SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — South Whitehall Township is creating a plan to preserve its open space, historic buildings and farmland.
And Tuesday was the first opportunity for community members to give feedback on what its focus should be.
- South Whitehall Township is creating a preservation plan called 'South Whitehall Landscapes'
- Tuesday was the kickoff meeting for the plan's creation
- Residents identified areas of the township that they would like to preserve
The township held a kickoff meeting for "South Whitehall Landscapes," which will be the township’s guide to landscape preservation, including preserving open space, historic, agricultural and natural resources.
Township long-range planner Chris Strohler said the meetings are meant to ensure the plan reflects what community members want.
“This isn't our plan on this side of the table,” Strohler said, referring to township staff. “It's your plan.”
The township also recently launched a Landscapes Photo Survey as another way to get public feedback for the plan.
The survey asks questions about what residents want to preserve in the township and prompts participants to share pictures of their favorite places in South Whitehall.
The township will hold three more meetings in August about more specific topics: agricultural resources on Aug. 15, natural resources on Aug. 22 and historic resources on Aug. 29.
All the meetings will be 6-8 p.m. Tuesdays at the township meeting and online.
‘Lasting landscapes’
Open Space and Historic Preservation Consultant Jeffrey Marshall will be a consultant for the township in the plan’s creation. At the meeting, he gave a presentation about his work.
Marshall said that in his previous role at Heritage Conservancy, the organization used to focus on preserving individual structures and parcels of land.
“We ended up with what we used to call preservation measles — spots of preserved things all over the community and really no linkage, no connection,” Marshall said.
That’s how the organization came up with the idea of “lasting landscapes,” which are areas of a township with preserved historic structures, open space, agriculture and natural resources.
“Think of it as a mall. What are your anchor stores? Then you put little shops in and around our anchor stores.”Open Space and Historic Preservation Consultant Jeffrey Marshall
Marshall said the township first has to identify singular structures or parcels that people want to preserve, then think about what can be preserved around them.
“Think of it as a mall,” Marshall said. “What are your anchor stores? Then you put little shops in and around our anchor stores.”
Marshall said it's also critical to identify structures people find important so the township can potentially take steps to ensure they will be preserved.
“I'll bet you 95 percent of the things that will be pointed out have no permanent protection," Marshall said. "They are only there because of the grace of property owners through the years."
Resident feedback
About a dozen people attended the meeting.
Township Community Development Director David Manhardt asked them to look at specific sections of the township on a map and identify what they think is important to preserve.
Residents then submitted ideas to a word cloud, which was displayed on the screen.
Some residents started telling stories about what the township was like in the past, prompting the township Commissioners Chairwoman Diane Kelly to suggest collecting interviews with older township residents about what the township used to be like.
“It's an opportunity to speak to our elders, our parents, who can help connect us to the prior generation,” Kelly said.
Kelly also brought up the idea of placing plaques or signs in areas of the township with information about the history of the area.
Commissioner Jacob Roth suggested placing signs along the Jordan Creek Greenway, which he said is connected to many historic structures and places.
“You can almost tell the entire story of South Whitehall just on that path,” Roth said.
Manhardt said that because township staff need time to think through these ideas and do more research, the next meetings are not until August.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Manhardt said.
