All land use decisions in West Hanover Township begin with the plan.  Beginning in 1968,  West Hanover Township has recognized the importance of continuous and innovative community planning as authorized by the PA Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247.  Conducting a community planning process, implementing the plan and monitoring the plan year after year are important and central to the Township's overall decision making processes.  

The laws of the Commonwealth and the Township's Comprehensive Plan have framed a development process whereby no one person, agency or group controls the development process.  A plan is the tool for guiding this process and the Township's responsibility is to provide the framework for change it seeks for the community.  Without a policy framework or plan and the ordinances used to implement the plan, the development process is reactive versus predictable.  Early in the 20th Century, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., a renowned community planner in Pennsylvania, observed that lack of planning results in a “...drifting hand-to-mouth policy of doing only what must be done today.”  This practice is short sighted and puts planning in the hands of others.  Instead, the Township Board of Supervisors with the assistance of the Township's Planning Commission have, over the years, attempted to take a more proactive approach to planning for the future versus reacting on an ad hoc basis.

Today, the West Hanover Township Comprehensive Plan has even more standing that it did in the past. State agencies are required to consider and rely upon local plans and zoning ordinances that are generally consistent. Without a plan, state agencies, developers, elected officials and landowners have nothing to guide them in the decision-making process. Thus, the Township will continue to invest in planning as authorized under the PA Municipalities Planning Code (MPC) and take advantage of the opportunities to shape the future direction of the community and its land use patterns.

The following table provides links to documents that make up the current Comprehensive Plan.  All maps are included that are referenced in the text.  Maps are from the 1992 "New Horizons" Plan and the most recent amendments to the plan developed for land use and transportation.  The documents and maps are in .pdf format, which means you will need the latest version of Adobe Reader to review these documents.