Board of Supervisors Agenda

MINUTES
Upper Saucon Township Board of Supervisors
Special Meeting
Monday, January 23, 2006 – 8:30 A.M.
Township Municipal Building

Members Present:
Stephen C. Wagner, Chairman
Miro A. Gutzmirtl, Vice Chairman
James H. White, Sr.
Joyce V. White

Staff Attending:
Sharyn E. Yeakel, Assistant Director of Community Development
Thomas Dinkelacker, Township Solicitor

CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Wagner called the meeting to order at 8:30 A.M. in the Public Meeting Room of the Upper Saucon Township Municipal Building, 5500 Camp Meeting Road, Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County, PA.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Chairman Wagner asked all in attendance to stand and recite the “Pledge of Allegiance”.

PUBLIC COMMENT
None

PLANNING CONSULTANT INTERVIEWS
Judith Stern Goldstein of Boucher & James
Ms. Goldstein currently serves as a planning consultant to Lower Saucon Township as well as several other municipalities and was formerly a student of noted environmental planner Ian McHarg. Ms. Goldstein emphasized and explained the concept of performance zoning, which she would recommend as central part of the Township’s new zoning ordinance. Board members engaged Ms. Goldstein in an extensive discussion of cluster zoning, as well as the difference between undeveloped land and preserved/conserved land. In response to Ms. Goldstein’s query about the anticipated time frame for completion of the new zoning ordinance and SALDO, Mr. Wagner indicated that timely completion was important to the Board, getting the ordinances right was critical.

Sara Pandl
Ms. Pandl, a landscape architect and planner and former member of the Upper Saucon Township Planning Commission, is currently serving as a planning consultant to Stroud and Williams Townships. She emphasized the Natural Lands Trust conservation zoning and subdivision planning methodology, for which she is certified by the NLT. Board members asked Ms. Pandl numerous questions about the never-enacted zoning ordinance previously drafted by Stackhouse Bensinger, as that work was undertaken while Ms. Pandl was on the Planning Commission. Ms. Pandl opined that the Stackhouse Bensinger zoning ordinance draft efforts were likely partially salvageable. She also recommended updating the Township’s Comprehensive Plan but indicated that the Plan itself was sound and still relevant. Board members also queried Ms. Pandl about available approaches to controlling growth.

Harry Roth & Dennis Gehringer
Formerly planning firm partners, Mr. Roth and Mr. Gehringer proposed an arrangement in which Mr. Roth would undertake the zoning ordinance rewrite and Mr. Gehringer would complete the new SALDO. Mr. Roth has extensive experience working with municipalities on zoning ordinances, comprehensive plans and open space plans and is currently working with Upper and Lower Saucon Townships on their joint Comprehensive Recreation and Open Space Plan. Mr. Gehringer has experience working with private landowners and developers as well as public agencies, which gives him the advantage of understanding the developer’s perspective. Both Mr. Roth and Mr. Gehringer emphasized that they pride themselves on practicality and their ability to meet deadlines, and suggested that they could get the ordinances written in several months if the Township could meet their schedules. Mr. Roth indicated his preference for starting from scratch with the zoning ordinance rewrite, rather than using the Stackhouse Bensinger or existing Township ordinance as a starting point.

George Spotts & Craig Kologie of Castle Valley Associates
Mr. Spotts, who has done work for Solebury Township in Bucks County and Bedminister Township – recently the subject of considerable development pressure – and Mr. Kologie, who is on the Lower Saucon Township Planning Commission, explained that they primarily do municipal planning work, and very little work for private clients. When the project was explained in greater detail to Mr. Spotts and Mr. Kologie by Board members and staff, Mr. Spotts indicated that although they would work with the Township, they would prefer to write the ordinances for review by the Township, rather than the team process envisioned by staff.

Charles Guttenplan & Geoff Grace of the Waetzman Planning Group
Mr. Guttenplan briefly outlined his extensive planning experience, which included working for Bucks County, numerous municipal and private clients, and collegiate level teaching experience. Mr. Grace has recently returned to the Waetzman Planning Group from Boucher and James, where he had worked with Judith Stern Goldstein on Lower Saucon Township’s recent zoning ordinance amendments, particularly those dealing with natural resource protection. Sample ordinance work provided by Mr. Guttenplan and Mr. Grace demonstrated that both were capable of doing nuts and bolts ordinance work as well as larger, comprehensive planning projects. Mr. Guttenplan indicated that Mr. Grace would likely be doing most of the ordinance writing under Mr. Guttenplan’s supervision but both would remain involved with the work for the Township.

COURTESY OF THE FLOOR
None

ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting.

The motion passed unanimously.

______________________________
Secretary