The Gettysburg Planning Commission reviewed updated plans for the Gettysburg Welcome Center and considered whether to adopt guidelines for public comments during their July 2025 meeting.
The Commission unanimously approved the updated land use plans for the welcome center, located at 340 Baltimore Street.
The plan was previously conditionally approved on May 20, 2024, according to the meeting packet. In the process, the developer discovered that they needed to modify the rear of the structure, so they presented updated plans Monday night. These changes did not require any variances or waivers. Planning staff had recommended that the changes be approved.
Commission member Martin Jolin complimented the new plans for landscaping and outdoor seating in the rear of the Welcome Center. “Instead of just looking at the landscape, you get to sit down in there and be in an ‘outdoor room,’” he said.
Later, the Planning Commission discussed whether they should create a set of written rules for public comment periods during their meetings.
They directed borough staff to draft a potential set of bylaws, based on the guidelines used by Borough Council. They will discuss this further and decide whether or not to adopt a resolution at a future meeting.
The rules for public comment used during Borough Council meetings are available under Resolution 12808-3, which is posted on the borough’s website.
Currently, the Planning Commission does not have any written rules of its own for how to conduct public comment, but it generally follows “Robert’s Rules of Order,” a manual for parliamentary procedure. Its guidelines are widely considered best practice for conducting a public meeting in the United States. They give a chairperson the authority to direct a meeting to ensure order.
The Commission is also held to state and national laws like the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act, which requires agencies to take their actions in public meetings rather than behind closed doors.
The two main topics of discussion on Monday were: whether to place a time limit on comments, and whether to formally establish rules for respectful conduct.
Chair Charles Strauss said that at a recent meeting, one public comment had strayed into a personal attack on a Borough staff member.
Regarding the length of comments, Strauss said he had great respect for predecessor Rad Schultz, who allowed a more free-flowing discussion between Commission members and the public.
Long-serving Borough Engineer Chad Clabaugh agreed that the Planning Commission’s task of reviewing plans usually requires members to have a back-and-forth discussion with engineers and other professionals presenting those plans.
Clabaugh said he had seen other municipal bodies set public comment time limits for very contentious meetings with high volumes of participation, but that was very rare for the Gettysburg Planning Commission.
“I’ve had meetings where they would cut it off at 10:30 at night, and we went through four meetings, starting at 7:00 and cutting off at 10:30, of just public comments, until they got through all the public comments. That’s the most extreme condition I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Borough Solicitor Adam Boyer reminded the Commission that they are sometimes required to take action on a plan at a specific meeting to meet time limits established in the Borough planning code. These limits would not allow the commission to table a discussion until a future meeting to allow more time for public comment.
Vice Chair Nick Redman said he liked the idea that the Planning Commission was lenient over time limits for commenters. He was supportive of establishing rules against personal attacks or slanderous comments, and also thought it would be useful to clarify how meeting attendees can join the discussion of an agenda item.
Planning Director John Whitmore was in favor of establishing a resolution. He said, “In the event we were to have a public comment section go completely off the rails —- which in today’ s society is not unusual, especially when people are acting toward a camera as opposed to toward a meeting — we can see a situation where having a policy in writing would go a long way.”
Sue Cipperly, a resident who has a background in professional planning and contributed heavily to the prior rezoning discussions, felt that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and did not think those outside the body should influence the Planning Commission to restructure their meeting style.
She also said she had received conflicting guidance in the past about whether staff would publicly project images she provided to accompany her comments. “Maps and drawings can be especially informative on planning topics,” she said.
There was no new discussion of the Gettysburg Station project. The Planning Commission must vote or seek an extension by their September meeting.
Planning Commission members have been asked to attend the upcoming Borough Council meeting in August as they discuss the zoning rewrite project.
The next Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 18 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.