See, now, this type of thing is enough to turn me into a cynic.

Officials in East Hempfield Township, who frankly have enough to worry about within their own borders, are getting all bent out of shape over the possible construction of a shopping center in neighboring Manheim Township. Well, I suppose they have to get bent out of shape, in that township residents of the Barrcrest neighborood and those along Farmingdale Road, who would indeed be affected by the proposed “Crossings at Conestoga Creek” shopping center on the Diesley farm, across from Long’s Park, are themselves all bent out of shape. Right now, these folks have a nice quiet farm buffering their neighborhoods. That could soon change, and they don’t like it one bit.

And so we’re hearing the usual complaints, traffic chief among them. In that we’ve not seen specific drawings for the Crossings, it’s unclear how much, if any, of that traffic will empty onto Farmingdale Road or other roads in East Hempfield.

But when you come right down to it, traffic isn’t really what this is about, anyway.

What this is about is people who like living next to a farm and want to continue living next to a farm. They simply do not want it developed, and if it is to be developed, they want it to be developed in the manner, the pattern of their own neighborhoods.

As Manheim Township officials are fond of pointing out, however, that isn’t going to happen. In fact, the site is zoned industrial — as in, should some outfit want to come in and build a trucking terminal there, they could, under the current zoning.

I wonder if the people who oppose the Crossings would oppose that, too?

They’d have to, wouldn’t they? Because if thousands of cars are going to bring Harrisburg Pike and other roads in the region to a standstill, wouldn’t hundreds of tractor trailers do the same, or worse?

None of this is to stick up for this specific shopping center, or to denigrate this specific neighborhood. But there’s a troubling pattern at work here, which is to say if there’s any site in Lancaster County that should be developed, it’s the Deisley farm. If Lancaster County is going to preserve its rural areas, then developable land in and around the urban core, like this farm, is going to have to go the way of the dinosaur.

But people don’t want that. We say we do, to the extent that we pay lip service to “smart growth.” But while talk about preserving rural areas of the county by channeling development into already-developed areas, when the rubber hits the road and someone proffers an idea for sites like the Diesley farm, we balk.

Be it this project or another, the Deisley farm is going to be developed. The land is simply too valuable, too close to existing development along a corridor that is absolutely booming. It is zoned industrial. Please, let’s stop pretending it’s some irreplacable agricultural resource. Please let’s stop thinking that these farms that stick out like sore thumbs — and the one on Fruitville Pike across from Red Rose Commons would be another — are the type of farms we should be “preserving.” Please let’s stop supporting “smart growth” in theory, but rejecting it in reality.

Because that’s exactly how development gets pushed out to the hinterlands, where there are fewer people to raise a stink. Neighbors in East Hempfield Township may ultimately beat back this specific proposal.

But at what cost, ultimately, to the county itself?