What is a comprehensive plan?
Under the updated Pennsylvania Municipalities Plan Code (MPC), the enabling legislation for comprehensive plans, four types of plans are defined. A municipal, multi-municipal, county and specific plan. A municipal plan covers a single municipality. A comprehensive plan is not an ordinance or regulation. It is an adopted document that establishes a municipality’s planning policy and includes recommendations to meet those polices to guide land use regulation and other planning actions and decisions, typically for a 10 year timeframe.
All comprehensive plans are subject to the following four common criteria: 1) contain basic plan elements set forth in (MPC) Section 301(a); 2) contain a plan for the reliable supply of water, considering current and future water resources availability; 3) be reviewed every 10 years, and 4) “…identify those areas where growth and development will occur so that a full range of public infrastructure, including sewer, water, highways, police and fire protection, public schools, parks open space and other services can be adequately planned and provided as needed to accommodate growth.”
Municipal plans are to be reviewed at least every 10 years and at that time sent to contiguous municipalities for review and comment. The MPC encourages municipalities to adopt municipal or multimunicipal comprehensive plans that are generally consistent with the respective county comprehensive plan.
MPC Section 301 (a) requires each municipal, multimunicipal and county comprehensive plan to have nine elements. Collectively these basic elements should present a composite vision of private and public development for the future based on a statement of community development goals and objectives. Each and every basic element is linked, interrelated or connected. For example, resident population data equates to housing needs, demographics such as age cohorts can relate to housing types and educational needs, both present and future. There are a multitude of interrelationships among and between the required comprehensive plan elements.
A summary of the required plan elements derived from MPC sections 301 (a) follows:
- A statement of community development goals and objectives that chart the location, character and timing of future development.
- A plan for land use identifying the amount, intensity, character and timing of land use.
- A plan to meet housing needs of present residents and those families anticipated to live in the municipality as well as accommodating new housing in different dwelling types and at appropriate densities for households of all income levels.
- A transportation plan.
- A community facilities plan.
- A statement of the interrelationships among the various plan components which estimates the environmental, energy conservation, fiscal, economic development and social consequences on the municipality.
- A discussion of short- and long-range plans implementation strategies.
- A statement indicating that existing and proposed development is compatible with plans and development in contiguous municipalities. This statement should indicate that existing and proposed development is generally consistent with the objectives and plans of the county comprehensive plan.
- A plan for the protection of natural and historic resources to the extent the municipalities are not limited by other federal or state statutes, these resources include, wetlands, aquifer recharge zones, woodlands, steep slopes, prime agricultural land, flood plain, unique natural areas and historic sites.
*(excerpts from The Comprehensive Plan in Pennsylvania, Planning Series #3 by the Governor’s Center for Local Government Services, August 2001, with additions by the Chester County Planning Commission)
