The Lancaster County Board of Commissionersâ planning is sometimes stellar, as is evidenced in the support of the Enola Low Grade Trail, the Susquehanna River Trail and the Public Safety Training Center. What is lacking in their vision, in my view, is the proposed location of a new Lancaster County prison.
There is no doubt there is a need for a new prison and, as some have expressed, Lancaster city will reap the benefits of redevelopment at the current site of the county prison.
What I believe is at odds with good planning principles is to take an undeveloped property â currently used for farming â that is surrounded by water on three sides and turn it into a prison site.
Elaine Baker, a retiree from Tennessee, recently drove with her husband, Gene, and their neighbors, Judy and Ashley Smith, to spend three days in Lancaster County.
Elaine Baker, a retiree from Tennessee, recently drove with her husband, Gene, and their neighbors, Judy and Ashley Smith, to spend three days in Lancaster County.
The departure of Lancaster County Prison from the east side of Lancaster city may open a rare redevelopment possibility, community and city leaders said Wednesday, but one that comes with sizable challenges.
âObviously this is an exciting opportunity for the city and especially the east side neighborhood. Here is Lancasterâs chance to transform a critical area, historically associated with pain, into a positive asset and extension of this neighborhood,â said Marshall Snively, president of the Lancaster City Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes the cityâs growth and stability.
The potential redevelopment opportunity surfaced Wednesday when the Lancaster County Commissioners announced they hope to move the 625 E. King St. prison to a 75-acre farm in Lancaster Township along the Conestoga River. They have not discussed what would become of the old prison site should the move come to fruition.