By MICHAEL HIRSCH

Special to The Press

South Whitehall Planner Gregg Adams, with the township Community Development Department, was presented a plaque to honor his retirement at the commissioners June 19 board meeting.

Colleague, Dave Manhardt, director of Community Development, spoke of a celebration at the planning commission the previous week.

“ ... I believe the highlight of those career statistics is the number of sick days he’s taken over those 25 years, which is a grand total of zero,” Manhardt said.

“He certainly gets the Ironman award.”

He said Adams served in the U.S. Army as an armor tank crewman and is a volunteer for the Hamburg-er Festival Committee, and Blue Mountain Wildlife.

Working in municipal government Adams has shown an appreciation for service to the country, the community and 25 years of service to South Whitehall Township, Manhardt said.

Board President Diane Kelly read a proclamation in his honor.

“ ... It is with great pride and appreciation of the Board of Commissioners and township staff hereby presents this Distinguished Service Award as a token of our gratitude to you. It has truly been an honor and privilege to work with you through the years and we’re deeply grateful to you. We wish you the very best in your future endeavors and please know that you will be greatly missed.“

In other matters the board authorized the township manager to execute professional services agreements for the Jordan Valley Open Space Zoning update, not to exceed $150.

The project, to develop zoning regulations for the Jordan Valley area, will be divided into three parts: place type development, zoning ordinance creation, and design guideline development.

Breaking down the project allows specialized consultants to contribute their expertise and potentially shortens the project timeline.

A tiered project team will be assembled to oversee the project and conduct the work.

Currently, proposals are being reviewed and consultant scopes are being refined.

The board approved the motion unanimously.

A motion to authorize Township Manager Tom Petrucci to a send letter of opposition concerning House Bill 1976, House Bill 2045, and Senate Bill 1126 was discussed.

The Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors Morning News, June 6, published the following article under Legislation and Policy:

“House Local Government Committee Approves Statewide Zoning Mandates Efforts to strip local communities of land use decisions gained momentum yesterday.

Two bills that would create statewide zoning mandates for housing under the guise of affordability were approved by the House Local Government Committee largely along a party-line vote with House Majority members supporting statewide zoning. HB 1976 and HB 2045 will now head to the full House for consideration. HB 1976 would require that multi-family housing be a permitted use in areas zoned for commercial in municipalities with populations over 5,000.

HB 2045 would require that duplex, triplex, and quadplex housing be a permitted use in areas zoned for single family housing in municipalities with populations over 5,000.

A coalition, made up of developers, business and housing advocates, planners, and more, used recent poll results that it commissioned, to suggest Pennsylvanians want the state to require more housing options and decrease local decision-making. Legislators supporting these bills contended that they are responsible to the taxpayers and that zoning should encourage multi-use development seen in boroughs and cities, with housing units located close to and sometimes above businesses, instead of zoning housing and commercial development into separate districts ...”

Kelly agreed with taking a position on this.

“It was certainly concerning to me to read this, given that it is township’s authority under the municipal planning code, to plan for our zoning and our development and our growth,” Kelly said.

“We in this township have worked very hard to include our citizens in that process, working with our comprehensive plan moving forward and if these bills are approved and adopted, it will essentially remove this board.

“Select the body from any authority to do that any further and it would also, in my opinion, silence our residents.

“They would no longer have the ability to be involved in planning of our community. I certainly do agree with your memo.”

Commissioner Jacob Roth also commented.

“ ... any resident in the township who is opposed to these bills, may contact state Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-132nd, (for HB 1976 and HB 2045) or contact either Sen. Nick Miller, D-14th, or Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-16th, (for SB 1126) and urge them to oppose these bills,” Roth said.