Teh funny. Jeff Hawkes gets hold of an inadvertent e-mail sent by an East Hempfield supervisor in which said supervisor trashes some off his colleagues.
These things happen. I’m sure that in virtually every municipality across the country, this sort of catfighting goes on, and it’s indicative of nothing more than a clash of personalities.
What interests me […]

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So I see where the Crossings has been challenged in court, by the attorney who represents two East Hempfield citizens opposed to the project.
They may be able to establish that two Manheim Township commissioners were “biased” in favor of the project, and the letter in question - from the two commissioners to U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, […]

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Wow.
Perusing the thread over Jeff Hawkes’ piece on East Hempfield yesterday, I come across this comment:

Okay, so many of us agree that we don’t want the county overrun with development. Much of the US (at least the entire East) is feeling the same way.
So how are we going to slow or stop population growth? … […]

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With apologies to Atrios, because this is his schtick, we take a look at a very good Jeff Hawkes column today on East Hempfield Township’s growing pains, and the degree to which at least one supervisor thinks no - the township should not have to accept its “fair share” of the county’s growth over the […]

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Matt Y. makes some good points here, but misses the big one:

Here’s a satellite photo of a swathe of Virginia near Tyson’s Corner. You’ll note that the housing north of the highway is actually very close to all this non-housing stuff south of the highway. But if you live north of the highway you can’t […]

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Adding, to the lengthy rant below, that the biggest risk being taken with the development of the Crossings might be by High itself. Just finished this NYT piece in which it details how retailers right and left are turning to bankruptcy; companies still OK are scaling back expansion plans, as we saw with the Home […]

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So I saw the headline in this morning’s Intell and figured the boards would be in full-throated howl about this. Not quite the case yet, but getting there.
And, with the type of howl that might have been expected. How could Manheim Township do this, think of the traffic, etc. Many valid concerns, though this is […]

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I sort of feel bad for Pat Burns, who wrote this story on the dramatic drop in residential building for today’s Intell. Because while it’s a fine story - a relevant story - any time you do a story like this you’re forced to listen to the eternally sunny rhetoric of the homebuilding or homebuying industry. […]

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Now, in the thread for Jeff Hawkes’ piece last week on the East Hempfield TND thing, RogueGOP lays out a pretty comprehensive case that I think is pretty representative of those who opposed “Independence,” and who would most likely oppose a similar development anywhere in the county.
It’s a fairly well-thought-out position. It’s also wrong.
Check that […]

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Jeff Hawkes had a decent piece yesterday regarding Heidi Wheaton, her vote to deep-six the TND thing and how that vote ultimately - in her view, at least - was a victory for democracy. Which it probably was, in that it certainly reflected the view of what appeared to be a majority of her constituents. […]

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Sometimes the local-type issues pop up on the national radar screens. Ezra Klein and then Matt Yglesias tackle the idea of density - but, not being suburbanites, I don’t think they quite grasp how thing work out here in the leafy greens:
What’s particularly astounding about this stuff, in my view, is that fixing the problem […]

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One of the things that intrigued me about Charter Homes’ “Independence” TND thing was the fact that it was so large, so different - but Charter Homes obviously had a good expectation that there would be sufficient demand for that kind of community, that kind of “lifestyle.”
Curious, then, to see this piece (dunno if you’ll be […]

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I was going to simply post this in the OMG sex!!! thread, but it’s running long. So what else is new?
I’m curious to see that there are some folks who think Lancaster County used to be more moral than other places before all these outsiders moved in. The New Yorkers have brought their New York […]

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Co-worker who lives in the Leola area hands me a photocopied flier this morning, one apparently being circulated around the East Lampeter Township area regarding Keystone Custom Homes’ plan to build some 405 homes and some businesses on 49 acres on the south side of Route 23, between Hartman Station and Hornig roads. The flyer […]

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Been following the discussion relating to my bit in the paper over the weekend about the TND and Independence, and what actually happened earlier this month.
As noted in the article, those responsible for the planning and trying to take a long view of what happens in Lancaster County see it as a temporary setback. But […]

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NewsLanc occasionally tweaks me for the things I write (but praises also), so I like to return the favor every now and then. Today, in taking issue with Jeff Hawkes’ very good column on the TND thing, NewsLanc writes of its concerns about how “the excessively high amount of permitted commercial usage that could have led […]

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So East Hempfield scraps its TND ordinance, and I suppose there’s much rejoicing in the communities near the intersection of Harrisburg Pike and Centerville Road today.
Will be curious to see, though, what Charter Homes comes back with - if anything. That land is still a key parcel, ripe for development. But Charter at this point would […]

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So Citydweller called me out on one last week, in regards to the way Lancaster County preserves farmland - and my opposition to it.

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Nice piece this morning by Jeff Hawkes in the Intell on the TND thing in East Hempfield. It really is about taking the long view - and I understand how people who live across the street might have a hard time doing that.
But again, those who oppose this thing seem to think the argument is […]

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I’ve been to more than a few of these “smart growth” events staged by the county. Always, I like the concepts presented. Always, I think the same thing:
The people of Lancaster County aren’t going to go for this.

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