Public investment in infrastructure (roads, sewers, water supply, etc.) is perhaps the biggest determinant of the long-term land use destiny of our region. Too often, however, decision-making on public spending fails to account for a wide range of community impacts, instead taking a short-term, one-sided view. By contrast, sustainable development requires a commitment to longer term thinking that integrates concerns for the economy, the environment, and human equity.
To make improved decisions in regards to investment in public infrastructure, while fostering a long-term viable and vibrant community, Sustainable Pittsburgh has conducted a sustainability assessment of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission's proposed turnpike plaza to be built in New Sewickley Township, Beaver County.
The following assessment is designed to present a systematic basis of understanding for the social, economic, and environmental implications of projects. Our intent is to generate a broader and deeper awareness that the long-term viability of a community requires knowledge that social, economic, and environmental issues are interrelated and must be proactively addressed within that context. Our goal in raising this is to help the region make decisions with a sustainability filter in mind.
This is a relatively small project compared to a regional shopping mall or a major subdivision. However, it demands our attention because it illustrates how a State agency - The Turnpike Commission in this case - can violate many principles of sustainability by conducting business as usual. In addition, by ignoring these principles and the concerns of the local governments and citizens this action runs counter to the Governor's Growing Greener program. Because of the Governor's commitment, State agencies should provide examples of sustainable action, not the opposite.
The issue:
Earlier this year representatives of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission notified New Sewickley Township of their intention to pursue construction of a new mega turnpike service plaza near the Beaver County-Butler County border.
The Sustainability Call:
Economy
Does the project confer a significant, long-term, net economic benefit to the community?
Turnpike: NO. It is difficult to see how the presence of, at most, a handful of new rest stop-type businesses (convenience stores, fast food establishments, etc.) will offset the potential for lower property values and the demand for increased water and sewage capacity. There is nothing about this plaza that suggests it could be integrated into the surrounding community in a way that would spur constructive future development and provide an economic boost to the area.
Does the project create new economic benefits, as opposed to simply transferring benefits from another location to this one?
Turnpike: NO. Trucks and drivers that would have stopped at a plaza at another location along the turnpike will simply change their travel choices to stop here. Any revenue generated at the new site would have been generated at another plaza elsewhere in the state.
Does the project have a positive impact on local amenities and aesthetics?
Turnpike: NO. The project would divert truck traffic from the turnpike to the plaza area, contributing to increased smoke and smog, noise pollution, and light pollution.
Does the project leverage (or confer benefits that could be used to leverage) investment from non-local public (state, federal) or private sources?
Turnpike: YES. The additional truck parking capacity generated at the site is a state-level benefit. This is reflected in the fact that the project is almost completely state-funded.
Is the project integrated into the community’s existing infrastructure and its current economic niche?
Turnpike: NO. Placing such a structure in the middle of an agricultural community will disrupt the community’s existing economic balance. The pressure for increased water and sewage capacity will have a further destabilizing impact. This plaza is completely out of character with the surrounding community and will fundamentally change the nature of that community.
Does the project comply with a local comprehensive plan or other land use guidelines?
Turnpike: NO. The proposed plaza violates Beaver County’s “Land Use Action Plan,” which calls for the preservation of “the open, rural character of Beaver County by supporting the maintenance of prime agricultural uses and protect[ion of] villages.” This plan also calls for “new development in or adjacent to rural villages compatible with the existing character of the village.” The plaza also violates the county’s “Recreation and Open Space Action Plan,” which seeks to “promote the creation of open space and preservation of natural areas in Beaver County.” On a local level, the plan violates New Sewickley Township’s 2000 Comprehensive Plan, which calls for the preservation and protection of open space and the preservation of “the township’s rural character.” In this respect the project violates the Governor's Growing Greener initiative that calls for respect for local regulations and coordination by state agencies to minimize impacts.
Sprawl
Does the project avoid contributing to urban sprawl by building near an urban center and/or reusing an abandoned industrial “brownfield” site.
Turnpike: NO. This proposed plaza involves the purchase of and construction on relatively pristine agricultural and natural land. There is no urban center near this proposed location and it does not involve the reuse of a brownfield site.
Does the project avoid contributing to the potential for future sprawl?
Turnpike: NO. The proposed plaza will create opportunities for additional sprawl in the area by forcing new infrastructure development such as water and sewage lines.
Agriculture: Does the project protect, or at least avoid the use of, productive agricultural land?
Turnpike: NO. The plaza, as proposed, sits atop roughly 100 acres that has been zoned A-1 Agricultural land, much of which is part of one of the most productive farms in New Sewickley Township and in all of Beaver County.
Transportation: Does the project support the use of mixed transportation (such as walking, biking, and public transit) as opposed to strictly auto-vehicular transportation?
Turnpike: NO. The plaza would affect only automobile (in this case, truck) transportation. It could perhaps slightly increase the use of trucks in and around New Sewickley Township, but likely would have no impact at all on mixed transportation.
Biological: Does the project avoid adversely impacting critical biological areas, such as wetlands and wildlife habitats?
Turnpike: NO. In addition to the farmland being used, the proposed site sits atop biologically critical wetlands, inhabited and used as a nesting ground by the blue heron and is listed part of the Brush Creek Floodplain Biological Diversity Area.
Pollution: Does the project avoid increasing local air and water pollution and solid waste generation?
Turnpike: NO. While the project may not significantly increase the number of trucks traveling through the New Sewickley Township area, the plaza will increase truck traffic in the area by encouraging drivers to spend more time in the area at the new rest stop. Moreover, the wastewater and garbage produced by the plaza will adversely impact the area’s water table and solid waste generation and the plan violates the land use pattern established in the municipality’s official sewage facilities plan.
Regulatory: Does the project comply with existing local, state, and federal environmental regulations and guidelines?
Turnpike: NO. The project violates Beaver County’s “Environmentally Sensitive Areas Action Plan,” which calls for the discouragement of development “in areas with significant natural resources, including…wetlands” and the preservation of “prime agricultural soils in Beaver County.”
Does the project benefit all economic classes?
Turnpike: NO. It is difficult to see how this project benefits any economic class. While staffing needs at the plaza will create a handful of new unskilled jobs, the loss of property values to local landowners and the potential for decreased productivity on local farms would more than offset that meager job creation.
Does the project potentially improve, or at least have no affect on, public health and safety?
Turnpike: NO. The concentration of trucks at the plaza would add to the potential for auto accidents, and the pollution generated would undoubtedly have an adverse affect on public health.
Has the development of the project involved the participation of the local citizenry?
Turnpike: NO. Indeed, local residents in most cases appear to be in opposition to the construction of the new plaza. This proposal appears to have been developed almost entirely by the state turnpike commission, with little or no input from anybody connected to New Sewickley Township or Beaver County.