Township adopts Rt. 222 visioning study.

The township recently adopted by unanimous vote a planning/visioning document for the Rt. 222 corridor.  A week later Upper Macungie adopted the same document.

Overview:
5 miles in length, the Hamilton Boulevard Study Area extends from US 222 at the western gateway to I-78 at the eastern gateway. The study was the result of a two year process initiated by Lower & Upper Macungie Townships, with the support of PennDOT, to coordinate transportation and land use policies across municipalities lines.

Before I get further into why I think the corridor study is so important, let me first outline what I believe is the fundamental problem it addresses.

The Problem:
We have a tax base resiliency issue in Lower Macungie. This is based on a reality where certain land use patterns we are heavily invested in for better or worse generate relatively low returns vs. the high impact long term infrastructure liabilities we must assume + increased demands for service. This represents a fundamental imbalance. For too long land use choices have represented transactions of decline. But much like a ponzi scheme the problems have been masked by one time windfalls associated with the growth.

All this compounded by the fact Harrisburg mandates a rigidly inflexible taxing system leaving us no way to right size levies on land uses based on their measurable impacts.

As we approach buildout and one time windfalls associated with greenfield growth slow to a trickle our imbalance will become pronounced. Inevitably, developer money moves on to the next cornfield. Federal and state finances will likely worsen and access to grants will be increasingly limited. Lower Macungie’s tax base will be insufficient to pay for our liabilities.

Gerald Cross – PA municipal league. Quiet boom & bust of PA townships

Reality is we have..

  1. An inflexible taxing system mandated by the state.
  2. The need to provide a minimum level of service, not necessarily mandated but certainly reasonably expected by residents.
  3. Declining windfalls and township reserves.
  4. A development pattern that leaves a tax base financially insufficient to cover municipal liabilities.

One solution relates to Hamilton Blvd. The townships “Bread basket”.

There are a number of solutions I will be proposing and outlining over the next few months. All based on addressing long term financial resiliency. The one that specifically relates to the Boulevard deals with refocusing on financially positive land development patterns and away from low value sprawl. At it’s core it’s a structural framework that the vision outlines.

Hamilton Boulevard should be looked at as the townships “bread basket”.

Why? Because significant public investments have already been made over the years. The adjacent location next to the bypass (even with all it’s design warts) make it THE prime location for higher value development to offset the low value development west of Rt. 100.

The study lays the groundwork conceptually. Of the dozens of recommendations made, there are some folks who will inevitably focus on high cost big ticket items in the plan. This is unfortunate. Those items get the headlines but they shouldn’t be the focus at all. They are in the grand scheme a small part of the vision. They may be tackled someday. Or they might not be. Today, we focus on the low cost / high return incremental strategies outlined. That is where the beauty of the plan is. The most important reforms relate to policy and will cost the township nothing. Other improvements will cost the township very little.

For example, we need to remove regulatory barriers in order to attract higher quality development that is more community friendly. There in the long term more valuable. This related to built form. Pictured below are some examples. The first example happens to be an old building, but as demonstrated in the following photos we can (and many developers are) building new construction like this! Many communities are doing just that. The problem is that a developer can’t build a building like this. Because of arbitrary regulations it’s actually illegal without seeking costly variances.

That is a shame since the traditional development patterns still today offer some of the highest possible municipal returns.

Ingredients for a high value commercial corridor? Quality High Value Safe Financially productive and resilient.

Ingredients for a high value commercial corridor?
Quality
High Value
Safe
Financially productive and resilient.

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Friendly, high value. Safe. This is a Main Street arterial. The volumes are comparable to Hamilton Boulevard. Yet, the streetscape has a friendly tone. More like “Main Street” then “Macarther Rd.”

Screen Shot 2015-09-09 at 5.09.07 PM

Not just little shops and restaurants. This is a bank with a drive through.

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And here is a community friendly Rite Aid on a tree lined street very similar to Hamilton Blvd. Today, our zoning regulations actually prohibit this type of building.

Warehouses are the extreme other end of the spectrum. Immense buildings that gobble of up massive acreage of prime farmland. These buildings return very little to the community and in terms of new liabilities created are essentially fiscal parasites on a townships tax base. 

Our township has an imbalance of this sort of land use. Low Value. Low jobs/acre Low revenue/acre Extreme high liability

Our township has an imbalance of this sort of land use.
Low Value.
Low jobs/acre
Low revenue/acre
Extreme high liability

Hamilton Blvd vision study.

1. Fostering a distinct sense of place. We must draw a line. The Boulevard will not be another “Macarther Rd.” We must demand and expect high quality high value development.2. Promote voluntary inter-muncipal cooperation. The future of the Boulevard depends on Lower Macungie’s ability to work in partnership with Penndot, Upper Macungie and the regional advisory planning body.

3. Identify and prioritize road improvements. Further expanding on existing investments.

4. Create a multi-modal place. This must over time develop into our our “Main Street”. This cannot devolve into the low value strip corridor trap.

  1. We must maintain balance. To cash in on our investments, we also must De-STROAD-ify the Boulevard & Bypass.

5. Encourage high value smart growth land use patterns with financial high returns as a counterbalance to low value development west of Rt. 100. Discourage low value and low return patterns.