More than 100 Lancaster Township residents gathered Monday night at the Maple Grove Community Building to consider and discuss an “emergency services facility” proposed for future development behind Planet Fitness on Millersville Pike. After presentations from the Assistant Fire Chief Steve Roy and Township Manager Bill Laudien, residents weighed in with their concerns about the proposal. The two-hour meeting was ultimately called to an abrupt conclusion by Laudien, citing disorder from certain members of the audience.
“I respectfully asked that people respect the process. There are people here who have not had an opportunity to talk, and we have a woman from California grandstanding in the audience,” Laudien said, before drawing the discussion to a close. The woman in question was Kate Lutz, a California resident whose parents reside in Lancaster Township. Lutz came to the meeting in affiliation with the Friends of Lancaster Township Community Park, a group recently formed in opposition to the proposed land use.
As resident and Public Safety Committee Chair Michael Pickard was speaking from the audience, Lutz had stood and insisted that she be allowed to respond to a rhetorical question posed by Pickard. Despite Laudien’s persistent refusal, Lutz continued and completed her comments, which brought Laudien to close the meeting.
The meeting began with a presentation from Assistant Fire Chief Steve Roy. He explained how, as government mandates and modern hazards have steadily increased, it has grown increasingly difficult for the volunteer fire department to safely and effectively maintain operations from its two existing facilities (South Station on Fairview Avenue; North Station on Maple Avenue). According to Roy, both facilities suffer from tight residential surroundings, and are unable to expand their capacity for future needs.
Roy listed nearly a dozen locations within the Lancaster Township that had been considered for development, but maintained that all of these were either unavailable or positioned too far from the center of the township.
Following Roy, Laudien stressed to the audience that the next step in the process is merely to obtain approval from the School District of Lancaster to amend the lease agreement for the parcel of land currently used by the Township as part of the Lancaster Township Community Park. Laudien also noted that the Township’s fire department is supported by Township taxpayer dollars; therefore, Laudien asserted, any savings from heightened efficiency would be a direct benefit to citizens.
During the public comment period, a number of residents voiced their concern regarding development on any open parkland in the township.
One man asserted that, with a population of about 14,944, the township holds only 126.6 acres of parkland—with 34 of these acres owing to Penn Manor’s Comet Field, he man added. The Lancaster County Planning Commission, this resident noted, recommends 10 acres of parkland for each 1000 residents, which amounts to about 150 acres.
One woman said that her greatest concern had been that the plan would seek to raze parts of the wooded area at the east of the park. But having discovered that the plan would only develop part of the park’s far western edge, she offered her support for the project.
For other residents, this fact was not so reassuring. Since the proposed site location would displace ball fields used by the School District of Lancaster, some opponents feared the possibility of the District relocating those fields to currently wooded areas behind Wheatland Middle School. Laudien told NewsLanc that, although this had been viewed by the District as an option, the Township has since encouraged alternatives that would preserve the wooded space:
“Folks have indicated to us that they don’t want to lose that woodland, so we’ve said to the School District, try to put that field someplace else—between Wheatland and Buchannan or another location….,” Laudien said.
Some residents provided their own recommendations for the new facility’s location. Chief among these was the suggestion to develop a plot in the space immediately opposite the entrance to Manor Shopping Center. This particular area, residents noted, is rarely used for recreational purposes.
Regarding this suggestion, Laudien noted that earlier plans had called for using this very location. The School District, however, rejected all such land uses proposed for that area.
Following the heated, sharply concluded meeting, some critics felt as though their most important questions had not been sufficiently answered. Particularly, these residents said they would have liked to hear more explanation of why certain alternate locations were not available: “I don’t think Bill gave us a really clear view of what they looked at,” said Kim Lutz, sister of Kate, “These are the kind of questions that we feel are not being answered appropriately.”
It would have been nice if, instead of abruptly ending the meeting because of an unruly, rude, pushy questioner, the Township officials had ejected her from the meeting and continued with the rest of those who wanted information, not confrontation.
All I want is someone opposed to this plan to please give the township a alternate plan that is workable. Stop repeating the ideas that have already been tried.
Please lets move ahead now before we miss this opportunity.