A Skippack Township meeting was held on February 29, 2000 to discuss the future of the township. The Skippack Board of Supervisors had sent an invitation to every household in the township to contribute to the development of a Comprehensive Plan for the township. I (Matthew) attended the February 29, 2000 meeting both as a Skippack citizen and as a member of the Friends of Evansburg State Park (FOESP). The views herein are my own; the views herein are not intended to (and most likely do not) represent the views of the Skippack community or the Friends of Evansburg State Park as a whole or as individuals.

The newspapers reported 200 to 250 people in attendance at the crowded firehouse hall, but I would have estimated the crowd at closer to 500 people. In any case it was a spectacular turnout for this still-small town, indicating a heartening degree of concern among the citizens for the quality of life in the township.

The meeting was scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM but was delayed about 15 minutes while more chairs were set up to accommodate the overflow crowd. The Supervisors sat at the front table along with the Township Engineer, a Traffic consultant, the Township Solicitor (Mr. Keenan), a Township Planner, and the Township Manager. After some introductory remarks, Mr. Keenan indicated that the current priorities of the new Board of Supervisors are:

1. Construction of a new Township Building, as the old one is too crowded and dated
2. Improvement of the local park system- recognizing the growth of the township, they want to turn the parklands into an effective community resource; and
3. Development of a new Comprehensive Plan, which will provide a guide for planning. Subdivision, zoning and infrastructure ordinances will be used as the tools to implement the plan.

This meeting was identified as the kick-off of the process, and was intended to be the first of many promised meetings. The format of the meeting was designed to get the participation of the attendees in developing the focus of the Plan. The attendees were invited to share, in turn, what they like and dislike about the Township. I am pleased to say that the State Park was high on the list of township features appreciated by the townspeople. The supervisors went around the room letting individuals add to the list of Likes and Dislikes.

I will share the list of "Likes" cited by individual attendees here, in close to its entirety, in the order they were presented (basically moving through people from the front to the back of the room). (This was not the order of importance):

1. The town center: the quaint village of local shops, restaurants, and post office, with its small-town pharmacy and other essentials
2. The State Park with its recreational opportunities and natural beauty
3. The open space- farmland and forest (this brought the first large round of applause- hinting at the priority on everybody’s mind of curbing development)
4. The volunteer Fire Department- everybody appreciates these heroes of our community who serve so bravely and unselfishly to help others
5. The safety and security felt by many with respect to freedom from crime and other threats
6. The State Police headquartered in Skippack
7. The peace, solitude, and nighttime darkness in the area
8. The historic qualities- the remaining old buildings and streets and cemeteries and the role of the township and its citizens in the local and national history
9. Building planning ordinances- (I missed some of what this speaker was saying)
10. The fact that there is no supermarket (this was a pointed jab at the Gambone Development Co. plans for the Mele tract, where a mega-development is planned with a supermarket and 350 new residences; this is pretty universally unwanted by the people in the township. Clippings below from a promo brochure by Joe Gambone Jr., of Continental Realty Co.)
    
11. The absence of national franchise stores (like McDonald’s and CVS and Wawa and the like)
12. The wildlife- a citizen extolled the virtues of the many beautiful wild animals in the area large and small, and decried all the little animals killed by speeding motorists- she was heckled mildly by someone shouting "Thank God for the hunters!"- the first slight show of dissonance among the audience.
13. The new Skippack Elementary School.
14. The way Skippack is the kind of place where you can "take a leak off your back porch".

Things that people said they didn’t like:

1. Speeding, and the absence of speed bumps in certain residential areas.
2. The "No Turn on Red" signs.
3. The rapid development (this got more applause)
4. The lack of handicapped-accessibility, especially in new public and commercial construction
5. The lack of a building moratorium
6. The lights on at the school at night
7. The Heckler Road/113 intersection

Things people would want to add to the Township:

1. Reconstructed bridges across Skippack Creek. (Soon after this, I stood up and noted to the attendees that although clearly many people want reconstruction of the bridges, there should be some sensitivity to the disruption of the State Park that these bridges may cause.)
2. More Open Space protection
3. Minimum 1-acre zoning
4. Skippack Post Office delivery
5. A Community Center usable by all
6. Elimination of either the 1% tax or the per capita assessment, as we are getting double-taxed
7. Walkways and streetlights

At this point it became clear to me that while there is great concensus among the townspeople that they want to slow down or stop development, there was a bit of schizophrenia among the people in their vision of Skippack. It seemed that the town is torn between wanting to be Suburbia and wanting to be Rural. The Rural side appreciates and wants to protect the freedom, wildlife, history, and peace and wants everyone to slow down their cars, turn off their lights, and be quiet. The Suburbia side wants to speed up the commuting, and build streetlights and sidewalks. Hopefully the two sides can find some way of coexisting but there are no doubt going to be compromises. Both sides are united against development.

A question-answer session ensued, largely focusing on how much further development is in the works and what can be done to limit it. Some interesting facts came out:

1. The township has undergone incredibly rapid development in the last two years, being the fastest growing in the county. There was some fingerpointing at the old Board in this respect.
2. The Supervisors estimated that there are about 2200 residences in the township (this includes the new ones built and occupied in the last year). There are 800 to 1000 more already on the books that will probably be built in the next year or two. (A nearly 50% increase by 2002!!! And that’s AFTER all those ones they just built!)
3. After those houses are built there are only 200 more sewer connections available (each connection representing one residence). This could limit further development but developers are responding by planning their own sewage treatment plants.
4. A map was presented showing the new development locations. Two big ones going in along Perkiomen Creek Road; one Salamone development next to Sorghums’ Tree Farm; Squirrel Hill; and the Mele property were the largest ones. The map is available for all to view at the Township Building at any time.

Closing words were made by the leaders at the front of the room basically making it clear that this new Board shared the priorities of the township against rapid development. Some examples were provided of how they were fighting as best they can within legal limits to stem development: throwing out neighborhood lotting ordinances, which would have allowed high density development; and finding ways to get money from developers to improve the infrastructure that their developments adversely impact. The Comprehensive Plan will be the foundation to demonstrate in anticipated court battles with developers that there is already a fair share of housing for various economic classes. The meeting ended promptly at 9:00 PM.

The meeting was very well-managed to help develop concensus in a positive way, and to get the townspeople involved. It was a great start for the process and will help allow all the voices of the township to be heard, and increase consideration for one another’s views. It also helped the townspeople to develop an appreciation of the daunting task of the Board in fighting the ruination of Skippack by the viral development that has been occurring of late. While there still are some minor disagreements on some of the details in the priorities of the people which will require some further discussion, it is clear that in general the people are ready and more than willing to unite with the new Board in their fight against development.

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