Scenic isn't the word that leaps to mind in describing East Lampeter Township.

I associate East Lampeter with the Route 30 strip — wall-to-wall outlets, motels, chain restaurants, Dutch Wonderland. Or I picture suburbia, the Greenfield Corporate Center and homes and businesses along Old Philadelphia Pike.

Because I rarely get off the beaten path when going through East Lampeter, I didn't realize roughly half of the township (50.7 percent) is zoned for farming. If the supervisors have their way, farming will remain a mainstay.

"We have beautiful areas of farmland," township supervisor Roger Rutt said. "We as supervisors are very interested in farmland and the ability to farm in East Lampeter Township. Believe me, our desire is to protect it."

Recently, the supervisors made a new move to protect farmland, one that may be their most significant yet, not so much for what it means to East Lampeter, but for the message it sends to the rest of us.

Saving farms

The supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of allowing more intense development on land set aside for new homes.

Specifically, developers may now seek permission to build nine houses per acre in the township's R2 residential zone instead of the previous 5.8 units — a 55-percent jump.

East Lampeter's action signals it takes smart growth seriously. The supervisors understand that the only way to both preserve farming and accommodate population growth is to build efficiently in our urban growth areas.

Higher density is exactly what the county, through its recently updated Growth Management plan, is seeking. The plan calls for a density of 7.5 dwelling units per acre, on average, throughout urban growth areas, an increase of two units per acre over the previous goal.

But the county is powerless to require higher densities or enforce compliance with urban growth areas. Those decisions are in the hands of municipalities.

The easy thing for the East Lampeter supervisors would have been to avoid conflict and maintain the status quo of 5.8 units per acre. After all, the request for higher density came not from township citizens but from Keystone Custom Homes, which is looking to build 400 houses on 46 acres off Route 23.

Keystone's request alarmed some people who live near the proposed development. They've organized in opposition to higher density, hired experts to press their case and been a vocal presence at supervisors meetings. Citing procedural errors, the citizens group is now appealing the supervisors' decision.

"Those who are in favor of high density do not live here," opponent Lois Duling of Stumpf Hill Drive said. "The smart-growth people, none of them live in East Lampeter. This is why we feel we are having this pushed on us."

Setting an example

If neighbors of proposed higher-density developments were allowed veto power, higher density would never get built.

The result would be one of two things: outrageously high housing costs as demand exceeds supply or a push to disregard growth boundaries and gobble up farmland.

In East Lampeter, the supervisors stood up for higher density.

The decision bodes well for the newly completed regional comprehensive plan, which encompasses 11 municipalities (East Lampeter included) in central Lancaster County. That plan is recommending average densities of 6.5 to 12 dwelling units per acre.

East Lampeter has demonstrated it's on board. "It's a little bit like being part of a team," East Lampeter supervisor David Buckwalter told me. "Our responsibility is to look at (growth) regionally."

Regional thinking must be the future. We'll know we're getting somewhere if other townships follow East Lampeter's lead.

E-mail: jhawkes@lnpnews.com