6 Introduction The Tri-County Region, as the seat of government for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and an historical inter-modal transportation region is a dynamic community having experienced significant population growth and economic success for many years. While prosperity and success are welcomed by government, civic, and business leaders there is a need to balance the region’s ability to continue maintaining economic progress with the quality of life, residential and commercial growth, and environmental preservation desired by the region’s residents.
Recognizing this, the Commissioners of the Tri-County Region charged the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission (TCRPC) with the duty of preparing and adopting a Regional Growth Management Plan (RGMP). The scope and complexity of regional development and transportation issues prohibit preparing a traditional comprehensive plan all at one time. The Regional Growth Management Plan is a foundation plan from which future county comprehensive plans, regional transportation plans and other plan updates should originate for maintaining regional land use and transportation planning consistency.
The Need for Regional Planning Regional planning addresses problems of economic, social and political transformations at geographical scales greater than a municipality or county, but smaller than a state. The region is connected and united by cultural identity, economic interests, geographic features, as well as common developmental and environmental concerns. Since the 1950’s, the need for regional planning has arisen from changing social and economic phenomena affecting local communities and regions throughout the United States. Such changes have been occurring in the Tri-County Region:
. Continued growth and redistribution of population and urbanization . Changes in agriculture and industrial productivity . Intensive use of natural resources . Development of private water supplies and sewerage disposal systems . Development of extensive electric power and communication networks . Development of limited access highways for mass automotive transportation use . Increasing use and access to bus and other public transit alternatives . Changes in income and leisure time
In particular, population growth, housing development, and other social and economic trends of the Nation and Commonwealth are subjecting the Tri-County Region and its communities to internal migration and travel patterns never experienced before. Similarly, the resulting growth is creating a single, large, mixed rural and urban complex stretching from Carlisle to Hershey to Palmyra. Dispersed development and diffusion, in turn, are creating complex developmental problems, inefficient accessibility to public transit and other community services, careless depletion of valuable, irreplaceable agricultural and natural resources, and many other environmental problems.
Other problems and issues facing the Tri-County Region, which require a regional planning effort, relate to the population size, composition, distribution, urban development, and overall economic success which occurred over the past thirty years. As discovered in the Regional Planning Roundtable, local outreach meetings, and in other forums, these problems include:
. Urban drainage and flooding . Non-point source water pollution and air pollution . Increasing demands for park and other outdoor recreation opportunities and facilities . Deteriorating and/or unavailability of sewerage and water facilities . Increased traffic congestion . Limited availability of affordable housing . Solid waste management Introduction 7 . Rapidly changing land uses and development . Too many authorities causing overlap in services and confusion . Municipal officials thinking at a local level and not regionally
These problems are truly regional in scope and, by definition, transcend any county, township or borough boundary line. Resources needed to solve these issues exceed the fiscal capabilities of any local municipal unit of government in the Region. Therefore, problems of regional scope can be resolved only within the context of a continuing, cooperative, comprehensive regional Figure 1: Planning Area for the planning effort. Regional Planning Commission of Greater Harrisburg 1956 The Tri-County Regional Planning Commission (TCRPC) The idea of regional planning is not new to the Capital Region. The evolution of regional planning began in 1956 with the formation of the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Harrisburg.
The Regional Planning Commission of Greater Harrisburg expanded its planning area and scope in 1965 to include all the communities in Cumberland and Dauphin Counties. A primary reason for this realignment was to meet the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) requirements of the Federal Highway Administration for consideration of highway transportation related funds.
In 1966, Perry County was added to create the three county composition present today. Along with a name change to the TCRPC, a total of 104 municipalities and the three member counties became part of the regional planning program. Today, there are 103 member municipalities after a merging of two municipalities in Cumberland County.
TCRPC Organization The composition of the TCRPC is structured in a manner to ensure equitable representation from each local government through defined subsections within the region. To form the thirty-one-member board, the region is divided into ten Plan Development Sections comprising of three groups of townships and boroughs in
Figure 2: Plan Development Sections
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Municipal Boundaries Plan Development Sections 8 Introduction each of the member counties and the City of Harrisburg. Twelve representatives are current members of the respective county planning commissions. Three members are appointed at large to represent societal interests of the Region. A representative from each respective County Board of Commissioners also has a seat on the TCRPC board. Full commission meetings are held quarterly.
Executive Committee TCRPC’s Executive Committee monitors day-to-day activities of the Commission. This committee is responsible for decisions between meetings of the full commission membership. The Executive Committee is comprised of TCRPC’s four elected officers and the Commissioner, or designated alternate, of each of the three County Boards of Commissioners. The Executive Committee is also responsible for monitoring the activities of TCRPC staff through the Executive and Associate Executive Director.
TCRPC’S Mission From its inception, the purpose and mission of TCRPC has remained generally the same. Early documents produced by TCRPC, the Articles of Agreement among the supporting counties, and TCRPC Bylaws summarize the Commission’s mission and formal responsibilities. With respect to overall regional planning, the following briefly summarizes TCRPC roles and services:
. Advisory Role . Master Plan . Intergovernmental Cooperation . Policy . Land Use . Transportation . Public Services . Plan Implementation . Monitor and Revise
Regional Planning, envisioned by TCRPC, is not a substitute for, but a supplement to, local, county, state and federal planning activities. Since its inception, and through the course of its history, TCRPC’s objective has been to assist the various levels and units of government in the region individually to find cooperative solutions to area wide problems that cannot be properly resolved within the framework of a single municipality or county.
Objectives of the Regional Growth Management Plan The primary objective of TCRPC’s Growth Management Plan is to update and coordinate revised physical growth policies to the year 2035 in conjunction with the Regional Transportation Plan.
Other secondary objectives include:
. Preparing and maintaining a coordinated and uniform data collection and analysis process that may provide, on a continuous basis, summary data on population, land use, natural resources, public services and utilities of the Region . Promoting cooperation among regional, county and local planning activities . Promoting a better understanding by public officials, planners, engineers, surveyors, and property owners, of the interrelationships between land use and transportation, public utilities, services and factors influencing physical growth and development within the Region . Establishing an increased awareness of the effects individual local community plans have on the development of surrounding communities . Maintaining data vital to forecasting and recommendations made regarding future transportation improvements, economic activity, population densities and distribution, and land development Introduction 9 . Reinvigorating formal and informal mechanisms for continuous public participation and public involvement within TCRPC’s planning program.
Regional Growth Management Plan Process Every planning project and process must embrace a formal structure to ensure that it is carried out in a logical and consistent manner. The planning process typically involves several important steps including:
. Plan Outine and Study Design . Inventory . Analysis and Forecasts . Formulation of Objectives and Standards . Plan Design . Plan Evaluation . Plan Refinement and Adoption
Public involvement initiatives and plan implementation activities are generally initiated and considered throughout the planning process. Vigorous public involvement during the planning process assists in forming public and/or constituent “ownership” of the plan and its policies so that realization of the plans may be fostered.
Public Participation Process Throughout the plan process, public participation has played a major role in shaping the plan. Numerous county outreach meetings were conducted in the each of the 12 Plan Development Sections. In conjunction with the update of the 2035 Regional Transportation Plan the meetings gave the public an opportunity to see the planning process and make comments. Although the RGMP is a regional plan, the comments and suggestions made by local stakeholders make the plan more accessible after adoption. County level comments have been included throughout the process through the participation in the Steering Committee.
In addition to the public meetings throughout the Region, a Regional Planning Roundtable was held to discuss some issues, concerns and strategies that surround regional planning. Approximately 50 local stakeholders were in attendance to hear about the planning process and discuss how Regional planning can be implemented throughout the Tri-County. The results of that roundtable have been incorporated into the plan, specifically in the Implementation.
Public participation is a fundamental aspect of any planning process and was instrumental in making this plan a useable document at the local level. While the planning process defines specific topics to be discussed and defined, the public participation adds more local ideas that will ensure the plans accessibility on the county and local levels.
Regional Growth Management Plan TCRPC views the process of planning for physical development in the region as dynamic in nature, alternating between larger area wide planning efforts and more detailed county, municipal and project planning. Within this conceptual framework, TCRPC has established an overall 2035 Regional Land Use Plan design coordinated with the Regional Transportation Plan. Implementation of the plan’s recommendations through county and local land use planning will be the final step in the RGMP process.
Periodic review and amendment of the plan foundation is essential. The growth management strategy and land use plan are especially important given that it is the planning element upon which all other plans are to be based. Over time, there is a need for a review and reevaluation of plan policies in light of the changes occurring in the Region. The RGMP must remain a dynamic plan as our region continues to grow and change.