Tyrone Borough officials and its planning consultant, the EADS Group of Altoona, held a public meeting Wednesday to reveal details about the efforts made so far in the process to update the town’s comprehensive plan and to work on where things go from here.
The borough has been working on the comprehensive plan for about a year. The plan is designed to evaluate housing stock, infrastructure, demographics, education facilities as well as parks and recreation. The borough hasn’t updated its plan in more than 30 years. Most such plans are good for only about a 10-year-period. The borough is also undertaking an update of its zoning ordinance as part of the project.
Most of those in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting were either members of the comprehensive planning committee or serving the borough in some capacity.
Wednesday’s meeting was the second held for public consumption. The first was held last October. The planning committee has also held a series of other meetings. The goal of Wednesday’s workshop was to review findings; issues, opportunities and trends identified so far in the planning process; receive public input and perceptions and help develop goals and objectives for the plan. The work done so far took a look at land use issues, transportation, housing stock and other factors.
Richard F. Truscello, The EADS Group’s director of planning, led the presentation, which included a slide show and a discussion with those attending the session.
Among the findings announced, Tyrone residents were identified as having a sense of place and an appreciation for a “small town” lifestyle. Truscello said such sentiments were attributed to the community, its historic buildings, churches and “all the wonderful things about Tyrone.” The findings also highlighted Tyrone’s natural resources and its proximity to regional amenities offered in State College and Altoona.
Truscello explained Tyrone has fewer limitations regarding natural resources as compared to surrounding townships. One major limitation noted was the flood plain. Two potential wetlands, one near Hutchinson Run and one near the industrial park, were also identified.
The findings also detailed a breakdown of Tyrone’s land use. Single-family dwellings made up 29 percent of the borough’s land use while 25 percent was designated as wooded. Other percentages for land use were listed as nine percent for entertainment and recreation, eight percent for manufacturing, six percent for multi-family residential and three percent for commercial use.
The findings detailed demographics including information that the borough has lost population at a higher rate than at the county level since the last comprehensive plan that was done in 1974.
The findings showed Tyrone has a slightly older population with somewhat lower average household sizes and generally a lower percentage of families.
Truscello noted that one of the major strengths of Tyrone is its community facilities including its hospital, public safety services, municipal services, cultural, religious and educational resources, churches, the local theatre group, outdoor recreational facilities along with water, sewer and other public utilities. He also noted surrounding townships benefit from the town’s community facilities.
Truscello highlighted transportation findings including data that shows significant increases in motor traffic volume on certain roads in the borough during the last 30 years including the downtown area as well as the Clay Avenue area.
The findings detected a slight growth in housing stock between 1990 and 2000. The findings showed a relatively high amount of rental properties at 38 percent. Assisted housing comprised 11 percent of the housing stock. Housing values were considered moderate. Data also showed a substantial increase in values. The findings showed Tyrone to have an older housing stock.
After Truscello presented the findings, he discussed with the group what he called “things the borough should be striving for.” The discussion included comments regarding a number of things that could or should be done in the borough.
Those issues ranged from gaining additional use for the industrial park, the long-planned downtown motel, looking for funding for further development and improvements to housing along with developing recreational uses and transportation upgrades.
Other topics discussed included looking a ways to stop the exodus of young people from leaving the area and diversifying the economy. The effects of the completion of I-99, possible growth patterns in surrounding communities and other issues were also discussed.
The next steps in the project involve reviewing the input followed by recommendations and the creation of a draft comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance update. This will be followed by a public presentation including a required hearing on the zoning update. The final steps in the plan are council approval and implementation.
The update on the comprehensive plan is a two-year process and Tyrone is about a year into the work on the project.
