Phoenixville Regional Plan Withdrawal
East Vincent Township was voted out of the regional plan last evening(12/2009).
Many
important points were raised and questions asked during a two hour
standing room only meeting.
There is an audio of the meeting posted on the East Vincent website.
Why Should East Vincent Remain in the Regional Plan?
1. Prevents Legal Challenges-
In 2000 the state passed a law allowing townships to group together
to form regional groups. This was in response to a large number
of legal challenges initiated by developers called Curative
Amendments. If a township ordinance does not state a specific
use, a developer can legally challenge the township. If won,
this costly, lengthy court battle means the developer can then
build anything without zoning constraints from the township.
This benefit of the regional plan allows us to share uses across
township boundaries. We do not have to have every single use
in every single township. We can avoid the distasteful uses
such as adult bookstores, and heavy industrial uses such as
power plants and quarry operations, and we do not have to have
huge commercial operations such as a WalMart in our township.
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East Vincent is viewed as one of the agricultural and rural townships
in the region with an abundance of natural resources and watersheds.
Being a member of the regional plan now allows us to enhance
and expand these land uses in our township. We are now in the
position to downzone areas we wish to protect.
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When a township is part of a regional planning effort, it increases
its ability to attract outside sources of funding to enhance
and improve the township.
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As a regional body that meets on a regular basis, local relationships
among governments are strengthened, more issues are addressed
together and more ideas and information and ways to solve problems
are shared and exchanged. It is a natural result of having
regular ongoing dialogue with our neighbors. We begin to think
on a larger and more complex level and we avoid excessive localism
when we can work together to solve problems and create new
visions and ways of governing.
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The details in planning and zoning are critical to success.
Good protective zoning keeps developers at bay. Good
regional planning protects this zoning.