A familiar face recently dropped a new album called “A Life of a Showgirl” signaling the start of a new era for Berks County native, Taylor Swift. Berks County has also started a new era as well with the development of the IMAGINE Berks Comprehensive Plan. A County’s comprehensive plan, often referred to as a comp plan, is the guiding document for the development and preservation of land in the County. The IMAGINE Berks Comprehensive Plan carries on the name from our Economic Development plan, IMAGINE Berks, but signifies a new era for Berks County’s future.
While our rollout may not be as lauded and exciting as an album announcement, this plan will play an important part in our future by identifying the wants and needs of county residents through community engagement and surveys. The new Comprehensive plan will offer new concepts for our 72 municipalities that will ensure economic growth, land use , housing and infrastructure strategies continue to align under one coordinated vision for Berks County.
Berks County’s Next Era
“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it.” – Alan Lakein
When we look to the future for Berks County, we can learn a lot by looking at what has happened in the past. Throughout the course of the comp plan development process, we will draw on thoughts and ideas identified in previous plans and examine what worked, what didn’t, and how we can learn from those outcomes.
So now you have the lore on what a comp plan is and why it is important, but what makes up a comprehensive plan? For an album, you would have a track list, for a plan, you have chapters! The key chapters that define the plan include:
Plan Chapters
- Demographics
- The Environment
- Energy Conservation
- Historic Uses, Housing
- Land Use
- The Economy
- Transportation
- Community Facilities
- Intergovernmental Topics
Each chapter of this plan is an area that impacts your day to day life. From how you get to work or school to what you see in the communities which you pass through to get there, planning directly influences the world around us. The demographic makeup of a community is ever-changing, so it is important to take note of how those changes can impact the future plans for a community. As each chapter is written, it pulls on themes and successes from the past while looking for best practices being implemented in other communities. Much like the songs on an album, the chapters of a plan can be greater than the sum of its parts.
While this list won’t be receiving any Grammy nods, it will be impacting where new development occurs, future projections for school districts, preservation of our farmland and natural resources, and where investments should be made for passive and active recreation opportunities. A comp plan is not a document made to sit on a desk, it is meant to be read, referenced, and used by county and municipal officials alike.