings.

Click here to see Plan T2 Map - January 2009 Future Land Use Map (Enhanced version)
Click here to see Plan T Map - August 2008 Future Land Use Map (Enhanced version)
Click here to see Map Z - Current Zoning Map (Enhanced version)
Click here to see Plan T2 - Expanded Version of this Report with All Maps

Changes:

(Map Keys on Plan T2 - January 2009 Future Land Use Map)

1. Trust Zoning - Reduced by 60% (Map Key 1.)

The new Eleemysonary Overlay (or Trust) Zoning District would affect about 600 acres, mostly farmland. "The Eleemosynary Overlay allows for additional uses to be permitted in certain areas, regardless of the underlying use." The Trust would be allowed to ignore certain current zoning restrictions and bypass the normal review process which allows the public to comment before a decision to allow changes is made.
[Note: this is labeled EO on the Enhanced version of Future Land Use Map.]

CHANGE: The new Eleemysonary Overlay Zoning District is retained but reduced in size from about 600 acres to 250 acres and limited to parcels adjoining Derry township.

2. Petrina Farm (Map Key 2.)

CHANGE: The zoning for Gil Petrina's farm, which is now Residential Multi-Family and had been proposed to change to Rural Resource is changed back to Medium Density Residential.

3. High-Density Commercial/Residential Zoning - Eliminated (Map Key 3.)

The proposed Mixed Use Zone, 100 acres of Trust land just south of the Elementary School, allows high-density commercial and residential lots smaller than a quarter acre. This would allow nearly 400 housing units.
[Note: this is labeled MU on the Enhanced version of Future Land Use Map.]

CHANGE: This new Mixed Use Zoning District is eliminated. This parcel's zoning has been changed to Agricultural.

4. MegaWarehouse Zoning - Not Changed (Map Keys 4+5.)

In 1998, the Planning Commission disapproved a request by the Hershey Trust to rezone 160 acres of agricultural land for a MILLION SQUARE FOOT WAREHOUSE. In 2004, the Board of Supervisors rejected the Lower Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Plan which included this same rezoning. In 2008, it's back! The Draft Plan once again proposes rezoning most of this parcel from Agricultural to Commercial.
[Note: this is labeled C-LI on the Enhanced version of Future Land Use Map.]

NOT CHANGED. That means the proposed rezoning stays in the plan.

5. Foreman Property (Map Key 8.)

CHANGE: The zoning for some parcels owned by Jim Foreman, which are now Residential Country and had been proposed to change to Agricultural Rural Resource are changed back to Rural Resource.

Summary

The Planning Commission's changes to the Draft Comprehensive Plan had something for everybody:

Gil Petrina got his Multi-Family/Medium Density Residential Zoning back. (Map Key 2)
Jim Foreman got his Residential Country / Rural Resource zoning back. (Map Key 8)
Hershey Trust got its Eleemosynary Zoning, bigger than its original request, smaller than its later request. (Map Key 1)
Hershey Trust got its MegaWarehouse Zoning, trading Commercial zoning on a parcel west of 743 for expanded Commercial zoning on parcels on the East side of 743. (Map Keys 4+5)
Map Key 1 and 3: Community Activist Joel Buckley got a significant reduction in the proposed Eleemosynary Zoning (Map Key 1) and elimination of the Mixed Use Zone south of the Elementary School. (Map Key 3)

Buckley's View

The Planning Commission did not approve all of the changes I had recommended.
But the changes do address many of the criticisms that had been raised and make it MUCH BETTER than the original plan.
All-in-all, with the changes the Planning Commission approved, I would say it is now a pretty good plan.
I commend Chairman Grubb and the other members of the Planning Commission for their efforts.

What's Next

The Plan now goes from the Planning Commission to the Board of Supervisors. They will schedule another Community meeting, a Public Hearing, on the plan. Afterwords, they can either: do nothing, reject the plan, adopt the plan, or propose changes to the plan. If significant changes are made, the plan goes back through the review process (1. County Planning Commission and adjoining municipality review, 2. Planning Commission Public Meeting and Review, 3. Supervisors Public Hearing and Final Vote). If the Plan is adopted, actual implementation will require amendment(s) to the township zoning ordinance, which has its own procedures.

The Draft Comprehensive Plan can be viewed online at Conewago Online.

Sincerely, Joel Buckley