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Committee backs a public development tracker and renewable‑energy outreach
Summary
The Smart Growth Committee endorsed creating a publicly accessible web map listing development projects and discussed online tools to guide residents and businesses on solar and small‑wind installations; staff expect to use county parcel data and GIS to populate the system.
The Smart Growth Committee endorsed moving forward with a public, web‑based development tracker to give residents real‑time access to the status of applications and projects across the borough.
Chair Jerry Spaniak said the goal is “a single source of information available 24 by 7 on the web,” modeled on a Phoenixville map staff identified as a template. The proposal would list projects by status — applications submitted, approvals granted but not started, projects in construction stages with estimated completion dates, and recent completions — and allow searches by address or map click.
Staff said they already receive Chester County tax‑parcel data that feeds many of the borough’s application systems and that a GIS‑based interface could be integrated with daily parcel updates. One staff member said the team has begun development work and is “already kinda on first or second base with this idea.”
Separately, the committee agreed to work with the Sustainability Advisory Committee to develop simple online tools to help homeowners and small businesses evaluate renewable options. The tools would describe how to start a project, estimate installation cost and payback, identify potential grants and tax credits, and summarize permitting steps. Council member Steven Marvin suggested exploring whether zoning would allow individual small wind turbines as well as solar panels.
Spaniak also raised a preliminary effort to assess whether data centers could be viable in the borough and asked staff to collect sample ordinances from municipalities where engineers have advised on code language; RVE’s engineer had offered to provide sample ordinances for review.
Committee members asked staff to fold these goals into the year’s work plan and to return with a scope and timeline for the web tracker and renewable‑energy guidance.
