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Letter to the Editor 11/07/09

Published: November 7, 2009

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Ridgebury's Comprehensive Plan

EDITOR: There has been a lot of misinformation spread around Ridgebury Township stating that they have a Comprehensive Plan that calls for zoning. A small self-centered group mostly disseminated this false information.

The plan does mention zoning. It states something to the effect that if the planning commission makes a change to the plan and that change involves zoning, then, if you have zoning, you need to pass a separate resolution to change your zoning ordinance. Since Ridgebury does not have a zoning ordinance this would not apply to Ridgebury. In any event, any thinking person can plainly see that there is nothing in that kind of cautionary wording that does or does not call for zoning. What most residents do not seem to realize is that a Comprehensive Plan is nothing more than a road map to the future and does not mandate anything. The plan is subject to periodic review and change.

In any event the prior administration went to all the trouble to adopt a good plan and the current administration rescinded that prior action. This leaves Ridgebury in the position of being one of the minorities of municipalities in Bradford County that does not have a plan. So what is the big deal? Well, one thing worth mentioning is that when Ridgebury puts in for a grant for a major project, like fixing their Dam/Road situation, the grant application will ask if the request is in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan. Since these grants are competitive and given that Ridgebury does not have a plan, the monies could well go to another municipality with the foresight to at least have a plan.

Unfortunately, people accept the misinformation they are fed by people with selfish motives and they do not take the time to get a copy of the plan and read it. If they read the plan they would want to know what all the fuss is about. In addition, they might also discover that the plan does not call for bringing in public sewer or water.

Ken Cooke

Gillett

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3 posted comments

Re: Comprehensive Plans Made Obsolete By Gas - A lot of really good points made. Another concern is Rendell has gutted DEP which should just complicate things even more. One thing to point out - a plan is a plan - it is a living document - it should be updated at least every five years. Of course, we in Ridgebury have no worry in that regard - not only did they do away with the plan - they stopped a really fine storm water management ordinance which had taken three years in preparation - then they did away with the Planning Commission, just to make sure nothing could happen.
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Ernie Weaver,  11/09/09 10:43
I'm pleased to see that someone is finally stating what a comp. plan is and isn't. I wonder if there was even one person who, after being fed the poppycock that the plan meant zoning, sewer, and water - bothered to even check it out. The people disseminating this malarkey all have their own agenda, and I doubt if any of it would be good for the township! Ridgebury is overdue in having people start to ask the veracity of some statements. In short order, they would find not a bit of it is truthful.
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Ernie Weaver,  11/09/09 10:35
Not commenting specifically about Ridgebury's plan here, but about comprehensive plans in general. All of the townships have pretty much had their comprehensive plans blown out of the water by the invasion of the gas companies. Back a few years ago when the plans were developed, no one locally knew gas was on the horizon. Therefore, most townships probably need to redo them at this point with the gas companies pretty much calling the shots in Bradford County, although I doubt the townships will due to low resourcing and funds. This generality may apply to Ridgebury as well, I am not familiar with that township's plan. Another factor in our future is whether or not the gas companies will destroy our on-lot private wells with methane gas or chemical pollution. If they do, public water systems will be in every townships future, no matter how sparsely populated, or we will be ghost townships. Lastly, I am disappointed in the DEP's policy of choosing to interpret the law such that they do not consult comprehensive plans relative to land use issues for DEP permits. This policy was established on August 19th of 2009, and leaves every township with only the comprehensive plan and no zoning in the position of not having a say regarding land use at all. So, as much as I liked my township's comprehensive plan back when we developed it, it isn't worth the printer ink used to print it at this point in time. The paper may still have some value, you can still start a fire in your woodstove with it to get the energy value out of it. Sad, but true.
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Comprehensive Plans Made Obsolete by Gas,  11/07/09 6:46

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