2012-05-07 12:11:00
ADAM HOY
East Earl supervisors on Thursday announced that a plan to designate Route 23 a Heritage Byway is moving forward. The Lancaster County Planning Commission will hold a public meeting to discuss the future of Route 23. The planning commission has been working with East Earl and Caernarvon......
2012-05-05 19:13:00
JON RUTTER
Many are aware that society is broke. More are learning that it's also approaching the physical breaking point. But Matthew Sternberg believes it can be fixed, and he knows one of the ways to do it. Rutland, Vt., is a case in point, said Sternberg, who spoke Tuesday during the fourth......
2012-05-02 10:40:00
MARCELLA PEYRE-FERRY
Christiana Borough Council decided Tuesday to move toward the adoption its own subdivision and land-development ordinance — without making changes suggested by the county planning commission.
Council and borough staff crafted the ordinance for several months before a copy......
2012-04-26 23:21:00
DAN NEPHIN
While neither chicken nor soybeans were on the menu, officials with Perdue AgriBusiness aimed to serve up information and allay concerns about the firm's proposed soybean crushing plant in Conoy Township.
Perdue staff manned tables at Bainbridge Fire Company to explain the project at its ......
2012-04-25 21:45:00
AD CRABLE
The builders of a proposed $59 million soybean-crushing plant in Conoy Township will hold an open house for the public from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Bainbridge Fire Company, 34 S. Second St., Bainbridge.
Perdue AgriBusiness said company representatives and project team leaders will man sep......
2012-04-09 21:39:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster County's transportation planners foresee a grim future without changes.
Bridges will be closed because they are unsafe; traffic congestion will increase, resulting in wasted time; shipping costs for business will rise; economic development will be reduced; and air quality will b......
2012-03-30 22:09:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction April 2, 2012 — An earlier version of the article below incorrectly stated that residents are circulating a petition opposing a plan to lease space at Neff Elementary School to Catholic Charities.
The peti......
2012-03-19 23:37:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Catholic Charities of Harrisburg is considering operating a program for disruptive youths at a public school in Manheim Township.
Under the proposed lease agreement, the charitable arm of the Catholic diocese would use vacant classroom space in Neff Six Elementary School for its Intensive......
2012-03-08 22:52:00
BERNARD HARRIS
A banner hanging in Lancaster's Amtrak station advertises a special promotion for travelers going to the current Philadelphia flower show.
The 15 percent reduction on tickets on Amtrak's Keystone line is an effort to get more people to ride the rails rather than drive.
In the near......
2012-02-19 00:20:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
The dilapidated structures along Fruitville Pike just south of Red Rose Commons in Manheim Township bear no stars. But local preservationists say the historic "Mayer-Hess Farmstead" is every bit as significant as Dauphin County's famed "Star Barn" — and, like the Star Ba......
2012-02-14 22:19:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The link between walking and riding a bicycle and health seems obvious.
But, for the first time, Lancaster County planners are citing the health care costs associated with relying on automobiles for transportation.
For a half-century, transportation planning and housing policies h......
2012-02-14 19:57:00
BETH ANNE HEESEN
Penn Township leaders were honored for their work on land use ordinances last week with a 2011 Envision Lancaster County Leadership Award.
It was one of eight awards -- three for leadership and five for achievement -- given by the County of Lancaster and the Lancaster County Planning Comm......
2012-02-09 22:44:00
P.J. REILLY
Nine local development projects were honored recently by the Lancaster County Planning Commission as recipients of 2011 Envision Leadership Awards. The awards are given annually to raise awareness of smart growth in Lancaster County.
The winners' projects met smart-growth standards &mdash......
2012-02-07 23:04:00
BERNARD HARRIS
In the 52 years that Melvin Martin has been driving in Gap, he's seen the traffic at the intersection of Routes 30 and 41 grow much worse.
On Fridays and Saturdays, it typically sits bumper to bumper there, Martin said.
According to the state Transportation Department's rating sca......
2012-01-15 00:18:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
It's been a long and winding road for The Crossings at Conestoga Creek. And the journey's just begun. On Dec. 22, Manheim Township Commissioners gave an early green light to the proposed retail/residential complex to be constructed on 37 acres along Harrisburg Pike betwee......
2011-12-28 19:49:00
LAURA KNOWLES
Three generations of a Warwick Township farm family saluted public officials and business representatives for agricultural preservation efforts on Dec. 21.
"Our family thanks you for helping us continue this legacy" of Christian Bomberger, who bought 564 acres in 1732 from the sons of Wil......
2011-12-10 09:25:00
STEPHANIE BRADFORD
East Donegal Township planners voted to send a draft of proposed new regulations of the building and use of alternative energy systems to the Lancaster County Planning Commission. The Dec. 1 meeting was one of many, dating to July 7, held to deal with the issue. The township planners were u......
2011-11-28 23:44:00
DAN NEPHIN
Manheim Township commissioners approved a revised zoning ordinance that will allow for increased density in hopes of guiding development using "smart growth" principals on Monday night.
The board voted 4-1, with vice president Richard Casselbury casting the opposing vote.
About a ......
2011-11-26 19:50:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
For decades, much of Lancaster County's residential growth has absorbed by new, single-family housing developments. The dream of many a homeowners has been a quarter-acre in the suburbs, perhaps surrounded by a white picket fence and — apart from other new homes — littl......
2011-11-23 17:31:00
P.J. REILLY
For the fourth year in a row, Lancaster County commissioners plan to hold the line on county taxes.
As they unveiled the county's proposed $257 million 2012 operating budget Wednesday, the commissioners announced there would be no increase in the county's current tax rate of 3.416 mills....
2011-11-17 23:33:00
DAN NEPHIN
"Smart growth" presents challenges and opportunities, according to three Lancaster County township officials who took part in a land-use forum Thursday night.
The term broadly describes the goal of preserving the county's agricultural character while allowing development using principles ......
2011-11-06 00:18:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
John D. Hershey's mother was born in the "Mayer House," the ornate, gabled mansion along Fruitville Pike just south of the Red Rose Commons shopping center. Hershey, a landscape architect and Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County board member, calls the 1871 structur......
2011-10-25 22:42:00
TOM KNAPP
The Lancaster County Planning Commission is expected to pare nearly a half-million dollars from its annual budget by trimming six positions from its staff.
James Cowhey, executive director of the planning commission, told county commissioners on Tuesday that the plan follows a "rigorous l......
2011-10-12 22:23:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County could become part of a southcentral Pennsylvania version of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
The county commissioners on Wednesday adopted a resolution committing the county to participate in a state Department of Transportation-led feasibility stud......
2011-09-26 22:48:00
BERNARD HARRIS
What will the Lancaster Amtrak Station look like after its $14.2 million renovation?
From the inside, apparently, much the same as it looked before work began two years ago: shabby, worn-down, in need of a facelift.
On Monday, workers outside the station were preparing the parking......
2011-09-16 12:24:00
CINDY HUMMEL
West Lampeter Township Planning Commission members Thursday got their first look at a plan for a 15,000-bird poultry barn along Spring Hollow Road. Benuel S. King, 909 Strasburg Pike, proposed plans for a 400-foot barn on his 38-acre farm. The entrance to the barn would be off Spring Hollow ......
2011-09-15 23:00:00
BERNARD HARRIS
After two swings came up empty, Lancaster County transportation planners are hoping a third will be the charm.
Late next month, county officials plan to submit a $28.6 million application to make transportation improvements along Harrisburg Avenue and Pike, between Prince Street in Lancas......
2011-09-13 23:15:00
STEPHEN J. ENGLE
Residents of the Crossgates subdivision in Manor Township made their voices heard again at a planning commission meeting Monday night, rallying against a proposed zoning ordinance amendment to double the height of multi-family dwellings.
After much debate, planners voted down the ch......
2011-08-30 22:54:00
ALICE HUMMER
Denver Borough came one step closer to adopting an alternative energy ordinance Monday, as council approved amendments concerning solar panel installation, outdoor hydronic heating systems and a new exclusion for otherwise allowable outdoor burning.
Presenting the amendments at Mond......
2011-08-22 21:31:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County Planning Commission member Matthew Young didn't think much of Talmage Partners' limestone quarry in Upper Leacock Township.
But he said having one gaping hole smack in the middle of prime Lancaster County farmland is better than two.
"Looking at the aerial photogr......
2011-08-07 00:21:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT and CHIP SMEDLEY
Every day more than 5,100 cars and trucks rumble across the worn surface of the 115-year-old steel truss bridge that carries Route 772 over railroad tracks through Mount Joy Borough. The span's trusses are pockmarked with rust spots. Exposed patches of metal create a checkerboard pattern on ......
2011-07-26 22:25:00
BY ELAINE J. JONES
Developer Nathan Pipitone has been fighting an uphill battle in Pequea Township for five years.
That seemed to change July 20, when the township took a number of steps to move forward with Pipitone's proposed Summerfield development, possibly ending years of legal and financial red ......
2011-07-20 22:06:00
CIVIA KATZ
Recreational space and pedestrian corridors are features of the new map of Penn Township reviewed by township supervisors July 11.
Supervisors approved an ordinance authorizing the map after a public hearing and prior approval by Lancaster County Planning Commission.
The map is a ......
2011-07-19 21:43:00
STEPHEN J. ENGLE
Planning commission members in Manor Township are recommending the amendment of a zoning ordinance to allow for changes in high-density residential areas. One significant modification would be increasing the height of multifamily dwellings in the township. The current height of 35 feet would......
2011-07-13 07:41:00
KIMBERLY MARSELAS
Akron Borough is embarking on sewer repair work totaling as much as $100,000 this year, all of it with one company and without seeking competitive bids. At a meeting Monday, Mayor John McBeth raised concerns about work that borough officials scheduled with Mr. Rehab, a Mechanicsburg-based se......
2011-07-11 12:04:00
NICK GALLUP
The Caernarvon Township Planning Commission granted a three-meeting delay waiver on June 27 for a development project by Benco Associates of Honey Brook. Benco is proposing to build three storage buildings on an undeveloped piece of land on Route 10 near Short Road. Several members of the pl......
2011-06-28 14:49:00
NICK GALLUP
Officials from Caernarvon and East Earl townships recently began a multi-phase discussion about a regional transferable development rights program between the two townships. In a regional TDR program, participating townships can act alone or partner with Lancaster County to acquire and ......
2011-06-27 22:40:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Since the 1990s, when Lancaster County planners first established "urban growth areas" to preserve farmland, there has been a push toward "smart growth."
On Monday, county planners took smart growth beyond land planning by formally establishing a Smart Growth Transportation program to fun......
2011-06-27 22:15:00
NICK GALLUP
The new Elanco Social Services Network was created to help unify community services and provide those services to those in need in the Elanco region. At a Caernarvon Township board of supervisors meeting this month, supervisor Gary Van Dyke said the township welcomes assistance from the ESSN......
2011-05-25 15:06:00
GIL WELLIVER
The Clay Township planning commission, after months of study and review, is ready to send a proposed alternative-energy ordinance to the board of supervisors for its eventual adoption. The draft ordinance, approved by the planning commission on Monday, contains 18 pages and is based on an ex......
2011-05-25 15:04:00
MICHAEL C. UPTON
Land development plans topped the agenda of the East Earl Township supervisors meeting May 10 as board members approved several stormwater-management and subdivision plans. Planner Ron Hershey returned as representative for Groffdale Old Order Mennonite Church with plans to add additional ac......
2011-05-16 00:35:00
STEVE ENGLE
Penn Township supervisors passed a zoning ordinance May 9 that allows for greater mixed-use development and compatibility with existing neighborhoods.
The board followed the advice of the township planning commission, which recommended approval March 7. The staff of Lancaster County Plann......
2011-05-10 23:02:00
KIMBERLY MARSELAS
A section of Route 322 that is already largely commercial will probably become more so, after Ephrata Township officials backed a developer's request to rezone several properties there. The board of supervisors voted unanimously May 3 to change 11 lots along the south side of West Main Stree......
2011-05-03 20:06:00
MARCELLA PEYRE-FERRY
Sign regulations are changing somewhat in Colerain Township, as supervisors approved a set of revisions to the township zoning ordinances during their May 2 meeting. The changes will go to the Lancaster County Planning Commission for review, and then a public hearing will be advertised for f......
2011-04-19 21:42:00
NICK GALLUP
Caernarvon and East Earl townships are seeking to designate a portion of Route 23 as a heritage scenic byway. The proposed byway would run for nine miles from Route 10 in Caernarvon to Route 897 in East Earl. An open house and public meeting on the proposed byway will be held on Thursda......
2011-04-18 15:14:00
CINDY HUMMEL
Strasburg Borough Council took a step toward adopting the proposed Gateway North Overlay District during an April 12 meeting, Council agreed to send the ordinance to consultant Dennis Gehringer, who created it, to make the final revisions, as well as to the Lancaster County Planning Commissi......
2011-03-15 21:58:00
P.J. REILLY
The seed has been planted. Now it's time to see if anything will grow.
Lancaster County commissioners Wednesday are expected to vote to reimburse Franklin & Marshall College up to $87,000 for green roofs planned for at least two on-campus buildings.
That reimbursement will ess......
2011-03-02 22:24:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County Transportation Authority has a message for Martic Township: Back off, or you're going to pay.
The authority on Wednesday voted to send the township supervisors a letter stating that Martic could be liable for the $400,000 spent so far on a PennDOT-approved realig......
2011-03-01 21:48:00
P.J. REILLY
Since 1989, motorists have been avoiding the Route 324 tunnel under the Enola Low-Grade Line in Martic Township by driving on a makeshift road that crosses over the abandoned rail line.
Tractor-trailers, large farm machines and firetrucks can't fit through the 12-foot-high underpass, and ......
2011-03-01 21:28:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster city officials installed a temporary fence in the 200 block of North Queen Street to prevent people from walking in the area where Red Rose Transit Authority is building a new garage.
When people walked there anyway, the city put up concrete barriers. Still, Mayor Rick Gray said......
2011-02-17 22:10:00
P.J. REILLY
Correction Feb. 18, 2011 — Community Basics Inc. of Lancaster received a 2010 Envision Leadership Award from Lancaster County Planning Commission. The developer's Park Avenue Apartments was recognized in the Sustainable Growth catego......
2011-02-06 00:13:00
JON RUTTER
The times might be bad. But for the Lancaster County Conservancy, President Ralph Goodno said, 2010 "turned out to be a good year." The private land trust stayed in the black while advancing groundbreaking education and conservation programs, Goodno said. And it save......
2011-01-12 22:15:00
JEFF HAWKES
When the heat-lamp bulb disappeared from the shower stall in our house, no one had to ask who removed it.
I did. I'm the energy miser in the family.
Even though I inconvenience my wife and sons by fretting about our carbon footprint, not to mention energy bills, I like to think th......
2010-12-15 18:38:00
JEFF HAWKES
If you care about job growth, I hope you have a chance to check out our post of an 82-page blueprint for a stronger local economy.
...
2010-11-15 22:30:00
P.J. REILLY
Returning from a trip to New Castle, Del., recently, Strasburg resident May Gaynor noticed something when she hit the Lancaster County border.
"It was really different from everything else we'd been driving through," she said. "Everything along the roads was a lot nicer."
Eager to......
2010-11-10 17:50:00
AD CRABLE
This time, county officials aren't complaining about a $102,000 cost overrun for the $12 million renovation of the Amtrak station in Lancaster.
At their weekly meeting Wednesday, Lancaster County commissioners approved the additional money for "unforeseen circumstances" in work done in th......
2010-11-09 18:18:00
PATRICK BURNS
A disagreement over an intersection design could spoil plans to build a new Turkey Hill Minit Mart at Route 23 and Swamp Road in Caernarvon Township.
John Roche, Caernarvon engineer, said Turkey Hill's plan to direct traffic from the store heading south onto Swamp Road (Route 10) comprise......
2010-11-04 22:01:00
P.J. REILLY
You might not know it by driving through it today, but Terre Hill Borough once was a thriving commercial center.
In the early 1900s, there were three cigar factories, a cigar box factory and a hosiery factory.
A trolley provided service in eastern Lancaster County, connecting it t......
2010-10-30 19:50:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Until recently, a green fringe of trees and shrubs lined the east bank of the Susquehanna River at Washington Boro. The tree roots helped to reduce riverbank erosion. Their branches and leaves provided a bit of shade for bankside aquatic life and a place for migrating birds to......
2010-10-30 19:45:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Riverside railroads, a 19th-century creation, clash with a 21st-century initiative to create greenways along the same water, says Michael Helfrick, riverkeeper for the lower Susquehanna. "Railroads restrict hundreds of miles of waterway access throughout the commonwealth," says the York r......
2010-09-11 22:28:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Columbia Avenue may have seen better days. But local officials are hoping that, with the help of some federal grant money, they might investigate ways to make the corridor's future as bright as its past. Last week Manor Township Supervisors lent their support to a proposal by the Lancas......
2010-09-07 19:53:00
ROCHELLE A. SHENK
Rapho Township is one step closer to regulating alternative energy systems such as solar panels, geothermal, wind turbines, outdoor hydronic heaters and anaerobic (manure) digesters.
During a Sept. 2 meeting, the supervisors set a date of Oct. 21 for a public hearing to adopt the ordinanc......
2010-09-01 21:43:00
AD CRABLE
The solar farm approved by East Drumore Township supervisors last week will be the largest on the East Coast, according to Gov. Ed Rendell, who announced Wednesday a $1 million grant to make the project possible.
The project, which includes 4,500 solar panels erected on 78 acres of the fa......
2010-08-29 00:20:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Ed Diller calls himself the "Lot King." And for a while, it was good to be the king. Diller, a Realtor with Long & Foster Real Estate, likes to match builders or developers with an available piece of ground. In fast-growing Lancaster County, it kept him pretty busy. B......
2010-08-27 18:41:00
ROCHELLE A. SHENK
The revitalization of a fire-ravaged parcel in Mount Joy's central business district has begun.The borough on Friday celebrated the launch of the Mount Joy Fire Rebuild Project at 74-76 E. Main St., Mount Joy.Destroyed by a February 2007 fire that destroyed five properties and t......
2010-08-25 21:40:00
P.J. REILLY
For the fifth year in a row, the Lancaster County commissioners on Wednesday voted to dole out money under the county's urban enhancement grant program.All totaled, 17 projects aimed at improving the county's developed areas received a combined $1.5 million.Given the tight f......
2010-08-05 21:51:00
BERNARD HARRIS
For years, local efforts to reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay have focused on nutrient runoff from farm fields and sediment from cows in streams.Now, Lancaster city and the nonprofit group LIVE Green are taking a more urban approach to the problem.On Thursday, the city received......
2010-08-02 20:44:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The renovation of the Lancaster Amtrak station is back on track.Three weeks after the $12 million project appeared in danger of derailing over cost increases, representatives of Amtrak, Lancaster County, project officials and politicians have met and talked through the issues."......
2010-07-12 22:16:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Though it was difficult, James Cowhey did manage to contain his emotions Monday."I have never been so angry in my life," said the executive director of the Lancaster County Planning Commission. "This is outrageous."The normally reserved Cowhey got riled when he t......
2010-07-12 21:51:00
AD CRABLE
Correction July 13, 2010 — The story below indicated a natural gas line project in Salisbury Township has been given final approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The FERC staff has recommended approval but the full commission ......
2010-06-15 20:03:00
JED KENSINGER
Designed to bring people together, a streetscape project in Marietta Borough has become a source of controversy rising to the level of a federal discrimination complaint.Marietta's town square at Gay and Market streets was spruced up last summer with a new coat of paint for the flagpol......
2010-05-23 00:08:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Can you save farmland by installing 20-by-8-foot glass panels that harvest only the rays of the sun?The Lancaster County Planning Commission says no.But the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture says yes.In less than two weeks, supervisors in East Drumore To......
2010-05-12 21:39:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Crumbling infrastructures, population loss, falling real estate assessments and a reduced tax base are what "first suburbs" across the nation are facing.Lancaster County is no exception.That's the consensus of a panel that discussed the idea of failing first suburbs an......
2010-05-10 21:20:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Dennis Groff sat at a cross street recently trying to pull onto Route 741. He counted 27 trucks passing without a car between them.The truck drivers were doing what locals have been doing for years — and what Groff, the Paradise Township roadmaster, also was trying to do. They were a......
2010-05-03 22:26:00
ROXANNE TODD
East Drumore Township Planning Commission members don't see eye to eye with county planners when it comes to solar farming on prime agricultural land.On April 26, the Lancaster County Planning Commission unanimously recommended that East Drumore officials reject zoning changes requested by......
2010-05-02 00:21:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
If there's an ideal spot in Lancaster County for wind turbines, James Warner said, Turkey Point is it. The winds howl around the cliffs at the western edge of Manor Township. For 22 months, the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority maintained a 180-foot tower to measure the g......
2010-04-26 22:58:00
P.J. REILLY
Wonderful project.Wrong place.That's what Lancaster County Planning Commission member Matthew Young had to say Monday about Community Energy's plans to build a 15-megawatt solar farm on an 88-acre farm in East Drumore Township."In Lancaster County, we don't h......
2010-04-26 21:17:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster County transportation officials painted a gloomy picture on Monday.The county will suffer from the federal Department of Transportation decision earlier this month to deny Pennsylvania's bid to put toll booths on Interstate 80 in the northwestern part of the state.Majo......
2010-03-19 00:03:00
AD CRABLE
Wind turbines and solar panels that can power single homes and businesses.Underground geothermal systems that tap the earth's constant temperature.Wood-burning outdoor furnaces.Officials across Lancaster County are scrambling to get regulations on the books as residents s......
2010-03-17 00:03:00
P.J. REILLY
James Cowhey can see the writing on the wall.The state government in recent years has curtailed its investment in projects aimed at areas such as land use and transportation.But the need for that investment is growing here and across the state, said Cowhey, executive director of Lan......
2010-03-16 00:01:00
JACK BRUBAKER
What have county taxpayers and Lancaster Farmland Trust donors received in return for the tens of millions of dollars they have pumped into farmland preservation in Lancaster County?
Beyond saving tens of thousands of productive agricultural acres forever, it is clear that they have helpe......
2010-03-15 00:01:00
JACK BRUBAKER
The Environmental Protection Agency recently presented a "smart growth achievement award" to the Lancaster County Planning Commission.
But the county's chief planner, James Cowhey, said the community as a whole deserved the award from the federal agency because it is "preserving agricultu......
2010-03-04 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
South Golden Road is the Lincoln Highway East of Golden, Colo., a small city west of Denver.Along a mile-long stretch of the four-lane highway, you'll find a McDonald's, Sonic and KFC. There's also a Goodyear's, Walgreens, Goodwill and other retailers and eateries. There......
2010-02-23 21:18:00
TOM KNAPP
Correction Feb. 24, 2010 — The residential portion of Greenfield Corporate Center includes Greenfield Estates and Eastwood Village, not Bentley Ridge Apartments as reported in the article below, posted on LancasterOnline Tuesday....
2010-02-18 06:07:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Oklahoma and Michigan will get new bridges. New Orleans will get an expansion of its famed streetcar system, and Honolulu is getting money to rebuild a harbor pier.But Lancaster County will get no money for its improvement plans for Harrisburg Pike.County officials were among nearly......
2010-02-17 07:22:00
TOM KNAPP
Chick-fil-A, a well known fast-food chicken franchise, is attempting to make its first inroads into Lancaster County.Representatives for the franchise asked East Lampeter Township to rezone three unoccupied residential properties into a single, 1.9-acre C-2 commercial tract along Lincoln H......
2010-02-10 06:54:00
P.J. REILLY
When a local business owner approached Economic Development Co. of Lancaster County to discuss a possible project in Conewago Industrial Park that would create jobs and use vacant space there under the new Recovery Zone Facility Bond Program, EDC officials thought it was a natural fit.&quo......
2010-02-04 06:53:00
P.J. REILLY
Ned Foltz still has some of the Pennsylvania German redware his grandmother used for pie plates when he was growing up in Lititz.Those plates introduced Foltz, who is now 69, to the pottery folks had been making in Lancaster County for the previous two centuries, using the red clay that......
2010-02-03 22:31:00
P.J. REILLY
Eight local development projects were honored by the Lancaster County Planning Commission as recipients of the 2009 Envision Leadership Awards.The awards are given annually to foster and raise awareness of smart growth in Lancaster County.The winners' projects met smart growth i......
2010-01-29 07:02:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County commissioners on Wednesday created a program aimed at creating jobs and improving blighted areas in parts of the county where unemployment, poverty and home-foreclosure rates are highest.The Lancaster County Recovery Zone Facility Bond Program is expected to disburse $14.1......
2010-01-28 07:11:00
AD CRABLE
A Providence Township supervisor says Amtrak has reneged on plans to build a trail along the former Low Grade line when it constructs a new transmission line later this year."It's absolutely abysmal what they've done to us. It could be the setback that could eliminate the trai......
2010-01-28 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
Do some townships go out of their way to keep poor people out?A new report on housing affordability in Lancaster County doesn't tackle that explosive question head on. But in an oblique way it raises the issue, one we as a community should be exploring.What the report by the cou......
2010-01-22 00:04:00
TOM KNAPP
Route 30 is a mess.Sure, it will get you where you're going — eventually — and there are a lot of places to stop and shop. But officials wonder if it isn't time to give that 2˝-mile corridor from Oakview Road to Route 896 some cohesion."It lacks a sen......
2010-01-21 20:58:00
P.J. REILLY
The need for affordable housing in Lancaster County is clear.The average cost of homes here is rising faster than salaries, which means people who can't afford to buy a home now aren't likely to have enough money later.In 2000, 22 percent of all households here were consider......
2010-01-20 15:10:00
P.J. REILLY
A report released today blames regulatory barriers as a key reason Lancaster County lacks affordable housing. Prepared by Lancaster County Planning Commission and Lancaster Housing Opportunity Partnership, the report, titled "An Analysis of Regulatory Barriers to Housing Affordability,&quo......
2010-01-08 07:20:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
Historic building owners and others who want to learn about how to preserve and maintain their properties now have access to a series of short courses in historic preservation trades.Five new courses on preservation technology will be offered at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology begin......
2009-12-09 06:39:00
KIMBERLY MARSELAS
Concerned that the developer who built their neighborhood wants to make way for a convenience store at the community's edge, dozens of Ephrata Township residents recently asked the board of supervisors to deny a rezoning request along Route 322.About 40 residents of the Lincoln's M......
2009-12-02 10:24:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Lancaster County is a model that communities across the nation can use to see how smart growth can bring environmental sustainability, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.On Tuesday, EPA presented the Lancaster County Planning Commission its 2009 National Award for Smart ......
2009-11-13 08:04:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Wisdom, attorney Tom Scott said Thursday, "is no less wise if it's somewhat late in arriving."When it comes to the proposed Cheswicke development, eyed for one of suburban Lancaster's prime locations, "the time for moving this project forward has arrived," Scott emphasized.Across th......
2009-11-13 07:04:00
TIM MEKEEL
A consumer-pharmaceutical maker will build the county's largest solar-energy project, it was announced Thursday.Johnson & Johnson/Merck in Greenfield Corporate Center will construct a $3.3 million system with the help of an $876,000 state grant.The photovoltaic system, which wil......
2009-10-29 16:15:00
JANE HOLAHAN
George Mummert's work is all around Lancaster, including the "Serenity Tree" that stands in the Downtown Pavilion at Lancaster General Hospital and the 2003 bronze statue of Thaddeus Stevens that presides over the school of technology that bears the famed abolitionist's name....
2009-10-27 06:09:00
AD CRABLE
Picture a paved trail friendly to walkers, bikes and whatnot, tracing the Susquehanna from Columbia to nearly the Dauphin County line.It would flow through placid river bottom woods, restored wetlands and farm fields.It would pass picnic areas, historic iron furnace sites, an arched......
2009-09-26 00:16:00
TIM MEKEEL
In the back of a thick document released by county planners last week is buried an eye-catching nugget: Franklin & Marshall College will be launching a College of Nursing and Medical Sciences. The new nursing college will be part of the massive redevelopment of the Dillerville Yard ......
2009-09-15 10:23:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster County officials today will submit a $91.5 million grant application that promises to increase traffic flow on Harrisburg Pike, reknit long-severed streets, improve walking and bicycling and ensure the economic vitality of the corridor into the future.The application is to the fe......
2009-08-30 00:21:00
JON RUTTER
Wal-Mart has "officially dropped" plans to build a store in Manor Township. That was the word last week from Jason Klipa, the mega-retailer's senior spokesman in Pennsylvania. The e-mailed message prompted mixed reactions from government officials and citizens who have res......
2009-07-26 00:10:00
PAULA WOLF
A year-and-a-half after the Red Rose Council of the Blind requested audible traffic signals, the city confirmed last week that they will be installed at four downtown Lancaster intersections. Charlotte Katzenmoyer, Lancaster's director of public works, said via e-mail that there are plans t......
2009-07-22 08:02:00
TOM KNAPP
Plans for a 405-unit residential development along Route 23 received preliminary plan approval Monday from the East Lampeter Township Planning Commission.But representatives for the Warrington development said later the depressed housing market will dictate how quickly those homes will be ......
2009-06-30 20:30:00
JAMES BUESCHER
It's a part of the "green revolution" that local governments are only starting to look at now: with urban areas being well-served by train, bus and public transportation options, what about rural areas where depending on the family car is a daily necessity?"In Lancaster ......
2009-06-27 00:46:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
It's been talked about and anticipated for more than 10 years, and now the time for talk and anticipation is over.On Monday, ground will be broken for the long-awaited $8.5 million makeover of the aging Lancaster train station.Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray will take part in turning ......
2009-06-25 00:04:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Lancaster County Commissioners awarded $1.5 million in grants Wednesday for road projects as part of the county's 2009 Municipal Grant Program.Thirteen grants — for either studies or road, bridge and streetscape enhancement projects — have been given, according to James Cow......
2009-06-23 23:26:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Lancaster General Hospital's efforts to construct a new hospital on 68 acres in West Earl Township took another step forward Monday when hospital representatives came before West Earl supervisors to request changes to the municipality's zoning ordinance.Giving a presentation almost......
2009-06-12 09:58:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Woods Avenue is a tree-lined block of turn-of-the-20th-century homes just outside the city limits in Lancaster Township. Castleton is a mixed-use, turn-of-the-21st-century housing development just outside Marietta in East Donegal Township. Despite their development a century apart, Woods A......
2009-06-11 00:46:00
P.J. REILLY
Ownership of the bulk of the undeveloped land on Sunnyside peninsula is about to change hands.But whether the decade-old plans to build a neighborhood of mixed housing will be carried out remains to be seen.The Lancaster County Planning Commission on Monday reviewed the county's......
2009-06-10 10:57:00
BERNARD HARRIS
A transportation study that listed keys to unlocking gridlocked Harrisburg Pike won a national award last year. Now, local officials are hoping it will catch the eye of the U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Lancaster County transportation officials on Monday voted to package the Ha......
2009-05-19 00:54:00
JENNIFER TODD
A $19 million transportation project that includes replacement of the Lititz Pike bridge and significant redesign of traffic patterns in the city's northeast is still on track to begin in 2012, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials said Monday.Environmental studies are be......
2009-05-17 00:16:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Growth is on the ballot in Tuesday's primary election. Not explicitly, of course. But in this off-year election, the most controversial races have centered around the development of Lancaster County, and how that growth should be controlled — or thwarted. Growth is the major i......
2009-05-11 00:00:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster Leaf Tobacco wants to expand.And it expects the expansion would lead to the creation of 25 new jobs at the company's headquarters at 207 and 209 Pitney Road.Lancaster County Planning Commission today is scheduled to review the company's proposal to build a 75,500-s......
2009-04-29 10:05:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Two months ago the Lancaster County Commissioners adopted a sweeping plan that emphasizes preserving the county's remaining woodlands and open spaces and creating a network of "greenway" trails. Lancaster City now wants to create its own "green infrastructure" plan, but the city's focus is much......
2009-04-20 00:56:00
CIVIA KATZ
When Rapho Township applied for a county grant to upgrade an intersection, it said Penn Township and Manheim Auto Auction would cover close to half of the projected costs. But both those entities said they never agreed to the deal, and the auction said it was never even contacted about the matter......
2009-04-15 09:45:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The sagging economy has at least one upside. With strong competition for the work, bids for the Lancaster Amtrak Station renovation came in under budget Tuesday. Low bids for the five contracts totaled less than $8.4 million. Last year, before the economic recession rocked the nation, $12 ......
2009-03-24 10:30:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Brett Miller and Doug Brubaker are East Hempfield Township supervisors, while Brenda Becker is the superintendent of Hempfield School District. Mike Fitzgibbons is a veteran emergency responder in the community, while John Chesters and Art Ezard are community residents. These are some of t......
2009-03-24 10:12:00
CHAD UMBLE
For years, the Lancaster County Planning Commission has preached the merits of building homes closer together in some areas to help leave room for farmland in other areas. On Monday, county planners looked at housing proposals — in Millersville Borough and Earl Township — that would......
2009-03-10 00:57:00
TOM KNAPP
The economic downturn has brought unexpected benefits to Elizabethtown Borough.An ambitious improvement project that would create a second downtown around the borough's deteriorating train station is in line for an $8 million boost from Washington, D.C.The federal plan to stimul......
2009-03-06 10:39:00
CHAD UMBLE
County planners are weighing in on what has been the critical issue for Drumore Crossing, as the legal status of the six-year-old proposal for the shopping center near the Buck remains stalled. On Monday, the Lancaster County Planning Commission will review sewage-treatment plans for the develo......
2009-02-26 00:39:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Lancaster County commissioners unanimously adopted a new element to their environmental plan Wednesday designed to preserve and connect green areas in the county while allowing for smart development.The initiative, called Greenscapes, is now part of the county's comprehensive plan, &qu......
2009-02-25 10:30:00
CHAD UMBLE
A lot of Lancaster County's green space has been used up or changed by development, so county officials are making careful plans about managing what remains. Today, Lancaster County Commissioners adopted a blueprint for "green infrastructure" that emphasizes preserving woods and open spaces and......
2009-01-30 00:41:00
JEFF HAWKES
The first thing to be said is Jim Miller served on the Government Study Commission and worked hard in the failed effort to have the county adopt a home-rule charter. Miller's ardent advocacy would not have gone unnoticed by county commissioners Scott Martin and Dennis Stuckey, who sought the ......
2009-01-29 00:19:00
P.J. REILLY
The appraised value, which also is the starting price, is $460,000, although the property is assessed at a much lower price.•••The county-owned building at 225 W. King St. is for sale to the highest bidder, with the price starting at $4......
2009-01-27 10:40:00
CINDY STAUFFER
"Hybrid homes" and a green building plan are part of a $60 million expansion being proposed at Landis Homes in Manheim Township. The retirement community hopes to add 142 cottages and "hybrid homes," a cross between an apartment and a cottage, that would accommodate about......
2009-01-27 00:53:00
P.J. REILLY
The county-owned building at 225 W. King St. goes up for sale this week.On Monday, the county planning commission unanimously recommended "that the board of county commissioners proceed with the proposed sale," according to a document attached to the planners' meeting agenda.......
2009-01-25 00:17:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
The economic stimulus legislation now wending its way through Congress could bring more than $54 million to Lancaster County for local transportation projects. The draft stimulus bill released by the House Appropriations Committee earlier this month proposed $30 billion in highway and bridge sp......
2009-01-15 10:00:00
CHAD UMBLE
"It is bright, it's airy it's new, it's clean," Charlie Douts, the county administrator, said while taking a reporter on a tour of county government's new headquarters. Last week, commissioners left the offices of their predecessors and moved from the Lancaster County ......
2009-01-02 21:19:00
TOM KNAPP
Correction — United Way of Lancaster County saw a 30 percent increase in the number of volunteers and a 23 percent increase in the number of people donating items for holiday programs. A story posted on LancasterOnline Thursday didn't no......
2008-12-30 09:13:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Once again, Lancaster is basking in a positive review. Lancaster has been named the eighth most secure place to live among mid-sized cities in the United States, according to the Fifth Annual Farmers Insurance Group of Companies study. Michael Sprunger, executive director of Lancaster C......
2008-12-11 01:25:00
JEFF HAWKES
Chain saws would be on the way out. Bird-watching scopes would be in.And across intensively farmed Lancaster County, forests would make an improbable comeback.A call for reforestation is the surprising and welcome objective of a new land-use planning document that rejects the centur......
2008-12-08 10:46:00
AD CRABLE
The environment, both urban and rural, is about to become a major focus in the future development of Lancaster County. A new "green infrastructure" blueprint for the county's updated comprehensive plan proposes a bold new emphasis on preserving woods, waterways and open spaces as ......
2008-12-02 00:43:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Lancaster County residents of the past felt there was something special about this place. Modern residents can feel that, too, thanks in part to the work of Lancaster County Planning Commission.The commission was formed 50 years ago. Because of its work since that time, "this is one o......
2008-11-16 00:19:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
It's actually been a pretty good year for Larry Wisdom's company, Keystone Custom Homes, which built and sold about as many homes in 2008 — 300 — as it did in 2007. And if you think the status quo is nothing to get excited about, you haven't paid much attention to the na......
2008-10-28 00:01:00
Jeff Hawkes
This land — all 629,880 acres — is your land. What's to become of it?That's been the guiding question for Lancaster County Planning Commission, an advisory body marking its 50th anniversary this month.At this milestone, a good question to ask is this: How well ha......
2008-10-16 11:09:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Almost as soon as it got started, a plan for a $150 million mix of offices, stores, hotels and senior housing in suburban Lancaster came to a quick halt Wednesday. It came to a halt because officials in East Hempfield Township, where the project by Hershey developer Jim Nardo was propos......
2008-09-19 11:16:00
RYAN ROBINSON and DAVID O’CONNOR
The Lancaster County Planning Commission on Monday will consider a Target store for Warwick Township and a 78-room hotel for East Lampeter Township. Developer Warwick Devco wants to expand the Shoppes at Kissel Village shopping center northward to include a 133,500-square-foot Target store and ......
2008-09-17 00:06:00
TOM KNAPP
Local officials hope to encourage the use of "green roof" technology in Lancaster by showing people how it's done in the Philadelphia area.The Lancaster County Lancaster County Roof Greening Project has organized a bus tour Thursday for building owners, engineers, architects,......
2008-08-23 01:08:00
P.J. REILLY
With all the revitalization going on in downtown Columbia, borough Mayor Leo Lutz sees a day when the streets are bustling with residents, tourists and new workers. And one thing Lutz knows all those people are going to need is a place to park. "Parking is becoming a real premium in C......
2008-08-03 00:20:00
GIL SMART
At 9 a.m. Friday morning, Don Davis had the door to his little wooden booth propped open so the air could circulate as he counted the morning take. Business is always brisk here at the Lancaster Amtrak station's long-term parking lot, but Fridays are a little mellower, said Davis, who works......
2008-07-31 01:50:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
The five miles of Harrisburg Pike from Prince Street in Lancaster to State Road in East Hempfield Township comprise one of the most heavily traveled stretches of road in the county.Figuring out how to accommodate all that traffic is the goal of the Harrisburg Pike Transportation and Land U......
2008-07-28 19:24:00
JAMES BUESCHER
It's a section of Route 30 that's seen as a "gateway" to Lancaster County: an area stretching from the East Towne Mall to Route 896 near Rockvale Outlets, a place that, at one time, was celebrated for its rolling hills, Amish farmsteads and idyllic streams but is now better know......
2008-07-23 00:04:00
P.J. REILLY
The expansion of the workforce at Aberdeen Proving Ground is under way.About 140 civilian employees are expected to arrive at the northeastern Maryland base this week, Frank Behlau, director of community planning for Lancaster County Planning Commission, said.Those employees are the......
2008-07-17 00:53:00
MICHAEL YODER
Supervisors in East Hempfield Township unanimously rejected a zoning ordinance Wednesday night that would have permitted high-density housing developments in the municipality's R-1 residential zone.Attorney Stacey Morgan of Hartman, Underhill and Brubaker spoke at Wednesday's publi......
2008-07-14 00:31:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County Planning Commission members today are expected to approve plans to tear down and rebuild the Bowmansville service plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.The service plaza on the south side of the turnpike in Brecknock Township is one of several projects the commission will rev......
2008-06-25 00:03:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER
Mount Joy's Risser Mill Bridge, burned down by an arsonist six years ago, will be replaced by two bridges — one covered and one modern — according to plans.A hearing on the plans for the modern concrete bridge will be held at 7 p.m. tonight at the Mount Joy Campus of t......
2008-06-23 11:03:00
AD CRABLE
County planners are taking a dim view of a proposed interstate natural gas pipeline, about 8 miles of which would cross farmland, woods and a national historic district in southern Lancaster County. The 88-mile Mid-Atlantic Express pipeline would carry natural gas unloaded from overseas at a te......
2008-06-18 00:35:00
P.J. REILLY
The Amtrak train station in Elizabethtown has seen a lot of traffic in recent years.With gas prices climbing, it could get busier.Even if use of the station doesn't increase, borough officials recognize it needs a facelift.Its platforms are badly in need of repair, its pa......
2008-06-12 11:28:00
BERNARD HARRIS
More than a decade after planning began, renovations to Lancaster's Amtrak station are finally on track. Additional parking, shops, a separate area for Trailways bus passengers and a station driveway realigned with North Duke Street are planned. Funding for the $12 million project w......
2008-06-10 09:21:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster is no Honolulu, but it's not Lexington, Ky., either. In fact, Lancaster did quite well in a recent Brookings Institution study ranking the carbon emissions from the 100 metropolitan areas nationwide. Lancaster ranked 23rd, well behind Honolulu, where the mild climate and shor......
2008-06-09 12:04:00
RYAN ROBINSON
The real-life Monopoly game continues along the Route 30 strip in East Lampeter, as yet another large hotel is planned. The Lancaster County Planning Commission was set to consider plans for a 121-room, four-story Value Place Hotel at its regular meeting this afternoon. The 2.6-acre sit......
2008-06-03 10:49:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
The first issue is a big one to the two older neighorhoods' 200 homeowners — people who say they won't be able to pay to hook up to public sewers, as they might have to. The second is one of the longer-running disputes ever in Manor Township, over plans to build a Wal-Mart superce......
2008-05-29 01:34:00
JEFF HAWKES
"No need to travel!" a cynical sailor in Melville's "Moby Dick" declares. "The world's one Lima."Goodness, if that's how Melville felt in the 1850s, what would he say about the monotony of today's McDonaldized world?With every destinatio......
2008-05-28 00:47:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Barring any unforeseen dissension by the Lancaster County Planning Commission, Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz believes the Route 441 bypass will go forward — and with 100 percent funding by the state.During the "Columbia — The Past as a Bridge to the Future" program, which w......
2008-05-25 00:18:00
GIL SMART
Start at Village Grande, along Harrisburg Pike in East Hempfield Township. Say you live in the neighborhood, and have an appointment at the Lancaster General Health Campus, less than half a mile away. In theory, you could walk, but there are no sidewalks. Sauntering along the busy road, you tak......
2008-05-22 01:47:00
P.J. REILLY
The top goal of Lancaster County's Transportation Improvement Plan is clear: fix local bridges.Dave Royer, director of transportation for the county planning commission, said that priority comes straight from Gov. Ed Rendell."We're definitely focusing on our existing in......
2008-05-22 01:42:00
JENNIFER TODD
Route 30 East is Lancaster County's most recognizable and most visited tourist destination, but the bustling corridor is quickly losing its identity as a thriving business district.That's the conclusion of a new county-level look at the highway.A lack of coordinated planning......
2008-05-16 11:57:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Spring planting was a tall order on Lancaster's East Fulton Street. It took place about 25 feet up. And rather than your typical crops or garden-variety plants, landscapers working on the new National Novelty Brush Co. building spread cuttings from sedums onto a coconut fiber mat. The ......
2008-05-15 11:10:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Many Lancaster residents drive out of their way to avoid the conglomeration of commerce along the "Route 30 tourist strip." Too much traffic. Too many signs. Too much haphazard development. Too little scenery worth seeing. It doesn't have to be that way, county planners say. ......
2008-05-11 00:20:00
GIL SMART
Dianne Mousley's had enough. Every day, she drives the Fruitville Pike from her home in Manheim Township to her job in Lancaster. Every day it's the same: Start. Stop. Red light after red light along one of the county's busiest corridors — a corridor that, she thinks, might be......
2008-04-27 00:04:00
DENNIS LARISON
Anyone in Pennsylvania can start a home-based business as long as it doesn't disrupt the neighborhood. But there are a number of restrictions and regulations that owners have to meet, depending on the nature of their businesses. A good place to start for someone planning a home-based busine......
2008-04-20 00:20:00
GIL SMART
Pity the poor commuter. Take Ruth Stumpf of Lancaster. For eight years she's worked for AXA Advisors, a financial services firm, in the company's Oregon Pike office. But then in February, she got word that she was being transferred to the company's office in Harrisburg. On Linglesto......
2008-04-07 00:06:00
JAMES BUESCHER
The Route 30 corridor east of Lancaster city serves as a gateway to the region for millions of visitors every year, but what greets them is a congested commercial landscape.County officials hope a consulting firm's study will reveal ways to reinvigorate the strip of hotels, outlet mall......
2008-04-03 01:41:00
JEFF HAWKES
More than 90 jobs are being cut at Adamstown's Bollman Hat Co. One hundred or so office jobs at Armstrong World Industries may soon be history.Construction of a Home Depot at Schaum's Corner was abruptly halted. Meanwhile, commercial construction is off 40 percent; home building is......
2008-03-31 11:34:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
On the drive to Donegal High School, there are pockets of homes and then stretches of farmland. It seems as if there is plenty of room in this western county school district. But there is not plenty of space in the classrooms. Donegal School District buildings have become overcrowded &mdas......
2008-03-27 00:24:00
MADELYN PENNINO
A roofer by trade, Chris Ortiz spends long days at construction sites.Lately, instead of always heading home at quitting time, Ortiz attends an evening class on vintage wood window repair at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology.The class is offered through a partnership between th......
2008-03-23 00:17:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
With ownership of the 23-mile Enola Low-Grade Line soon to revert to seven municipalities along the line, two local governments have agreed to try to preserve as many of the line's historic structures as possible. Three others have yet to act on the "memorandum of understanding" drafted by the ......
2008-03-19 02:15:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County Commissioner Craig Lehman frequently commuted to Harrisburg by train during the 15 years he worked as a budget analyst for state House Democrats.It was a stress-free, comfortable way to travel between Lancaster and the state Capitol, he said."I've always be......
2008-03-18 11:34:00
BERNARD HARRIS and RYAN ROBINSON
Columbia and Gap are the apparent winners and proponents of a new Route 23 in eastern Lancaster County are the losers in the latest slicing up of the transportation-funding pie. A draft plan released Monday by the Lancaster County Planning Commission shows funding for the relocation of Route 44......
2008-03-10 00:49:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Four little words.They may not look like much on paper, but some fear their inclusion in a regional comprehensive plan being developed for Drumore, East Drumore, Fulton and Little Britain townships could go far toward reshaping the rural character of southern Lancaster County.At Thu......
2008-03-09 00:20:00
GIL SMART
Spring is just around the corner. Be prepared to stop. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation kicks off its 2008 season Monday with two big projects getting under way. The first, and one of the most expensive projects planned in the county this year, is $11.36 million in improv......
2008-02-29 11:04:00
CHAD UMBLE
Explaining Lancaster County's rich and varied heritage is the subject of two new efforts. In separate events, planners discussed ways to highlight the uniqueness of the region's history, and in particular to build an image around the Susquehanna River for Columbia, Marietta and Wrightsv......
2008-02-28 10:43:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Does an indoor riding arena belong amid hundreds of acres of rolling crop fields? West Earl Township supervisors will answer that question in considering a proposal to expand an on-farm business. Kristine Phelps, of 288 S. Fairmount Road, Ephrata, wants to build a 6,048-square-foot barn fo......
2008-02-28 01:01:00
P.J. REILLY
Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz says his town has invested 10 years and millions of dollars in an effort to build a bypass and move the truck traffic on Route 441 out of the borough.Though PennDOT has proposed putting the $18 million project on the back burner, Lutz is mounting a campaign to convi......
2008-02-24 00:19:00
CHIP SMEDLEY
"History is not a prison," say historians. But at Wednesday night's meeting of the city Planning Commission, history became a hot and stuffy room from which neither Franklin & Marshall College nor its neighbors could escape. In Lancaster City Council chambers, a debate on an F......
2008-02-21 11:15:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Franklin & Marshall College officials on Wednesday promised a bright future for their neighbors in northwest Lancaster City. The college, working with real estate developer Kevin Silverang, wants to renovate existing off-campus student apartments and control student behavior for what it ......
2008-02-19 02:03:00
PATRICK BURNS
The owners of an Intercourse publishing company Monday unveiled a $45 million development plan designed to upgrade accommodations for the hundreds of thousands of people who visit the small village each year.Merle and Phyllis Good, owners of Good Enterprises Ltd., which includes a publishi......
2008-02-18 00:58:00
JAMES BUESCHER
It's an industry that employs about 36,000 people in Lancaster County and one the state ranks as its second-leading industry after health care.According to Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitor's Bureau, it's not agriculture — it's tourism.And thanks to a new effort by Lan......
2008-02-12 11:00:00
CHAD UMBLE
The Lancaster-York Heritage Region is launching a new program in Lancaster County that will designate a wider range of products and experiences as historically authentic. Formerly, the group only lent its imprimatur to historic buildings, businesses and events. Now, they'll consider giving that......
2008-02-12 02:10:00
JEFF HAWKES
Given that husbands and wives butt heads over what to buy and how much to spend, it's little wonder economic issues so often pit neighbor against neighbor.Want some examples? Not long ago, Manheim Township was in an uproar over expanding the high school. In 2005, a countywide library t......
2008-02-09 01:48:00
JAMES BUESCHER
A year after Drumore Township supervisors agreed to cut a deal with the developer of a proposed shopping hub near the Buck, the municipality is facing possible litigation over a potential breach of contract.Citing attorney-client privilege, Drumore attorney Kim Carter Patterson was able to......
2008-02-02 12:06:00
TIM MEKEEL
Wanting to preserve our county's historic structures is one thing. Having the skilled people who can do it is another. To help meet a high demand for those abilities, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology will offer the first preservation technology program in the state, beginning lat......
2008-02-01 02:18:00
JEFF HAWKES
These uncertain economic times heighten the urgency of the task businessman and longtime civic leader James Shultz is shouldering.Shultz, development manager for Charter Homes, is co-chairing a first-ever effort to quantify the strengths and weaknesses of Lancaster County's transitioni......
2008-01-27 00:21:00
GIL SMART
The Knarr family escaped from New York, in part, because they had nowhere to run. "My kids had an 8-by-10 piece of grass they could run around on," said Fred Knarr. Here, the family stretched out on a half-acre in East Hempfield Township. Life was good. Until it seemed New York h......
2008-01-25 11:55:00
JACK BRUBAKER
East Hempfield Township supervisors last week turned down an ordinance that would have permitted an enormous new traditional neighborhood development called Independence. Does that rejection damage the future of TNDs in Lancaster County? No, planners say. Not really. Something similar......
2008-01-14 00:03:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County planners today are scheduled to consider a proposal to build 176 new homes along Cocalico Creek in Ephrata Township.The Planning Commission staff is recommending approval of the plan submitted by developer Gerry Horst for 81 acres at the intersection of Mohler Church Road ......
2008-01-11 12:09:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Thousands of East Hempfield Township residents signed a petition saying "no" to intensely concentrated development permitted by a proposed traditional neighborhood development ordinance. Hundreds protested at meetings and posted "NO TND" signs in their yards. Townshi......
2008-01-05 01:56:00
STAFF REPORT
Lancaster County has been notified by first lady Laura Bush, honorary chair of the Preserve America initiative, that it has been designated as one of the nation's newest Preserve America Communities."Preserve America Communities demonstrate that they are committed to preserving Am......
2007-12-30 00:18:00
CHIP SMEDLEY
Delinquent landlords who use delaying tactics to fend off prosecutors may find themselves fighting a two-front war. One against a city government that promises more vigorous enforcement of its housing codes and the closing of existing loopholes in its system, another against a state considering......
2007-12-30 00:17:00
CHIP SMEDLEY
Jeri Stumpf sits in a diner and worries about the future of urban neighborhoods. He puts a coffee cup in the middle of an empty placemat and says, "This is your investment. Maybe it's a retail business. Maybe," he shrugs, "it's a convention center. Your investment is surr......
2007-12-26 00:03:00
JOHN FRIEL
Agricultural preservation issues are cropping up again in Salisbury Township.In June, a proposal to amend Salisbury's zoning ordinance drew a standing-room-only crowd, including many Plain-sect farmers. Supervisor Lester Houck told the audience then that Agricultural Preserve Board off......
2007-12-20 01:39:00
P.J. REILLY
After approving the third tax hike in four years, the county commissioners voted to set aside $9.3 million for farmland preservation.•••Lancaster County commissioners Wednesday approved a 7.1 percent tax hike for 2008.That means ......
2007-12-18 00:08:00
JENNIFER TODD
They cited concerns about traffic, education and the effects on the general infrastructure — but the bottom line is, many residents of East Hempfield Township feel that adoption of a proposed ordinance allowing "traditional neighborhood development" would lower their quality of li......
2007-12-16 00:04:00
PAULA WOLF
As the conversion of the former Armstrong World Industries flooring plant moves forward, Lancaster developer Ed Drogaris has revised his plans for a companion project to better complement what Franklin & Marshall College and Lancaster General Hospital will be doing there. More than two year......
2007-12-10 00:05:00
P.J. REILLY
The transformation of the Armstrong World Industries property in the city's northwest corner keeps chugging along.With demolition of the former Armstrong floor plant recently completed, Lancaster County Planning Commission today is scheduled to review the infrastructure development pla......
2007-12-09 00:19:00
GIL SMART
Rob Bowman clicks a remote, and the flat-screen television hanging on the wall of the conference room flickers. "Three thousand homes can look like this," he says; the image depicts a small town called "Independence." Built upon a 309-acre tract bordered by Route 283, State ......
