The Lancaster County Planning Commission will use U.S. EPA Smart Growth in Brownfields Communities grant funding to create a Specific Plan in partnership with Manheim Township and the City of Lancaster. This plan will be designed to:
(a) Reconnect various areas of the community through a coherent and
cohesive visioning and land use plan;
(b) Revitalize the economic base by recycling industrial land consistant
with job producing opportunities tied to clean growth industries;
(c) Improve and/or build on infrastructure and public/private partnerships
that will help attract a variety of uses needed to support residents,
prospective employers and visitors;
(d) Strengthen opportunities to retain current residents and attract infill
development in the form of new, mixed-use development that will
retain and enhance the sense of community.
The project will provide a template that others can follow as well as serve as a foundation for improving the regulatory climate so as to provide incentives for smart growth.
The study area for the project consists of approximately 600 acres and encompasses portions of Manheim Township and Lancaster City. See Exhibit 1 for a map of the proposed project area. The existing Lancaster Amtrak Station serves as the nucleus of the project area which also includes a closed foundry site, and underutilized stockyard facility (once the largest facility of its size on the east coast), a sprawling, century-old, industrial complex, and scattered commercial and industrial properties including several brownfield areas. The study area is dissected by major transportation corridors including State Route 222, Fruitville Pike, Manheim Pike, Lititz Pike and Harrisburg Pike as well as a network of local roads and both freight and passenger rail lines.
The project will provide for enhanced coordination between on-going and contemplated redevelopment projects within the study area. The renovation of the Lancaster Amtrak Train Station, which serves as both the focal point and catalyst for this project, will shortly be underway. Other projects in progress in the vicinity include the Clipper Magazine Stadium, home of the Lancaster Barnstormers minor-league ball club; the redevelopment of the former Stehli Silk Mill at the east end of the study area into a dynamic mixed-use project; and the relocation of the corporate headquarters of Charter Homes to an historically prominent site on North Prince Street, a corridor that is currently experiencing renewed investment. Franklin and Marshall College, at the west end of the study area, expects to accentuate its presence along Harrisburg Pike with a planned series of significant capital improvements that will expand opportunities for investment in the surrounding area.
Additional information about this project will be posted as it becomes available.
