Published: November 11, 2008 10:37 pm      

Municipalities eyeing long-term future

EBENSBURG — On the verge of adopting long-term plans for the future growth of their communities, three central Cambria County municipalities are setting a local precedent by working together.

They join a growing number of Pennsylvania communities that are planning across municipal boundaries.

Ebensburg Borough and Jackson and Cambria townships have formed the first inter-governmental coalition in Cambria County.

Now, they have drafted the county’s first multimunicipal comprehensive plan and are displaying it to the public this month before they vote on what will become the basis for future planning and zoning decisions.

With the communities working together, state funding also is a more likely possibility, officials say.

“Every municipality is required to have a comprehensive plan,” Ebensburg Manager Dan Penatzer said. “It’s not only a requirement, but it’s also a good business practice.

“Rather than dealing with snapshots, the plan is an opportunity to look forward over a five- or 10-year period and see what you want to have and how you can best afford it. What’s unique about this is that there are three municipalities who realize that every action we take impacts our neighbors. This plan will allow us to do our planning together, considering how it affects each other.”

While rare in Cambria County, such multimunicipal plans are increasing statewide, according to a group known as 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania.

From 2000 to 2007, 175 multimunicipal planning efforts were undertaken, representing 27 percent of all municipalities in Pennsylvania and nearly a quarter of the population, the group says.

In Cambria County, Portage area municipalities are now also moving forward on a comprehensive planning effort.

“Here’s why that matters: Most of us cross municipal boundaries every day,” said Judy Schwank, the group’s president. “We live, work, shop and send our kids to school in different municipalities. It only makes sense that local governments should join together and think regionally when planning the future of their communities.”

The central Cambria plan, developed with the assistance of Richard C. Sutter & Associates Inc., a Hollidaysburg firm, is on display at the offices of each of the three coalition members.

The effort “provides a legally defensible basis for land-use planning, land use controls, and regulations recommended by or evolving from the planning effort,” says the introduction to the plan.

It also provides specific recommendations concerning land use, housing, transportation, community facilities and services, and public utilities,” the report says.

“Pennsylvania’s experience with multimunicipal planning shows there’s a strong appetite for inter-governmental cooperation,” Schwank said.

“If you make it easier for local governments to work together and give them some incentives to do so, they will cooperate,” she said.

“And when communities work together, the benefits can be quite extraordinary and often extend far beyond municipal borders.”