SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — After 25 years with the township, Planner Gregg Adams will retire on June 30.
During those years, Adams helped develop two comprehensive plans and increase public education efforts around township planning after the controversial Ridge Farms was approved.
Township Director of Community Development David Manhardt honored Adams at his last Planning Commission meeting last week by reading out “conditions of retirement,” a spoof on conditions of approval for developments.
One of the "conditions" was that Adams must designate another staff member to fill the office candy jar, which he had done at noon every Tuesday.
“Should the designee not fulfill their duties, the applicant [Adams] agrees to deliver candy by appropriate means,” Mandhardt said.
Manhardt said Adams attended 963 board and commission meetings for the township during his career and filed about 98 billion bytes worth of data. He also never took a sick day.
Manhardt noted Adams’ time in the U.S. Army and his volunteer work in Hamburg, Berks County, where he lives.
“Thank you for your service to this country, local community and thank you for your 25 years of service to the community of South Whitehall Township,” Manhardt said.
Planning Commission members at the meeting also thanked Adams.
“You've been a rock that's kept planning together,” member Brian Hite said.
Adams also was honored at the township Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday with a Distinguished Service Award.
"You have always served the residents of South Whitehall with kindness and patience, for which we say thank you," Board President Diane Kelly said.
Adams’ career
Adams said he went to college unsure what he would do in his career.
“I liked geography. I like maps. I like understanding how things work,” Adams said.
Those interests led Adams to municipal planning.
His job primarily involved administering South Whitehall’s Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance, or SALDO. Those local laws regulate the creation of property lines and development of those properties.
“It's not flashy, it's not glamorous, and sometimes it's not even fun, but it's essential and it's got to be done.”Outgoing South Whitehall Planner Gregg Adams
Adams said he enjoyed his job for the most part, although he sometimes found some parts of it to be “tedious.”
“It's amazing how much of that is actually important and has to be done right,” Adams said. “It's not flashy, it's not glamorous, and sometimes it's not even fun, but it's essential and it's got to be done.”
Adams said one of his greatest accomplishments with the township was helping bring it into the digital age. He brought in a digital archive and a networked computer system.
The most interesting part of his career, he said, was going through the process of creating two comprehensive plans for the township.
The plans set out long- and short-term goals for housing, transportation, infrastructure, preservation, zoning and other aspects of a municipality.
The first comprehensive plan in which Adams was involved used a “top-down approach” for its creation, he said, following the directions of a steering committee made up of people who already were involved in the township.
The second plan, which the township completed last year, was created using a “bottom-up…very grassroots” approach.
“We didn't have a steering committee," Adams said. "We went out and simply got public opinion, and from that, we built the direction."
'A shock to the community'
One reason the comprehensive plan approach changed so much between the two plans was because of Ridge Farms, a development that will bring 780 housing units to the township, along with shops and outdoor eateries.
When the plan was introduced in 2017, it sparked outrage among residents, bringing hundreds of people to municipal meetings for the first time.
That controversy made people want to learn more about the township’s operations, and Adams said he understood why.
“It was the largest single subdivision that certainly we'd seen in several decades, if not ever,” Adams said. “That can be a shock to a community.”
The grassroots approach to the comprehensive plan meant Adams and other township staff had to educate people about planning and state laws, “so that they could make good, informed decisions,” he said.
“And I found that was a wonderful experience, because everybody knew a little, some people knew a lot, but everybody knew different stuff.”
Adams said he thinks many municipalities don’t have the time, resources or available staff for that kind of public education.
“People want their tax dollars to go as far as they possibly can," he said. "So, you know, sometimes public education is what gets cut first, or second or third."
Adams said after he’s gone, he hopes South Whitehall will keep going in the same direction it’s going, with more people getting involved and thinking about the township’s future.
“I don't see that a lot in some communities," Adams said. "And it is really neat to see that here."
Adams said that during his retirement, he plans to continue his volunteer work, hike, backpack, kayak and “get out and enjoy life as much as I can.”
