Wayne County Planning Commission releases 2023 report, 10-year comprehensive plan

Did you know that in 2023, there were 47 new lots created among Wayne County's 27 municipalities, with the most created in the last 10 years being 90 in 2018? Or that over 200,000 people visited the county’s interactive map in 2023?

These and a bounty of other facts about this most northeastern county in Pennsylvania are found in the newly released Wayne County Planning Commission 2023 Annual Report. There are colorful county maps and graphs telling the status and change in municipal planning reviews, applications and lots created; comprehensive plan information and a GIS mapping update; municipal ordinance reviews; state transportation plans and figures; census highlights; an updated index of municipal officials and more.

Planning Director Craig Rickard, who presented the annual report at the Feb. 22 commissioners' meeting, said that state law requires the annual plan to be released by March 1. Their nine-member volunteer board represents nine areas of Wayne County. William Troop is the chairperson.

They review and comment on each subdivision request submitted by the townships and boroughs. Rickard noted that 20 municipalities submitted 154 applications, resulting in 47 new lots and 159 parcels consolidated.

County GIS (Geographic Information Systems) activities include setting physical 911 addresses, amending building footprints, maintaining road centerlines, revising tax parcel boundaries, and updating data supporting 911 emergency dispatches. The Planning/GIS Department has an online interactive map which the public may access for tax parcels with owner information, certified 911 addresses and roads.

Overlay map layers were added showing school districts, voting districts, polling places, soil information and contour lines. The interactive map received 201,227 views in 2023, averaging over 500 views per day.

"I believe, since they produced that interactive map, it has gotten over a million hits," Rickard said.

The GIS Department also created a public web mapping application identifying cultural and outdoor recreation sites.

The report highlights the work over the past two and a half years to update the Wayne County Comprehensive Plan, which succeeds the last Comprehensive Plan published in 2010. Woodland Design Associates, Inc. and Shepstone Management Company were retained by the county to help.

The plan serves to guide governmental policies for addressing growth and change in the community. As the introduction states, "It inventories assets, identifies potential problems, suggests possible solutions and articulates the philosophy of County government with respect to current issues, anticipated growth, and changing cultural dynamics."

The process included public surveys and public meetings to gather input. Studies and plans were updated regarding transportation, housing, population and demographics, community facilities, land use, economics and more.

The resulting plan serves as a reference guide for county, municipal and private sector decision makers for the next 10 years.

The commissioners approved the Wayne County Comprehensive Plan Update, with commissioner Jocelyn Cramer voting "nay" because she felt there had not been enough time to review all the public comments.

She said thoughtful comments were submitted, which should be used to "tweak, omit or add" to the plan. "The overall product is good and very helpful," she stressed.

Cramer said she agrees with consultant Thomas Shepstone in that "it is a great document for somebody that moves in the area or wants to get involved in the area or wants to be a public leader for Wayne County."

Commissioner Chairperson Brian Smith strongly favored passing the plan that day. "I think it is a great plan. Everybody did a lot of work... It is such a fluid document we can always make changes to this plan." He noted that the interactive county map available online is something the public continues to use by residents and those who want to live here.

He said, "This has to come to a close sooner or later and utilize this as our comprehensive plan going forward." Furthermore, there were many public comments that they agreed on with Cramer, such as simple wording changes and adding solar energy information.

He and Cramer disagreed on public comments about wording pertaining to the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), Smith said, concerning what he called "arbitrarily stated regulations."

"I guess I am a bit bruised," Smith said. "I'm a farmer in the area. I think agriculture is something that has been our culture and heritage.” He said that the DRBC shut down an opportunity that would have kept his children and other young people on the farm. “The evidence is in the Susquehanna River Basin," he said.

The DRBC banned hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in the Delaware River watershed in 2021. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission, however, permits gas drilling activity, and a small portion of the Susquehanna watershed extends into Wayne County.

Smith added, "And one thing in particular I would like to see in our county is young people in our area having families and staying in our area."

Commissioner James Shook said it is a thorough plan, with most adjustments made. He agreed it was time to adopt the plan.

Cramer added, "The beauty of working in Wayne County is that differences of opinion can actually make it run better."

To access the 2023 Wayne County Annual Report, the 2024 Wayne County Comprehensive Plan, the county GIS interactive map and other reports, visit waynecountypa.gov/937/Planning-GIS.

Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Wayne County releases 2023 annual report, 10-year plan update