Duties and Responsibilities of a Citizen Planning Commission

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- [Presenter] My name is Peter Wolfhorst, Extension Educator with Penn State Extension.

And today I'll be talking about the duties and responsibilities of a Planning Commission.

In this video, you will be learning about Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Land Use Planning, Record of Actions, Public Outreach and Education, and relationships with other municipalities.

If you are interested in learning about your local Planning Commission, or if you currently serve on a Planning Commission, it is likely you will want to better understand what are your duties and responsibilities.

Duties and responsibilities of Planning Commissions are identified in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code or MPC.

The MPC is a State (mumbles)

Law that allows local governments to plan for their communities.

It was first adopted in 1968, and currently consists of 14 Articles.

Article Two discusses what is a Planning Commission and what are the specific duties and responsibilities of a Planning Commission.

Section 209.1 lists 16 Powers and Duties that Planning Commissions either shall or can become involved in.

Many of the powers and duties identified in this section, which a few are listed here, pertain to land use regulations, administrative duties, and community education and outreach.

One of the most frequently used duties is development of a comprehensive plan.

A comprehensive plan manages the long term physical development of a community as well as its social and economic quality of life.

Comprehensive plan provides a vision for the long term future of the community.

The implementation of a comprehensive plan takes place in the adoption of land use regulations, which consist of a zoning ordinance, a subdivision and land development ordinance, otherwise known as SLDO, and an official map.

These land use regulations as well as a comprehensive plan are adopted by the governing body of the municipality.

Zoning is a division of a municipality into districts or zones that allow certain activities and prohibit other activities.

Zoning also encourages a mixed use of residential and commercial development in the areas of municipality, thus allowing residents access to retail stores, recreational facilities, places of worship, and office and workplaces.

Additionally, zoning needs provide for a variety of housing for families of all income levels, including multi-family, single family, and mobile homes.

Subdivision and Land Development Ordinances ensure that lots developed in a municipality will be a long term asset to the community and that each lot has access to public/private roads, has a potable water supply, and can provide proper waste disposal to the homeowners and businesses.

In addition, Subdivision and Land Development Ordinances should provide for open space, including areas of trees, other natural areas, farms, vistas, as well as active and passive recreational facilities.

An official map shows the location of planned future and public lands and facilities such as streets, trails, parks, and open space.

The official map represents a municipality's interest in acquiring these lands for public purposes sometime in the future and notifies developers and property owners of this interest.

If a landowner seeks to build on or subdivide land noted on the official map, the municipality has up to a year to acquire the land from the homeowner before the owner may freely build or subdivide.

In addition to utilizing land use regulations (mumbles)

the comprehensive plan, a local municipality needs to look at public investment in community facilities as well.

This process known as Capital Improvements Programming and Budgeting allows municipalities to financially plan for future municipal improvements.

Planning Commissions should have a role in this process as per Section 209.1 of the MPC.

Capital Improvements Plan provides an overview of these public investments over a length of time normally five to 10 years.

In addition to a Planning Commission's involvement in the development of land use regulations, Planning Commissions duties and responsibilities might also include preparation of a well ordinance, nuisance ordinance, or an environmental assessment for study.

Pennsylvania has a large and very private water systems that aren't currently regulated by the State.

Municipalities can protect homeowners with these private water systems by adopting a Well Ordinance that requires a well to be located away from a septic system, road, water body, or driveway.

In this way, they ensure that homeowner's water system is potentially protected from contamination.

Planning Commission can prepare a Nuisance Ordinance.

This ordinance may address noise, garbage, and other issues that affect the appearance of a community.

In addition to the various land use duties and responsibilities, Planning Commissions need to maintain and keep on file records of their actions and other documents.

It must also maintain records of bylaws that govern how the Planning Commission conducts their business.

It's important that the municipal governing body have access to these documents.

Other Planning Commission duties and responsibilities include education and outreach to the local community.

Planning Commission may promote public interest and understanding of comprehensive planning through public meetings as well as focus groups.

Planning Commissions can also offer educational sessions and presentations to groups in the community on how government works, what are the environmental issues impacting our community, and how zoning and other land use regulations protect the community from these impacts.

Planning Commissions can also establish working relationships with adjoining municipalities.

This is important since large scale development like office buildings, large residential communities, and big box retail centers impact areas outside of that specific municipality.

Neighboring municipalities might be interested in what developments might be impacting their respective community.

Therefore, it may be beneficial for both municipalities to look at the bigger picture of development and to look at how each municipality's land use regulations addresses these developments.

Municipalities might wanna consider working together to draft a Multi-Municipal Comprehensive Plan and possibly a Multi-Municipal zoning ordinance to plan for developments that affect several municipalities.

In that way, the local municipalities can work together to address the impacts of development as well as the appearance of development in their respective communities.

Planning Commissions are comprised of active leaders and advisors in their communities.

They go beyond waiting for a land development plan to come in for review.

That is only a small part of good planning.

Rather, Planning Commissions proactively engage in land use regulations and comprehensive plan, administrative duties, and community and education and outreach.

Planning Commissions tend to current community issues while also planning for the future.