Venango County 2004 Comprehensive Development Plan Existing Conditions (Vol.

III)

Pleasantville Cherrytree Oil Creek

Allegheny

Jackson Cooperstown Canal Utica Frenchcreek Polk Mineral Sugarcreek Oil City Franklin Cranberry Sandycreek Victory Pinegrove Oakland Cornplanter Rouseville President

Rockland

Venango County in the 21st Century

Plum

1 Barkeyville Irwin Clintonville Clinton Scrubgrass Richland Emlenton

Venango County Regional Planning Commission 191 Howard St. Franklin, PA 16323 Phone: 814-432-4555 Fax: 814-432-5885 This Plan was partially funded with a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

EXISTING CONDITIONS
Venango County is at a crossroads. The loss of its most important resource, young people entering the work force for the first time, is a trend that must be reversed if the Countys economic well being is to be preserved. In order to accomplish that goal, County must create an environment that is friendly to business and industry, and one that can in fact support new development. The County should focus on its most abundant and renewable resources, Forestry and value added activities, outdoor recreation, and tourism are areas where potential exists to improve the economic climate in Venango County. A review of a study produced by the Penn State School of Forest Resources in 1997 (no more recent update is available), indicates that between 1921 and 1997, Venango County increased its forestry resources by thirty percent (30%). In 1997, fully seventy-two percent (72%) of all land in the County was classified as forests, while in 1921, about forty-two percent (42%) of the land was forested. owned (87%). Based on the Economic Census and Agricultural Census, there were 11,300 private woodland owners in Venango County, with twenty-six (26) wood product establishments employing about 266 employees. The value of the standing timber was estimated at close to $270 million dollars (266.4). With an annual timber harvest worth an estimated $9.52 million dollars and economic contributions of the forestry sector at That translates into 311,600 acres of the 432,000 acre total. The vast majority of the forests are privately

$7.8 million dollars and wood and paper products yet another $8.3 million dollars, the potential to increase value locally is significant. Forestry was second only to agriculture in total economic contributions in Venango County.

Action Plan
In preparation of the Venango County Comprehensive Plan, it is recommended that action agendas be prepared for presentation to the municipalities in each planning unit, with those goals and objectives listed which are considered realistic in light of survey responses and subsequent input from property owners and the comprehensive plan steering committee. These planning forums can be tailored for a discussion of specific planning unit goals and the opportunities presented for the actual achievement of these goals. At the outset, municipal officials should be polled for their acceptance of the goal statements and their willingness to commit resources to accomplish the objectives leading to the goal. With Venango County as the facilitator, each community can be assured that their single or multijurisdictional plan is consistent with the Countys Comprehensive Plan while being more specific in terms of short and long range goals. The planning process should involve the school district as well as local developers, farmers, businessmen and adjacent public authority representatives. While the County Plan does identify a designated growth area in the Central Planning Unit for a number of reasons, one being the presence of public utilities, it recognizes the potential for growth on the western side of the County along the Route 8 corridor, in interchange areas along the I80 corridor and elsewhere.

Planning Philosophies
There are two (2) planning philosophies being championed by the Commonwealth in the new millennium. Both have their roots in 1950s landscape

architecture curriculums and both have premises that can be applied at the site design level. What is valuable in these approaches to site-specific development standards, is that when used as templates, these approaches can result in well planned, well designed communities with pedestrian scaled amenities. The concept of compact building forms, clustered housing, open space and a mix of uses in the same area were all elements of early villages and towns. The Commonwealth has realized the benefits of this development pattern, not only through the application of these two (2) philosophies, but the inclusion of a new article in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247, as amended, titled Traditional Neighborhood Development. (Article VII-A)

Venango County has the opportunity to guide future development using the best from both approaches. Procedural and review and approval processes in each area of the County at the Planning Unit level can be tailored to suit the participating municipalities planning philosophies. With the number of communities relying on the administration of land use proposals by the Venango County Planning Commission, these guidelines can be implemented at the County level fairly soon. In Growing Greener (published by the National Lands Trust), the key to success is the conservation of open space. Simply stated, Conservation Design rearranges the development on each parcel as it is being planned so that half (or more) of the buildable land is set aside as open space... This density-neutral approach provides a fair and equitable way to balance conservation and development objectives. This narrative from Growing Greener assumes that half or more of the buildable area is fair and equitable to property owners considering development. While the concept has merit, the standard proposed is not widely accepted in the rural municipalities in Western Pennsylvania. It is at the discretion of each community to set open space standards, and the Grower Greener approach can be considered a starting point. The Four Keys to Conservation according to the Natural Lands Trust, are as follows:
1.

Envision the Future: Performing Community Audits: The audit projects

past and current development trends into the future so that officials and residents may easily see the long-term results of continuing with current ordinance provisions.
2.

Protect

Open

Space

Network

Through

Conservation

Planning:

Communities establish reasonable goals for conservation and development goals that reflect their special resources, existing land use patterns and anticipated growth.
3.

Conservation Zoning: A Means of Choices: Communities provide for a

logical balance between community goals and private landowner interests, through flexibility and incentives.
4.

Conservation Subdivision Design: A Four-Step Process: Communities

recognize that both design standards and the design process play an important part in conserving community resources through the use of a simple methodology.

The preparation of a Natural Heritage Inventory is recognized as an important first step toward the identification and preservation of environmentally sensitive areas. The eventual findings of that study and recommendations, regarding the mapping of Dedicated Areas of publicly and privately owned land, should be implemented through the Venango County Planning Commission and staff using the current geographic information system digital map files. The most recent approach to planning for development, currently being promoted by the Commonwealth, is the subject of Planning Advisory Service Report No. 479 (2002). In the Principles of Smart Development there are six (6) elements to the successful implementation of a smart growth program. This approach is better suited to older established communities, and communities adjacent to those older settled towns, Boroughs and cities. In Venango County, the Central Planning Unit and the Southern Planning Unit are candidates for this infill approach. These areas became the early suburbs for the Cities of Franklin, Oil City, and Emlenton Borough and have invested significantly over the years in infrastructure development. The Principals of Smart Development are as follows: 1. Efficient Use of Land Resources * Supports the preservation of land and natural resources. * Compact building forms. Compact development shortens trips, lessens dependence on auto, which reduces impact on environment, supports costeffective infrastructure. * Infill development. * Moderation in street and parking ratios and design standards. 2. Full Use of Urban Services * Establish average densities. * Streets sized for their use, allow some street parking. * Low, medium and high density mix. * Encourage neighborhoods to have character as well as privacy. 3. Mix of Uses * Stores, offices, homes, schools and recreation in compact neighborhoods. * Promote independence of movement (young and elderly). * Safety through presence of people around the clock. * Shorter auto trips, convenient connection of areas with streets. * Promote architectural compatibility.

4. Transportation Options * Safe, convenient and interesting. * Route heavy traffic around neighborhoods. * Walking, cycling, public transit within neighborhoods. * Done in conjunction with average densities and variety of uses. 5. Detailed, Human-Scaled Design * Compatibility between buildings to ensure privacy, safety, and visual coherency. * * * Massing of buildings, orientation to street. Pedestrian circulation. Balanced design for bicycles, vehicles, and pedestrian.

* Compatibility through windows, porches, landscaping and similar architectural elements. 6. Implementation * Streamline review and approval process. * Incentives to apply principles. * Performance standards and minor variances approved administratively. * Flexibility and consistent application of standards.

Goals and Objectives

Throughout the preparation process, as thematic data was acquired and evaluated, the aim has been to structure recommendations into broad areas of concern and then into incremental objectives relating to those concerns. This section lays out preliminary, countywide goals and objectives, which utilize similar thematic formats. These broad goals and objectives reflect the input of property owners and local government representatives who attended one or more of the focus group meetings held in each Planning Unit at the outset of the project. While local elected officials, interested residents, and the Countys Planning Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee has assigned value to the input, the fact is that many of the ideas, concerns, responses and reactions ring true from a variety of individual perspectives. Prior to implementation of a particular method designed to achieve a goal or objective in a particular Planning Unit, a random verification survey may be warranted. In our considered opinion, the County must take the time to research and then initiate measures to achieve its long range goals.

The Countys role in the plan implementation process cannot be overstated. In each, the three (3) Planning Units there is land available for development, but little with the right attributes. In the Socio-Economic Profile part of this document, an evaluation of the dynamics involved in the current economic climate presents a realistic perspective of Venango Countys economic condition. Options to improve those conditions are constantly being evaluated and prioritized by the VCEDC staff, as part of the continuity of planning efforts which originated in the 1980s. The Commonwealth requires that County Comprehensive Plans be reviewed every ten (10) years. A look at the Countys goals and objectives and the opportunities to produce mutually agreeable results with municipal partners, indicates that policy changes and local legislative actions must precede implementation. These changes in planning philosophies at the local level and evaluation of the stated goals and objectives as they relate to the commitment of personal and financial assistance will evolve slowly at first. The nature of governance in rural communities is reactive rather than proactive.

Citizen Input
Agricultural Continue to support the creation of Agricultural Security Areas at the local level. Establish a County Agricultural Assessment Board in order to acquire permanent agricultural easements in prime farm areas. Economic Development Venango County should actively seek, through a marketing campaign, new development and employment opportunities in appropriate areas within the boundaries of each planning unit. Venango County should develop a prime development sites database for use as a marketing and economic development tool. Utilize background research and socio-economic studies prepared for the Venango County Economic Development Corporation to rate potential development sites in terms of infrastructure cost. Development, which results in permanent full-time job creation, must be encouraged through the preparation of an efficient review and approval process. Tax increment financing to support non-residential development and other similar incentives needs to be considered by local municipalities and school districts to attract employment opportunities. Continued emphasis on broad tax bases at the local and sub-regional level or Planning Unit level should be incorporated into local land use regulations, as

suggested by the Venango County Planning and Economic Development Department. The County should encourage joint municipal comprehensive planning while directing development to those municipalities with adequate infrastructure through local zoning ordinances. Venango County needs to develop a fast track review and approval process for job related development proposals in order to compete with neighboring communities. Encourage the development of destination sites in downtown Franklin and Oil City and initiate the redevelopment of the industrialized zones in each community. An inventory of historic places and structures should be expanded and monitored by the Venango County Historical Society.

Historic Preservation

Infrastructure The County should conduct a comprehensive needs assessment to determine which municipalities would benefit from the introduction of public water and sanitary sewerage facilities. Identify appropriate sites for development using access and public utility availability as benchmarks. Identify utility expansion and extension funding sources and identify potential development locations within individual municipalities throughout the County The County should assemble and fund a comprehensive marketing brochure to seek light industrial and high-tech facilities. An inventory and database of vacant and under-utilized industrial and commercial structures countywide needs to be expanded and updated regularly. Encourage development of large tract consolidations for a mix of commercial, light industrial and specialty retail uses where access to transportation facilities and utility extensions are available. The County needs to establish a series of public infrastructure areas where development potential is significant.

Land Use

Establish cooperative land development policies consistent with adjoining countys policies. Identify State Routes 8 and 62 as potential growth corridors. Local municipal zoning regulations in rural communities should be reviewed and revised to provide a growing greener approach to growth management. Apply a consistent policy of promoting development in target areas, beginning with the Interstate 80 corridor, through amendments to local land use regulations.

Local subdivision regulations relating to collector roadway design and construction standards needs to be reviewed for capacity and safety provisions. The principles of smart growth should guide substantive revisions to local land use regulations. Introduce mixed-use districts to the local zoning ordinances in place, in order to create transitional zones, which may facilitate new development. Abbreviated approval procedures should be drafted for small-scale land developments and adopted by the County, as well as municipalities with individual subdivision and land development ordinances. Prepare corridor design guidelines with standards for signage, building setbacks, underground utilities, landscaping, and combined access points for application to development proposals on land in the SR 8 and 62 corridors. Designated growth area need to be considered for the purpose of focusing resources in areas with development potential. A countywide geographic information system with a strong marketing component should continue to be funded and utilized in the preparation of policy statements regarding new non-residential developments Venango County needs to assemble a database consisting of parcel level identification of land with soils classified by the US Department of Agriculture as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd class. Conservation subdivisions should be considered in areas of the County with significant sensitive environmental characteristics or large tracts of undisturbed land.

Natural Resources Preservation

Recreation and Tourism Continue to support tourism and visitor events at key locations. Develop a countywide rural recreation plan for municipalities with little or no access to recreation lands and facilities. Perform Tourism and Marketing Research to maximize usage of the significant historical, County and State Parks

Residential Continue to support Federal and Commonwealth housing rehab programs for low to moderate-income families. Consider the pooling of Certified Housing Inspectors as an on call service to communities which opt out of the new building codes mandate. Create a limited partnership for affordable housing between County housing agencies and private sector residential contractors. Explore needs for all types of housing in the County. Traffic and Circulation

The capacity of Venango Countys current transportation and circulation system should be improved where development is projected in order to accommodate future growth. A roadway sufficiency analysis is needed where development is encouraged within certain transportation corridors. Alternative funding sources for local roadway improvements need to be identified as part of a multi-jurisdictional capital improvements program designed to maximize collective local funding. Prepare corridor design guidelines with standards for signage, building setbacks, underground utilities, landscaping, and combined access points for application to development proposals on land in the SR 422 corridor. Aquifer recharge areas should be identified and mapped using the County Geographic Information System. Municipal water wells and syphon points on local waterways should be identified and mapped using the County Geographic Information System. Water supply resources should be protected from the impacts of developments or regional significance through the creation of non-build buffer zones.

Water Supply

Monitoring the Plan

After a County adopts a comprehensive plan and any implementing codes and ordinances, there is a tendency to put the plan away and to consider the planning task complete. This is not, and should not be, the case. A community the size of a County is never a stagnant place, and change is always occurring. Change must be examined to see what affects it may have upon the community. The comprehensive plan and its implementing ordinances must be revised accordingly. This examination and updating procedure should be done periodically, and is what is known as the continuing planning process. It is a continuous activity designed to protect the public welfare. If a plan is completed then shelved and forgotten, it quickly becomes obsolete. Hence, it becomes useless and cannot be relied upon as an accurate resource to guide growth and development. For example, major highway improvements are scheduled for construction in this County. A new industry attracted by the transportation system may move into this County, followed shortly by workers seeking employment and housing close to their source of employment. The additional influx in population will require more houses, apartments, schools, and municipal services. By keeping abreast of such developments and amending the plan and its implementing ordinances accordingly, the impacted communities will be better prepared to deal with the changes impending.

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County Residents, the Planning Commission and the Governing Body

To be effective, planning should have the understanding and the support of the local residents. Without this support, no matter how grand a plan is, it risks the chance of either not being adopted or constantly being challenged as a plot to deprive people of their rights. Efforts must be taken to involve local residents to the greatest extent possible, in the process of plan development. The County Commissioners appoint local citizens as members to the planning commission to assume its obligations pertaining to planning. As such, the planning commission is responsible for the preparation of the comprehensive plan and its implementing ordinances. The responsibility for insuring citizen awareness, then, falls, in large part, upon the planning commission. It is nonproductive to spend both time and money to develop a comprehensive plan, to present it to the governing body for a public hearing and to have the plan shouted down and subsequently not adopted by an intimidated governing body, due only to the actions of uninformed or misinformed local residents. Obviously the importance of citizen participation cannot be overstated. The plan ultimately belongs to the people who live in the County. The County Commissioners must realize that there is a real and pressing need for planning, and that planning is for the general welfare of all residents of the County both present and future. By its very nature, planning must be implemented by ordinances and activities designed to preserve and to promote certain qualities and standards. This is not always a popular process with all segments of a community, and may occasionally run into opposition. However, the comprehensive plan examines many facets of the community and is formulated after much thought and discussion. Certain recommendations merit consideration at a public hearing, but a governing body should not be intimidated into not voting for a comprehensive plan based solely on crowd reaction. The plan must be considered on its merits and its applicability to the community. The municipality has an educational role to fulfill, too. People tend to reject what they do not understand. Planning for the future growth and development of the County is the responsibility of the County Commissioners. The comprehensive plan is the first step taken to rationally carry out this responsibility. It is generally prepared by the planning commission with input from the local residents and public and private organizations. Following its adoption, the County Commissioners have support upon which to base the plan implementation activities.

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What is the Relationship of Comprehensive Planning to Local Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances?
Comprehensive Plans
What is a Comprehensive Plan? An official public document adopted by a local or County government as a policy guide for making decisions about the physical development of the community. It indicates in a general way how leaders of the governing body want the community to develop in the next 20-30 years. What does it contain? (See Article III, MPC) How is it used? Governing Body: to determine policy to make policy decisions to convey advice to communicate and educate

Planning Commission: to convey advice to governing body - most important! as a basis for land development ordinances to communicate and educate

Zoning Ordinance
What is Zoning?

The means for ensuring that land uses are properly situated with relation to each other and that adequate space is provided for each type of development. What does it contain? Uses of land Size, height, bulk, location, erection, construction, repair, maintenance, alteration, razing, removal and use of structures Areas and dimensions of land to be occupied by uses and structures, as well as open space areas Population density and intensity of use Provisions to permit, prohibit, regulate, restrict, and determine:

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Protection and preservation of natural resources and agricultural land How is it used?

The Zoning Ordinance is a legal and administrative device by which Comprehensive Plans at the local or County may be implemented. (See Article VI, Zoning) Zoning is more likely to be on a sound, legal basis when it is based on a carefully conceived Comprehensive Plan. When it is not based on a Plan, the ordinance may have some adverse effects. Tendency for development to be frozen in existing patterns. Unexpected results may be produced, frequently of an undesirable nature. It may require amendments to such an extent, on behalf of individual property owners, that no comprehensive pattern of development can result.

Subdivision Ordinance
What is a Subdivision Ordinance?

A Subdivision Ordinance is a locally adopted law governing the process of converting raw land into building sites. How is this done?

Plat approved procedures. Based upon compliance with development standards. How are the standards and administrative procedures developed?

Comprehensive Plans should serve as the basis for effective subdivision regulation. Legal Plan proves regulations are not arbitrary. Technical Plan required to coordinate development Practical Assists developers in planning Dedication of rights-of-way Dedication of land for recreation

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Street layout Sanitary and storm sewage facilities Water supply Other utilities

Conclusion
The comprehensive plan is a document prepared to assist in the determination of future growth and development policies. It contains sections which study various aspects of the community, community characteristics, community development goals and objectives, and future plans for several basic areas of everyday living. It is officially adopted by the governing body of the County, and is implemented to a large extent by zoning and by subdivision and land development ordinances at the local level. The plan must be periodically reviewed and updated (ten year intervals), and must have the understanding, coordination and support of the residents, the planning commission and the governing body.

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