The Gettysburg Planning Commission met for nearly two and a half hours on February 18 to continue the comprehensive rezoning project.
In their discussions, the commission reached a consensus on including a portion of West Middle Street in the draft map’s neighborhood commercial zone rather than the residential R-2 section.
Borough staff will work to redraw the zoning map boundaries to meet zoning best practices.
Throughout the course of the meeting, the commission considered the differences between the two zoning districts, including their mission statements, and the types of uses allowed within them.
The Low Impact Neighborhood Commercial District (NC-1) has a purpose statement, which reads:
The purpose of the NC-1 District is to provide for certain areas of the Borough that contain a mix of higher density attached (two-family) and detached residential dwellings with interspersed neighborhood scaled businesses. Expansion of such businesses is to be limited to preserve the existing predominant residential character of these neighborhoods.
The Moderate Density Residential District (R-2) district is stated to:
The purpose of the R-2 District is to provide for the development of certain areas of the Borough into residential neighborhoods that contain a mix of attached (two-family) and detached residential dwellings and create walkable access to goods and services in the Downtown and other destination areas within the Borough.
Sue Cipperly, a resident of Gettysburg for 26 years, who has given feedback at multiple meetings, asked the commission to similarly include a portion of Carlisle Street in the neighborhood commercial zone because it already includes a mix of residential and small business properties. She proposed removing some commercial uses from the R2 zone, such as funeral homes and bed and breakfasts, to make it more exclusively residential.
Cipperly contributed an opinion piece to Gettysburg Connection, published February 17, in which she explains her position in more detail.
Charles Strauss, chair, agreed with Cipperly’s recommendation, but did not receive consensus from the other Commission members, and thus did not ask planning staff to make that change to the draft.
The board also heard comments prepared by a representative of Gettysburg College and a couple who own rental properties that they rent out to college students. They fear that the rezoning will be financially damaging to their family, as the zoning draft’s changed definitions would not allow multiple unrelated college students to reside together as a family unit.
Residents may still offer input on the rezoning process by emailing planning director John Whitmore at jwhitmore@gettysburgpa.gov, submitting a comment through the planning commission’s website, or providing public comment during Planning Commission meetings.
“In all cases, it has been our goal to hear maximum input. That doesn’t mean we agree with all that input, but we continue to try to maximize the amount of input that we receive,” Strauss said.
The most recent version of the draft under review was uploaded to the zoning code update website on February 14th.
The Planning Commission’s process will not be the final chance to revise the zoning ordinance. Once they vote on a draft, it will advance to the Gettysburg Borough Council, which may also make changes and hear public input.
The Planning Commission’s comments are step two of a three-step process for the rezoning overhaul. First, the draft was created by a committee over multiple months. The Planning Commission began its review of that draft in June 2024 and has made several recommendations and changes.
Video footage of the meeting is funded by private donors and can be viewed through Community Media of South Central PA.
The next Planning Commission meeting is set for Monday, March 17 at 7:00 p.m.
Catalina Righter, freelance reporter, lives in New Oxford. She previously wrote for the Carroll County Times and the Kent County News, covering crime, education, local government and arts. She works as a legal assistant.