Between now and the end of the year, the monthly meetings of the Gettysburg Planning Commission will be focused on a major overhaul of the borough’s complicated zoning map. The revisions will be completed with the help of the Pittsburg Construction and Engineering Company Michael Baker International.
“The current zoning, from 2008, is outdated,” said Director of Planning, Zoning, and Code Enforcement Carly Marshall. “There are a lot of newer uses that aren’t listed and people are requesting a lot of special exceptions.”
“So many things have been added over time that conflict or make it difficult to get through,” she said. “The new zoning will be a lot easier for the average user to understand and navigate.”
Marshall said the goal was to “reset people’s opinions away from the current zoning. Were completely redoing the zoning map – the new districts won’t mean the same things in terms of use.”
Marshall said a goal was to reduce the four current zoning overlays to two, leaving only the historic district and the floodplain map.
The borough presented a first look at the new map during Civics Day at the Adams County Farmers Market Civics Day this morning. “This is a very early draft,” said Marshall.
Marshall said the new map would be organized by neighborhood with a goal of making them look more consistent and have a more consistent feel. “Baltimore St was built at a different time than Carlisle Street. There are different setbacks and spaces between the buildings. You don’t want buildings built to the property line on Carlisle Street,” she said.
The Planning Commission, working with the borough council and staff, has already begun administrative work on the new plan. “Administrative things are guided by PA regulations,” said Marshall. “That’s what we’ve worked on so far.”
Marshall said Planning Commission meetings are open to the public and that input was appreciated. “The public will have access to maps that will give a reference point,” she said. “There will be a lot of specifics.”
Featured image caption: The borough presented a draft zoning map for public comment this morning at the Adams County Farmers Market.
Charles (Chuck) Stangor is Gettysburg Connection's Owner, Publisher, and Editor in Chief. I would like to hear from you. Please contact me at cstangor@gettysburgconnection.org.
Let’s hope the new approach will take serious consideration of natural resource capability – Gettysburg is at the top of the watershed (in the Potomac)and has limited water supply -They are already pumping groundwater into streams to meet the by-pass flows required by their state permit. History tells us to be mindful of oversubscription – it is not just as simple as buying water from York (who BTW is in the Susquehanna watershed and would create an “out of basin” transfer NOT condoned by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission)If the new zoning would increase the need for water, they must… Read more »