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Preserve Hershey
- Frequently Asked Questions
Welcome to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ page). Below, we have tried to answer the most common questions visitors to this our Web site may have.
- How can I express my
opinion about the recent reports of job cuts at
Hershey Foods?
Click here to take survey
- Do you have a web log where I can discuss
these issues with other Township residents?
Web Log: Please participate in the Derry Township web
log and "voice" your opinion.
Preserve Hershey
Web Blog at
http://www.seedwiki.com/
- How can I contact the
newspapers to write a letter to the editor?
Hershey Chronicle:
editor@hersheychron.com or
HersheyChron.com
Patriot-News:
letters@patriot-news.com
or
http://www.patriot-news.com/
Past issues
and actions that were effective:
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Where can I find information about the
Township of Derry including information to
contact the Township Supervisors?
See the Township
of Derry web site at http://www.derrytownship.org/
Meeting
location, dates and times here.
Email: manager@derrytownship.org
(Attn: Township Supervisors)
(you can cc us on your email by sending a
copy to:
preservehershey(no
spam)@yahoo.com)
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What more can I do?
See the Issues page
for ideas
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What is “sprawl”?
Sprawl is the constant
expansion of development into open lands.
It is the transformation of
a community that has a balance of land uses
(agricultural, residential, industrial,
commercial, forested) to one that becomes
dominated by development.
Such communities—and we
all know some of them—appear to be endless
strings of strip malls, mini-marts,
neighborhoods, and office plazas.
That is not what Hershey is, and it is
not what we want it to become.
“Suburban sprawl is
Pennsylvania’s most pressing environmental
problem.”
- Report by Pennsylvania’s 21st
Century Environment Commission (1998) (noted
in Harrisburg Patriot News, July
7, 2002)
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Why is sprawl bad?
“Sprawl wastes open land,
damages habitat and … strains public funds to
build the roads and sewers and schools that must
spread to serve a spreading population.”
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Report by Pennsylvania’s 21st
Century Environment Commission (1998) (noted
in Harrisburg Patriot News, July
7, 2002)
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What does it mean that land is zoned for
agriculture or conservation?
Agriculture/conservation
is one zoning category or classification.
Land zoned this way is often referred to
as open space or green space.
It is the land in a community that is set
aside for either no development or very
low-density development.
Development
is not prohibited on
agricultural/conservation land.
This is important to understand.
A landowner may construct homes on such
land. In Derry Township, one home may be built for every 5 acres of
agricultural/conservation land.
So, keeping such land
zoned for agriculture/conservation does not
force the landowner to keep the space as a
forest or field.
It would, however, prohibit the
construction of a dense housing development.
This is proper because such a development
would fundamentally change the character of the
land, whereas a sparse development (one home per
5 acres) would maintain the open character of
the land.
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How does rezoning worsen sprawl?
The rezoning of
agricultural/conservation land worsens sprawl
because it allows land that is dedicated to
low-density development to be used for higher
density development.
Therefore, more building occurs than
would be allowed under current zoning laws.
By refusing to rezone
agricultural/conservation land, a community
protects itself from overdevelopment and sprawl.
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Who makes the decisions to rezone
agricultural/conservation land or keep the
zoning as it is?
Here in Derry
Township, the responsibility to make these land
use decisions belongs to our Township
Supervisors.
It is important to remember that no
landowner is entitled to have land rezoned.
Like any other law, a zoning law (called
an ordinance) is a law of general
applicability—that is, it applies to everyone.
In order to have the law changed, the
landowner should be required to show that the
benefits of rezoning the land far outweigh the
harms it will cause.
(In the past case of the Nye-Hart properties,
there were many harmful effects that would be
caused by rezoning.
Click here for a
list of some of them.)
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What can residents do to prevent
agricultural/conservation land from being
rezoned?
A rezoning petition (and an
accompanying petition to amend the Comprehensive
Plan) is presented to the Township Supervisors.
The consideration of these petitions is a
public matter, so the Supervisors hold public
hearings before voting on them.
[In the case of the Nye-Hart properties,
the hearings on these two petitions will be held
on April 22 (6:00 p.m.) and April 28 (5:30 p.m.)
at the Township Building.]
That is why Concerned
Citizens is urging residents to (1) write to the
Supervisors and urge them to oppose the rezoning
of agricultural/conservation land (for
example the past issues to reject the petition to rezone
the Nye and Hart properties); and (2) attend the
public hearings and voice your opposition to
these rezoning petitions.
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Public action can inform our leaders that we
do not want land to be rezoned, but how can we
actually protect our open and green spaces?
Protecting the integrity of
our zoning laws and our Comprehensive Plan is
the first step in preserving the balance between
development and natural land.
The next step is land preservation.
To do this, governments, nonprofit
organizations, and private individuals need to
work cooperatively.
Land must be acquired
through a purchase or preserved by acquiring the
development rights (called an easement) that
prevents development on the land.
In either case, the landowner must be
compensated for their land.
This can be done with private funds,
public monies, or a combination of the two.
You can help to protect our
open spaces in at least two ways:
(1) writing to our
Supervisors and telling them that you believe
public funds should be used to protect our open
spaces; and
(2) supporting the efforts of the Derry Township
Land Trust—a nonprofit organization whose
purpose is to acquire and protect open spaces in
Derry Township.
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