Published: May 09, 2008 11:53 am         

Commissioners approve LaVale plan

CUMBERLAND - After nearly two years of discussion, the LaVale Region Comprehensive Plan was approved Thursday by the Allegany County commissioners.

The plan now includes environmentally sensitive areas, an element the Planning Commission voted against in January. The plan's approval came with a separate resolution that directs the county planning staff and commission members to re-evaluate county code and provisions relating to Planned Unit Developments.

Phil Hager, county planner, said current language in the code, adopted in the early 1980s, refers only to "planned developments."

"There has been a tremendous evolution" in comprehensive land-use planning since then, Hager said.

County Commissioner Jim Stakem said it would "help to be more specific" on what is and is not allowed in PUD-designated areas so everyone, for or against an idea, knows what's being talked about.

It would still be up to the Planning Commission, the county commissioners and the Board of Zoning Appeals, Hager said, where PUDs would be utilized.

Hager said the LaVale plan, the first of a dozen comprehensive plans, is likely the most difficult because the area had no plan for development in the past 50 years. He credited the effort of the all-volunteer Planning Commission for seeing the document through to its finish.

The commissioners also approved the hiring of S&S Planning and Design LLC of Cumberland to assist with the Georges Creek planning region. The company is headed by Benjamin Sansom, who served as county planning director for 29 years. Other S&S staff include Virginia Smith, Matthew Smith, William Sprague II and Michele King.

"It should be noted that S&S is a local firm comprised of Allegany County residents, most of whom have lived in the area their entire lives," read a memo from Hager to Acting County Administrator David Eberly.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.