|
|
|
The Snyder County Planning Commission was created on August 21, 1965, by an action by the Snyder County Board of Commissioners. The Snyder County Planning Department was created by the Snyder County Board of Commissioners on July 14, 1998, in order to assist the Snyder County Planning Commission and the Snyder County Board of Commissioners in planning and administration.
A very important responsibility of the Snyder County Planning Commission and Department (SCPC) is being an integral part of the process by which major local government decisions are made. In this process, the Snyder County Planning Commission and the Planning Department provide a long range perspective and technical planning expertise particularly as it relates to land use concerns, community development, economic development, environmental, and various social issues.
The basic strength of an organization like the SCPC is its ability to provide valued services and respected expertise to the community. The SCPC, through its staff and members, strives to maintain a high level of technical, planning, and administrative skills that can be put to work for our community.
In the rapidly changing environment of Snyder County, the SCPC must be responsive to current and emerging issues and at the same time be cognizant of the long term implications of such issues. They recognize a responsibility to review, act upon, and initiate proposals, but at the same time to maintain a comprehensive and long term perspective of the future development of Snyder County.
The job of increasing the awareness of the value of local planning is a responsibility of the SCPC. It is an obligation of the Planning Commission to demonstrate the value and success of local planning.
Within Snyder County, there are twenty-one (21) units of local government, each with its own responsibility to plan for development and redevelopment. The SCPC recognizes that often local issues may have regional consequences going beyond local political boundaries. An important role of the SCPC is therefore to help coordinate planning efforts and to help make sure that local plans and policies are inter-coordinated, compatible, and consistent.
Please click below for a list of the current Snyder County Planning Commisison membership, a copy of an application for subdivision or land development, our current fee schedule, and a table of the Snyder County Planning Commission meeting dates and subdivision plan submission deadlines. The latest addition to this list of available documents is Snyder County Ordinance Number 2006-01. This Ordinance revises the road standards required under the Snyder County Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.
|
|
|
After suffering the effects of floods, severe winter weather, and tropical storms, the Snyder County Board of Commissioners initiated a multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Planning effort. This process identified the hazards that affect Snyder County and prioritizes mitigation strategies to reduce potential loss of life and property damage from those hazards.
The goal of Snyder County’s pre-disaster hazard mitigation planning project is to make residents, businesses, property owners, operators of critical infrastructure, and municipalities less susceptible to the affects of future disasters by increasing the disaster resistance of the county and its municipalities.
|
|
|
The population of Snyder County has grown steadily since it was first created in 1855, except for a period of decline from 1880-1910. The growth since 1930 has been especially strong, averaging 12% per decade. One major factor controlling these population fluctuations is the local economy. At about the turn of the century, the industrial segment of the nation's economy grew strongly in the Country's urban areas. This was not true in rural Central Pennsylvania, and especially in Snyder County, where many people were leaving the farms for more urbanized areas in search of work. It has been since 1920 that Snyder County experienced a steady, but modest, economic development of its very own. During this time, the economy, strong in agricutlure, has increasingly taken on a growing industrial and commercial charater. With this changing economic picture came substantial population growth.
From 1920 to the present, and even during the Great Depression years, the average decennial growth rate was 12%, ranging from 9% from 1920-1940, to 7% from 1940-1950. The population of Snyder County has increased 119% since 1920, representing an additional 20,417 persons. The tables found under the following links, show the historic population growth of Snyder County.
|
|
|
|
Office of Planning
Snyder County Courthouse
P.O. Box 217
Middleburg, PA 17842
Phone: (570) 837-4257
Fax: (570) 837-4345
|
|
|
|
|
|