Regional commission asks towns to consider sustainable transportation
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The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission added sustainability practices to its update of the region's long-range transportation and economic development plan for the first time five years ago.
Friday, at one of the many public input sessions the commission has held in recent weeks, transportation planners emphasized the need for municipalities to plan accordingly for the 2040 plan, an update of its 2035 plan.
The meeting at the Regional Enterprise Tower, Downtown, emphasized development around existing access to public transportation. This is a major tenet of the smart-growth movement, which says that when you develop jobs, housing and retail around transit systems, then economic vitality, higher quality of life and public safety will follow.
Southwest Planning is responsible for planning and setting priorities for the use of state and federal transportation money that comes to the region. Every four years, the commission updates its long-range plan. In the process, it studies every county master plan.
"The SPC doesn't create what's in its plan," said Court Gould, executive director of Sustainable Pittsburgh. "That comes from your governments."
While transportation is a focus, economic development, small business, social equity, environmental justice, air quality conformity, health and population growth are all in the mix, said Matt Pavlosky, a SPC transportation planner.
Asked by one attendee what role agriculture plays in the input so far, Lew Villotti, the agency's planning and development director, said eight of the 10 counties had linked tourism and agriculture and most considered it "an important component of economic development."
"We promote agriculture in the plan," he said.
Mr. Gould said the agency's 2035 plan "was a departure from documents prior, the stepping out point" for the agency in planning for sustainable development. The Smart Growth Conference that is held here annually now serves as a forum for public input into the agency plan, he said.
To view the plan and provide input, visit www.spcregion.org.
First Published June 13, 2011 12:00 am
