Jim speaks about the "Implementable Comprehensive Plan" at annual APA Conference in Chicago

Jim Pashek and Denny Puko (from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development) presented a new model for planning communities across the country.  Their approach, the “Implementable Comprehensive Plan” focuses on outcomes, not the process alone and relies heavily on public involvement and matching planning recommendations to the capacity of the community.  According to Puko, “history shows that plans with hundreds of recommendations simply don’t lead to positive change in our municipalities.”

Their new planning process includes five keys for an implementable plan:

• Focus the plan on relevant, real community issues
• Organize the plan the way local officials and citizens think
• Devise practical and workable recommendations
• Recruit partners and create capacity to implement the plan
• Get local ownership of the plan – commitment to implement it

The presentation was very well received with over 100 people attending the session at 7:30am on the last day of the conference.  Thanks go to Bruce Betty, John Trant, and Allen Cohen for providing a western PA cheering section at the session in Chicago.

If you would like to learn more about how your community can prepare an Implementable Comprehensive Plan, please contact Jim at Pashek Associates or Denny at DCED.

What Impacts Will the Oil and Gas Industry Have on Your Community?

How does a community proactively plan for the impacts of the oil and gas industry?  This is one of the most important issues we are exploring with Crawford County while developing their Comprehensive Plan.  Jim Pashek presented some interesting information to the Crawford County Oil and Gas Task Force on Friday, February 22^nd.  Here are a few fun facts that we discovered while conducting our research for the County’s plan:

• The truck traffic generated by a single drilling site is the weight equivalent of 14,400,000 standard cars using the roadway.  Imagine the impact of 14 million cars on the small locally-maintained roads!
• Workers, typically young males that have been transplanted from Oklahoma or Texas, want to live within 13 miles of their worksite.  Is there available housing/lodging in your community for these workers?  If these workers displace existing residents, are there other housing options available to these residents?
• This is a 24-hour industry and 12-hour shifts are common.  How might local businesses change their hours of operation or products to capitalize on the economic opportunities presented by the industry? 

This cross-section was compiled by Geology.com using data provided by the Energy Information Administration [1], the United States Geological Survey [2], the Pennsylvania Geological Survey [3], and the U.S. Department of Energy [4].

The impacts spread wider than these of course.  There are environmental challenges and requests for information and permits at county and local government offices will undoubtedly increase.  Pashek Associates and the County are both learning how the impacts of this industry can spread into many different facets of life in the County.