In June, West Goshen officially adopted its 2019 Comprehensive Plan.  Who was behind this massive body of work that will serve as a roadmap for the township for the next decade?  The West Goshen Township Comprehensive Plan Task Force.

The Comprehensive Plan Task Force was made up of members of the township administration, Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission members and residents.  Starting work in the fall of 2017, the Task Force was charged with developing the planning tool that will serve as the long-range vision the township, guiding future land use and planning decisions. It is a best practice that municipalities create a Comprehensive Plan every ten years. 

Over the course of 18 months, the Task Force identified key issues to address, engaged in healthy discussion and debate, and ultimately set forth recommendations for each of the seven priority issues that were surfaced.  The Task Force met monthly; meetings were open to the public and facilitated by consultants from Ray Ott & Associates, the firm engaged to support the project. The township successfully applied for and received a grant from Chester County’s Vision Partnership Program to partially fund this work. 

Ultimately, much time was spent addressing “the big three” issues of 1) traffic management, 2) pedestrian & bike access and 3) land use. The group mapped out the vision, goals, key projects, proposed enhancements and next steps these topics, as well as other priority issues.

“We are very pleased with the final plan,” said Task Force member Derek Davis, Assistant Township Manager and Director of Planning & Zoning.  “The plan represents our best thinking, the democratic process and the deep level of interest the Task Force brought to the project. We have a really solid piece of strategy in place now.”

From here, the Task Force will disband and the accountability for the plan will be shared across various groups in their functional roles. “Now it’s time to start working the plan,” said Davis.  In some cases, that might be as straightforward as changing something on paper or as involved as commissioning a new project. We’ll rely on everyone to do their part to help make our big picture plan a reality.”

The 2019 Comprehensive Plan replaces the 2004 Comprehensive Plan and the Task Force encourages residents to view it online here.