PLANNING COMMISSION

The Smithfield Township Planning Commission is a five-member board appointed by the Smithfield Township Board of Supervisors.  It is the Township Planning Commission’s responsibility to monitor land usage, including zoning ordinances, building and demolition, and other land ordinances.  Copies of the Township’s Land Development and Subdivision Applications are available by clicking the following links:

Township Land Development Application

Township Subdivision Application

MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETINGS
Last Tuesday of Each Month at 7:00 p.m.
202 South 13th Street, Suite 3
Huntingdon, PA  16652

PLANNING COMMISSION MEMBERS 

Monte Furry, Chairman
7396 Shady Lane
Huntingdon, PA  16652

Barbara Hamilton, Secretary
7229 Sunny Road
Huntingdon, PA  16652

Charles (Hap) Peterson
213 South 9th Street
Huntingdon, PA  16652

Walter Gray
823 Mount Vernon Avenue
Huntingdon, PA  16652

Jeffrey Andrea
208 South 9th Street
Huntingdon, PA  16652

THE PLANNING COMMISSION
A planning commission’s primary activity is planning. Good planning helps create communities that offer better choices for where and how people live. Planning helps communities to envision their future. In Pennsylvania, planning commissions are primarily responsible for and charged with exercising a municipality’s legal right to develop a comprehensive plan that outlines its specific community planning objectives that may focus on environmental protection; agricultural, historical, and cultural resource preservation; business retention, expansion, and recruitment; urban redevelopment; housing opportunities; parks and recreation amenities; transportation and utility infrastructure; or other health, safety, and public welfare needs and issues that are critical to community’s overall wellbeing and prosperity.

Planning commissions are on the front line regarding the issues that matter most to many communities. Their leadership is crucial in developing recommendations for implementing change as well as promoting responsible and sustainable community planning practices that have not only local implications, but multimunicipal and regional implications as well.

The job of the planning commission is not an easy one, and commissioners must juggle many difficult tasks if they are to be ultimately successful. Planning commissioners are leaders in their communities, and as such, have great potential to shape the future of their homes.

As a whole, the planning commission also has many responsibilities. It is expected to oversee the growth and development of the community and to ensure that the community’s infrastructure is prepared for any growth and development that may occur. It must advise the governing body on matters relating to planning and community facility needs. It is obligated to prepare amendments to planning and planning related ordinances if such become necessary. It must bear the responsibility of advising the governing body on the action that should be taken on subdivision proposals and development plans. It can also be responsible for a variety of other activities as are specified in the Municipalities Planning Code (MPC).

The responsibilities are considerable, the consequences are important, and the tangible rewards for providing such service are usually difficult to discern. However, thousands of individuals across the commonwealth willingly provide their time and services to serve in such a capacity. They are leaders, and they are visionaries.

From: The Planning Commission in Pennsylvania, Planning Series #2, Twelfth Edition, September 2017
Governor’s Center for Local Government Services
Department of Community and Economic Development
4th Floor, Commonwealth Keystone Building
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120-0225717-787-8158717-787-8158