Saxonburg works on refreshing comprehensive plan
SAXONBURG — The borough has just started the process of updating its comprehensive plan for the first time since 1999.
Discussions on how to update the comprehensive plan have been ongoing for four years, but the process officially began at the Tuesday monthly meeting, when the Saxonburg borough council unanimously gave the green light.
“We’re going to start discussions,” said Steven May, Saxonburg borough secretary and treasurer. “We’re going to look into cost and availability for everybody, and we want to make sure the public is involved in it as well.”
A comprehensive plan is a broad outline for the goals of a municipality. While Pennsylvania law recommends that municipalities update their comprehensive plan every 10 years, this is less a requirement than a guideline.
Council member Dave Johnston has experience helping create new comprehensive plans. He did so while working as planning director for Marienville 45 years ago.
“I was there about a month when I got thrown into that,” Johnston said. “I can remember an older couple coming in and telling the county commissioners that they made a bad choice with the planning director because I just didn’t have the experience, and I felt terrible.”
While it’s too early for anyone in Saxonburg to speculate on what changes will result from the new comprehensive plan, the council is promising the public will have ample involvement with the plan.
Johnston proposed any public meetings about the comprehensive plan take place at the fire hall for the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company, which can hold more people than the municipal building, which hosts the monthly council meetings.
“We need community participation to help to drive what we want our future to look like in Saxonburg,” said council president Aaron Piper. “This isn't a big enough venue to bring in our community to discuss something that extends from community.”
