The controversial traditional neighborhood development ordinance proposed for East Hempfield Township has been scrapped.

East Hempfield supervisors voted unanimously Wednesday night to order township staff to discontinue work on the controversial TND. The township will start reviewing its zoning ordinances anew to find ways to prevent urban sprawl.

Supervisor Heidi Wheaton said a majority of township residents expressed displeasure with the TND draft and did not want to see it enacted.

"I see this TND as destroying our quality of life that we enjoy here," Wheaton said.

East Hempfield's supervisors authorized the creation of a TND ordinance last summer, hiring a consultant to produce the ordinance. However, area developers paid the consultant.

The TND would have permitted high-density development in six "growth opportunity areas," and Charter Homes & Neighborhoods would have been the first developer to benefit from the ordinance.

Charter Homes wants to build more than 3,000 homes and a large commercial center on 309 acres of farmland between State and Colebrook roads just south of Route 283. The community would be called Independence.

Supervisor president John Bingham said he felt the TND as it was written was extremely flawed. He said it weakened the position of the township while strengthening that of the developer.

Bingham said there are reasons the township needs mixed-use and higher density development and should be looking toward changing its zoning ordinances.

"What was proposed by Charter Homes is probably not the right kind of development … but we do need to use our land more efficiently," Bingham said. "We do need, in the right places and in the right amount, to allow higher density."

Township manager Robert Krimmel said his staff never had a chance to get its views out into the public before the ordinance was presented and was not happy with many of the measures in the TND.

"Did we let this (process) get a little bit out of hand? Absolutely, and I'll take responsibility for that, because I have a lot of reservations about how (the TND) turned out at this point," Krimmel said.

Mark Stivers, the township's planning and development director, said the TND's ultimate concept was to create an area where residents would be enticed to walk to do their shopping and other everyday errands or have to drive short distances.

Stivers said he lived in Germany for a number of years, and the TND concept is alive there.

East Hempfield resident George Burton said he lived for a few years in England where the same view of community exists. However, he said, the idea of small walking communities is ingrained in European culture.

"We have a mentality in this country to get in your car and drive," Burton said.

Supervisor Brett Miller said he had many reservations about the ordinance, saying it was out of line with other proposed TNDs in the county and didn't specify open space.

Miller said he wants the township to look at other ways to have density and smart growth without the issues raised in this TND, including creating transferable development rights to create open land.

"One thing I personally don't want to see, and one thing we need to be careful of, is right now a developer can come in and put 1,000 homes on 1,000 acres, because that's what the zoning ordinance calls for," Miller said. "I don't want that, and I don't think anyone here wants that."

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