By Cliff Lewis
Today the County Commissioners approved a $75,000 State grant to fund a “Transit Revitalization Investment District (TRID) Study.” The study is a prerequisite to instituting an official TRID in what is known as the Gateways Area surrounding the Amtrak station in Manheim Township and northwestern Lancaster City.
Lancaster County Planning Commission (LCPC) Executive Director James Cowhey explained to the Commissioners that the TRID, once established, would “work like tax-increment financing, where the appreciation in property values helps fund-borrowing for investment in the given area.” According to Cowhey, “This idea came when we were moving forward with improvements to the Amtrak station, which is, in fact, the center of the study area. The idea is to see how we can engender investment in that part of the city and Manheim Township.”
State law allows for the formation of TRIDs to stimulate community revitalization in proximity to sources of public transportation such as the Amtrak station. Cowhey told NewsLanc that “it’s a pretty broad piece of legislation. It basically allows those revenues to be used for things that support transit development…”
When asked by NewsLanc whether TRID funding might eventually be leveraged to support the proposed Lancaster Streetcar Project, Cowhey indicated that it could be a possibility, depending on what is recommended in the forthcoming study. However, Cowhey stressed that this would be an unlikely use of TRID funds, which are generally intended to improve neighborhood infrastructure around existing transit systems. According to Cowhey, more likely TRID pursuits would involve sidewalks, steetscapes, parking, and water and sewer systems.
According to the “TRID Study” RFP released yesterday, the establishment of a TRID is being pursued in accordance with the overall “Gateways Plan” for the area (click here to read the 2007 “Gateways Revitalization Strategy”). Both the City and Manheim Township will match the State funds with $25,000, bringing the total cost of the study to $100,000. The County is responsible simply to “coordinate” the allocation of grant funding.
