Neighbors Nix Proposed Traditional Neighborhood Development

"For decades, local government has operated on the belief that the best way to save farmland in Lancaster County was to encourage higher-density development in other, "urban growth" areas. East Hempfield's ordinance was to be a big step forward - maybe too big a step, local officials now acknowledge. Still, they remain convinced that this type of "smart growth" is the way to go; the East Hempfield kerfluffle, they say, was just a bump in the road.

In fact, it may be much more.

While opponents objected to many aspects of the ordinance, the broader objection was to the idea of density itself. It was too much, too out of character for the suburban community; "They were going to dump an urban setting into East Hempfield Township that the citizens did not want, and it wasn't appropriate," said township resident N. Charles Bolgiano, echoing a widely-held sentiment.

"It wasn't just that the ordinance was flawed," he said. "It was that people were opposed to it."

Seen this way, what happened in East Hempfield wasn't so much a bump in the road as a fork. And it prompts a question:

When it comes to the future of Lancaster County, who knows best - local government, or local citizens?"