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Local supervisors withdraw from Planned Slate Belt plan; critic calls process flawed
Summary
Representatives from Plainfield and other townships described withdrawals from the Planned Slate Belt regional comprehensive-plan effort, with one speaker criticizing the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission's process and the timing of a cooperative implementation agreement.
A township official told Northampton County Council that several municipalities have withdrawn from the multi-municipal Planned Slate Belt comprehensive plan, and criticized the planning process and subsequent cooperative agreements.
Don Moore of Plainfield Township said Lower Mount Bethel previously withdrew and, on Aug. 25, Upper Mount Bethel also withdrew from the intermunicipal planning effort. Moore said some townships adopted the plan but balked at signing a cooperative implementation agreement tied to the plan; he and other municipal representatives pressed the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC) to address their requested changes but said many suggested edits were not made.
“Plainfield's new board of supervisors...would have voted 5–0 to not adopt the plan because the changes we asked for were in fact never made,” Moore said. He said townships perceived the plan as designed primarily for borough revitalization and argued that township land-use needs were not sufficiently considered.
Moore said the result is a reduced set of members in the original plan area — with multiple townships that emphasized farmland preservation no longer participating — and warned that the remaining plan may not meet the original multi-municipal objectives.
Why this matters: regional comprehensive plans guide land use, zoning considerations and possible farmland-preservation strategies across municipal boundaries. Several municipalities' withdrawals could weaken the plan's regional coherence and its usefulness to participating townships.
No formal council action was taken on the matter during the meeting; Moore requested that council staff receive written remarks documenting his concerns.
