"Smart growth" presents challenges and opportunities, according to three Lancaster County township officials who took part in a land-use forum Thursday night.

The term broadly describes the goal of preserving the county's agricultural character while allowing development using principles such as walkable communities and mixed-use zoning, according to the Coalition for Smart Growth, which sponsored the forum.

Coalition for Smart Growth President Mark Hackenburg said smart growth focuses on using existing infrastructure to its greatest values.

"So infill and growing within our existing communities is not a bad thing. Everyone benefits. There is an economic benefit to rehabilitate and reuse existing areas," he said. "We can retain the character of our communities by protecting historic resources, by protecting environmentally sensitive areas, reducing outward growth pressures on prime farmland."

Keynote speaker Ronald Bailey, a Pennsylvania State Planning Board member and former executive director of the Lancaster County Planning Commission, gave a broad perspective on opportunities for growth in the state and locally.

While Pennsylvania is gaining population modestly overall, the southeastern portion of the state is growing more rapidly. Population increases, he said, are driven more by job seekers and retirees than births.

Those increases will place an even greater burden on the state's aging infrastructure and that will require cooperation as various governments deal with growth.

"The reality on the ground is, one community doesn't begin and end on sharp lines," he said.

And using smart growth principles to guide development is necessary to preserve a place's character, he said.

But it can be challenge for municipalities to educate constituents on just what smart growth is and the need to plan for and accommodate growth, municipal officials said.

"I think people don't really understand what it is, and different people associate smart growth with different elements. And that's where it gets confusing," Mark Stivers, director of planning and development for East Hempfield Township, said. "Growth is inevitable. … To not plan for it is irresponsible."

"I think it's important to let people know that smart growth is going on around here. … It's a tough challenge, but it's happening," Mike Rimer, Manheim Township's manager, said.

"We're talking about the shape of the future," Barry Smith, Manor Township's manager, said. "We struggle with the concept of people who (say) 'We want to retain the identity of Lancaster County and preserve it' with the conflict of, 'But I want my daughter to be able to buy a house here.' "

The cookie-cutter development model of the 1960s and 1970s "has gobbled up so much space that we can't do it any more or we'll gobble up everything," he said.

dnephin@lnpnews.com