Lower Allen Web Log

I read with great interest the article in this morning's Patriot-News detailing the impending removal of the dam near Green Lane Farms on the Yellow Breeches because I've spoken often to the LAT property owner mentioned in the story:

"...Getting to the cliff requires crossing private property. The cliff's owner, William Baker, has shouted at kids, posted no-trespassing signs and called the police.

On the other side of the creek, Mark and Maria Gregory have endured groups of young people crossing their backyard, littering, screaming and cursing. They hang wet clothes on the Gregorys' white fence...."

While discussion at a recent Lisburn Neighborhood Plan meeting spoke ill of the removal of the dam above the mill race, I have to admit that I support the removal of dams along the Yellow Breeches. The program returns the creek, as much as possible, to its original state, aids in flood control, allows for healthy natural habitats, and may contribute to the local economy by bringing more trout fishermen and fisherwomen to the area.

Of course, to the extent that the removal of the Green Lanes dam also allows the Gregorys to quietly enjoy their property while deterring thrill seekers from hurling themselves off the cliffs, it's all good.

While I won't be able to attend, here's the text of a press release regarding an upcoming meeting to discuss the future of Corridor One:

A local Cumberland County, non-partisan activist group—Organizing for America, Central PA-- is hosting an informational and action Forum on CorridorOne, the regional rail system designed to provide a modern rail transit in south central Pennsylvania and address important issues facing families and small businesses, caused by growing traffic congestion, air pollution, energy consumption, and spur economic development.

The Forum is set for April 28, 2009 at 7:30 PM at the Community Room at the Giant Supermarket in the Camp Hill Shopping Center.

Organizing for America-Central PA is inviting state and local elected and transportation experts, and others to discuss the status of CorridorOne and to get input from the public. John Ward, of the Modern Transportation Partnership will make an informational presentation. The Forum is open to the public and will provide an opportunity to debate, ask questions and get answers about how the mass transit rail needs of Cumberland County are being met.

The Forum will focus attention on the question: Why have the funds authorized for the grade separation needed to preserve the future of mass transit to the West Shore not yet been appropriated? What action needs to be taken to gets the Funds appropriated?

Organizing for America, Central PA will continue to actively and publicly seek answers and get action on this project and other important issues facing our community and encourages the public to attend this important Forum.

For additional information, please contact Margie Stuski at 717-421-3215 or Sandy Christianson at 717-761-1566 or go to the website for Organizing for America, www.OrganizingforAmerica.com and click on events.

Thanks to Walter Lyon for providing this information.

Where will I be? Glad you asked. The next public hearing regarding the zoning ordinance changes for LAT is scheduled for that same evening.

Up before the sun this morning, and I have brunch with my wife and in-laws in my immediate future, so I have a few minutes to dive through the papers piled on my desk.

In no particular order, here are a few notes from recent meetings, etc.:

• I posted earlier about the January LAT permit fees being far off the budget mark and what we saw last year, but I then neglected to update you re February's results. We didn't beat 2008's figures, but we came far closer than the first month of the year: $9,586.19 to $11,333.60. Hopefully this is the start of a trend and not a blip.
• In a previous post, I shared my opinion of a proposal being considered by the BOC to increase some staff salary pay bands. I was the sole no vote on the matter - Resolution 2009-R-05 - at the March 23 meeting because staff indicated, both in an earlier meeting and in a memo to the BOC, that there is no actual need to increase the maximum rates at this time, and because no staff member would have been impacted until 2013, after the next salary survey.
• At the March 23 meeting, I asked staff for some background research into the costs of EPA approved Phase 1 and Phase 2 hydronic heaters in conjunction with Ordinance 2009-04. The ordinance, approved Feb. 23, permits certain hydronic heaters - commonly known as wood heaters or outdoor wood boilers - in LAT with some restrictions. I believe that, given our air quality issues in Cumberland County, we should only allow EPA-approved Phase 2 heaters which reduce particulate emissions by 90%. That's why I voted against the ordinance, and have requested the further study.
• While technically correct, in a March 20 article in The Patriot-News, writer Rick Selzer missed the mark when he wrote about West Pennsboro Township considering a hydronic heater ordinance, and went on to say: "Dickinson Twp. supervisors are reviewing a similar measure. North Middleton, Middlesex and South Middleton townships recently adopted their own regulations." Again, LAT fell below The Patriot's radar. You need to know there's more going on at LAT than what you read in the best local newspaper. Stay informed. Read the agendas. Ask questions. Engage.

Thanks to our friends at The Patriot-News, we have this little tidbit to share this evening:

Altland House Catering and Events opens location at Liberty Forge
by ERICA DOLSON, Of The Patriot-News
Tuesday March 31, 2009, 3:32 PM

"Altland House Catering and Events, a full-service caterer based in York, has opened an event location at Liberty Forge in Lower Allen Twp.

The new location, in what was formerly The Wedge, has a ballroom to accommodate groups of up to 250 guests and smaller meeting rooms to accommodate about 75 people. Events can be booked at the location as early as Wednesday...."

I had seen the ads in the newspaper the last several weeks regarding rounds of golf, but I had no idea about this. Interesting.

I attended another spirited Lisburn Neighborhood Plan development meeting last evening in the Barn at LACP. Facilitated by planner Thomas Comitta, the meeting focused on takeaways from the first meeting in January, and worked to boil them down to actionable proposals which can be brought back to the group in May for consideration.

The plan - as I understand it - is for the May meeting to be the final neighborhood group meeting before LAT staff drafts a plan to be considered by the BOC for approval. There's still a long way to go in the process, though, so if you haven't made it to either of the first two meetings, you will still have an opportunity to have your voice heard.

From what I have heard so far, residents of the Village of Lisburn have passionate pride of place. They love their small town atmosphere, their scenic stretch of the Yellow Breeches Creek, and their ties to local institutions like the Lisburn Fire Department and one another.

Most of all, they want to preserve and protect what they have, both in terms of their historic streetscape as well as the safety of their neighbors as they move about the village. Traffic speed is a major, major concern, and mitigating it may loom large in the final plan proposal.

One concept discussed at length last evening was nominating Lisburn as a historic district, but not encumbering residents with onerous historic district zoning. The brouhaha surrounding Carlisle's Historic Architectural Review Board was mentioned more than once as what folks don't want to see happen.

Personally, I have a little experience with HARBs, both positive and negative.

While growing up in Berks County, I helped the community gather data about my hometown in preparation for placing Oley Township on the National Register of Historic Places. That project, and the ensuing recognition, remains a source of local pride long after the Oley Township Historic District was designated in 1983.

Years later, my father attempted to build an addition to his small business located on the main street. By that time, a HARB had been created, and the flaming hoops of regulations and fees he had to jump through totally soured him on the project.

Later still, while living in Gettysburg, our landlord attempted to replace windows in our home, only to have the work stopped by a zoning officer alerted by a HARB member living across the street. The contractors put the old windows back, and my daughter had exposed insulation around the windows in her room for months while we fought and won approval to proceed with the window replacement.

When a historic district builds pride and focuses attention on the great parts of an area, it's a beautiful thing. When a historic district becomes a cudgel wielded by tyrants who seek - in the extreme - to mandate what color you may paint your front door and how many mullions you must have in your windows, it's big government run amok.

According to Mr. Comitta last evening, it is possible to have the former without the latter. To the extent that I can help make that happen, I'm on board.

The second meeting of the Lisburn Neighborhood Study is planned for Monday, March 30 at 7 p.m., and will be held in the Barn at the Lower Allen Community Park.

The first meeting was very well attended, and that is likely to become a trend. Several folks I spoke with Sunday are exhorting their friends and neighbors who didn't attend the first meeting to get to the next one so they can have their voices heard.

The study is an effort, funded jointly by grant dollars and LAT, to determine a miniature comprehensive plan for the future development of the Village of Lisburn. The plan will rely on the direction of Lisburn residents, in collaboration with LAT staff and commissioners, to set that course.

Mark your calendars for the 30th, then arrive early to get a good seat.

According to a story today on The Sentinel's web site, the next Yellow Breeches dam slated for removal is near the Green Lane Farms community in Fairview Township adjacent to Lower Allen:

"...Green Lane Farms has an 8-foot-high, 150-foot-long concrete dam, built in the early 1900s, which has been classified as “orphaned” by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Engineering design and permitting for the project have been obtained. The dam is targeted for removal in June, following the lifting of seasonal restrictions associated with stocked trout season, at an estimated project cost of $65,000....

Last month, approximately 60 people who care about the Village of Lisburn, its history and more specifically its future, arrived at the social hall above the Lisburn Fire Department for a public meeting. Let by Thomas Comitta and Township Engineer Dan Flint, the meeting gathered attendees' views and opinions about the village, what they'd like to see added, and what they'd love to see diminished.

While I've seen no date yet for the second meeting in the process, it's coming. One of the key aspects of the plan proposed by Mr. Comitta was his commitment to listen to local people, and to derive the focus for the final plan largely on their input.

As I heard loud and clear during the approval process for the Comprehensive Plan in 2006, and what was echoed again on a snowy January night in Lisburn, is that there is no shortage of opinions - or consensus - about what folks do and do not want to see in the village. The extent to which the final plan echoes those opinions will determine the degree to which the plan is accepted and implemented by the people to be directly impacted by any proposed changes.

Stay tuned here for details on the upcoming second meeting sometime in March.

For me to provide a blow-by-blow recap of Thursday evening's public hearing to gather comment on the pending LAT zoning ordinance update would be a bit premature.

One of the key takeaways of the hearing for me is that, although this process has been in the works for more than 15 months, it is still some way from completion. Given that fact, for me to have suggested in my original run for Township office four years ago that I would advocate for an annual review of LAT's comprehensive plan seems in hindsight to have been a tad naive.

That said, I believe I have learned a lot in the last three years. One of the key lessons has been that I have a lot more to learn. Just when I think I have an issue down cold, a resident or staff member will pose a question which triggers a handful of new questions and may involve rethinking my previous position.

It is with that approach to remaining open to hearing new insights and considering new points of view which I approached last Thursday's meeting. And that is exactly how I'll approach Tuesday evening's Lisburn community planning meeting.

Some key points from Thursday meeting:

• Staff and the LAT Planning Commission have done a lot of work on the ordinance update, and there's a lot of work left to complete;
• The Rana Villa neighborhood needs to have its questions answered in terms of exactly why we want to rezone it from C2 to C4, and I need to be ready to provide some of those answers when asked a direct question;
• The Lisburn Road corridor will remain problematic until present and future concerns are addressed through a comprehensive strategy to better handle the volumes and better limit vehicle speeds;
• Any changes with regard to permitting density bonuses to encourage cluster development should likely be made with the goal of preserving the character of the area in which the use will be permitted.

Thank you for the phenomenal community attendance at the meeting last Thursday. While we don't need to pack Gorgas Hall every two weeks, having a few new faces in the seats each week would be great.

So, what did you do on your latest vacation?

Really. Do tell.

Me?

Well, I spent time with my daughter, made meatballs, saw Gran Torino, Doubt and Milk, and spent two hours at the Cumberland County Commissioners' work meeting Thursday morning re whether or not the county should proceed with its current real estate reassessment.

That's just how I roll.

Comm. Eichelberger framed the meeting at the outset. He stated no decision would be made that day, that the commissioners were simply gathering information to make a better decision on whether the half-finished $700,000 two-year long process should continue. In his words, the commissioners need to know if, given current market forces, the reassessment will give the county "a realistic snapshot in time" that is "in focus."

According to comments by Chief Assessor Bonnie Mahoney, the county is on track to complete all the work in a timely manner. If the process is allowed to continue, property owners will receive their new assessments in increments of three school districts each on March 1, May 1 and July 1. New values would take effect Jan. 1, 2010.

By the way, all property tax millage rates would have to be reset by the county, municipalities, and school districts to account for the new valuations. In the year following a reassessment, no taxing body may raise its millage rates by more than 5%.

Tim Barr of 21st Century Appraisals presented a wealth of information about the assessment, and answered several questions from the commissioners. Two members of the ad hoc panel appointed by Commissioners Barclay, Eichelberger and Rovegno in 2007 to study the assessment question - Harry Snyder & Don Paul Shearer - presented contradictory information on the state of the real estate market.

And, of course, I made some comments as a member of the public.

You may ask why bother. Why did I spend a morning of my vacation in a suit and tie bandying words in Carlisle?

Simply, LAT has lost more than $25,000 since 2005 in real estate assessment appeals. Because the common level ratio is now 0.77, property owners who appeal their property's assessed value will likely be able to pay taxes on 77% of the assessed value instead of 100%. That equals reduced tax paid by a few which must be made up by the many.

Cumberland County last assessed property values in 2004. At that time, the common level ratio (CLR) was reset to 1.00 signifying all properties were valued fairly and equally. Every month after an assessment the CLR shifts away from equilibrium. The further away from 1.00 your CLR shifts, the more inequitable property values are for the group.

According to Mr. Barr, Cumberland County is one of the most progressive counties in the Commonwealth with regard to property assessment. But when Commissioners Eichelberger and Barclay kept a campaign promise to derail the cyclical four year assessment schedule and to tie it instead to market forces - a moving target at best - the county went astray.

In the short term, it's time to restore equality to our property values. The county's assessment team should be allowed to finish its work.

Long term, assessments should be scheduled like a trip to the doctor. Nobody likes going, but its for your own good.

Let's take the medicine now, then heal the wrong done in 2007.

I call on the commissioners to finish the current assessment, and to then establish scheduled assessments from that point forward.