By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

Scribbling across maps and sharing ideas, New Garden Township residents, joined by local business leaders, met twice across seven tables on May 21 to provide their input on the township’s long-term zoning plans.

The workshop was introduced by township Manager Christopher Himes and moderated by Samantha McLean, a senior community planner with Michael Baker International, who is the project manager on the zoning project.

The event – which featured two separate workshops – served as the last of four public outreach meetings that began in 2024 and has presented opportunities for facilitated community discussion on the township’s proposed draft zoning ordinance and map. On a broader scale, the objective of the zoning map project will be to set rules and regulations that will allow the township to meet the objectives of its 2018 Comprehensive Plan, that will incorporate best practices to address issues in the township’s existing zoning ordinance and keep in compliance with the Pennsylvania Municipalities Management Code. 

The two meetings gave attendees 45 minutes to discuss what, in their opinion, should serve as the township’s top priorities in determining its district-by-district future, divided according to residential low- and medium density and residential flex districts; mixed-use districts that include a village center, village gateway and mixed-use corridor and innovation district; special districts that include parks and open space, “enterprise,” and the New Garden Flying Field.

A portion of the break-out sessions included discussion about the future of the Route 41/Limestone Road/Southwood Road areas, which are located in the unified development district and permits commercial, industrial and residential uses.

The workshops served as a follow up to the third public outreach meeting, which was held at the township on Feb. 26 before more than 100 residents and reflected many of the same priorities locals specified on May 21 that urge the crafters of the township’s future to consider: providing affordable housing for young families; creating walkable communities; developing mixed-use districts; controlling traffic and limiting density; creating methods that will increase property values; and developing a tax structure that will provide opportunities to attract new businesses and stimulate economic growth.

‘Checking all of the boxes’

Himes said that the meetings’ design – seven tables around the township building’s meeting room – allowed for more open dialogue.

“For tonight’s specific dialogue, it is one where we want to allow for many people to speak in an intimate setting in a workshop setting, more so that a traditional meeting where we create a line down the middle and everyone steps up to a microphone,” he said. “You want to get as many people as possible to provide input, because you never know when you will receive a great idea or perhaps something that someone has thought of that we have not. You want to determine how many people have a strong opinion, and you want to give them the forum to give that opinion.”

Himes called the four public input meetings “an alignment” to help determine the outcome of zoning plans, which were first adopted in 1987 but had not been fully addressed until now. 

“It’s not throwing the old stuff out,” he said. “It’s bringing all of the old stuff that we like with it and modernizing it to have more robust framing for definitions of use standards. That is what this modernization effort is about to allow for outcomes, housing opportunities, job creation, to allow for future facilities to have a better zoning district, and to preserve and not build out the entire township. 

‘It’s checking all of the boxes, not just one or two.”

The input from the May 21 meeting will be shared with the township’s Planning Commission on June 25, discussed at a Board of Supervisors meeting in July and at a Planning Commission meeting in August. After a 45-day public comment period, the revised zoning map and amendments are expected to be adopted by the supervisors this Fall. 

To learn more about the New Garden Township Zoning update project, including zoning maps, videos of prior meetings and public responses to previous public input meetings, visit https://new-garden-township-zoning-update-baker.hub.arcgis.com. For questions or comments, email [email protected]. 

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].