—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Nov. 20, 1976
30
Land
By JUDY MITCHELL
Berks County Reporter
READING - The land use
issue got its first public
airing in Berks County at a
series of hearings on
“Agricultural Land
Preservation” held at three
locations throughout the
county on November 9, 10
and 11.
The purpose of the
hearings as set forth in a
memorandum issued by the
Berks County Agricultural
Land Preservation Com
mittee appointed by the
Berks County Planning
Commission was to accept
public testimony on two
aspects of the issue, in
cluding:
“1. Should agricultural
lands in Berks County be
specially preserved’
2. If so, how should the
preservation process be
implemented?”
The overwhelming
majority of testimony
presented at the first
meeting held at the
Metropolitan Edison
Auditorium in Reading
supported a yes vote on the
first point in question, and a
call for a show of hands near
the conclusion of the'hearing
indicated that a majority of
those present also favored
the preservation of ag land in
Berks. One member of the
audience, however, objected
to what he termed the
“failure” of the hearing in
considering the question of
“how it should be done.”
At least one other par
ticipant at the meeting ex
pressed impatience with the
absence of concrete
suggestions as to how ag
land preservation might he
approached, commenting
that “I really came here to
get an education, not to
talk.”
County Commissioner
Vemon Shaffer pointed out
to the gathering that “the
purpose of this hearing is not
for us to tell you how we are
going to do this; we are
holding the hearings to try to
get ideas - from the people in
the audience as to how to do
this.”
Although individual
comments seemed to
suggest that -many in at
tendance were in favor of
preserving agricultural land
in Berks County, many also
indicated that a number of
those present were wary of
the “how” if it meant in
creased government
restriction on the individual
landowner.
In a telephone con
versation at the conclusion of
the senes of hearings,
Alpheus Ruth, who farms in
Fleetwood R 2, and who
represents agriculture on the
Berks Ag Land Preservation
Committee, indicated his
dissappointment with the
Reading meeting and par-
ticularly with the farmer
turn-out there. He indicated.
however, that he was
pleased with general at-
tendance at the hearings,
particularly at those held at
Conrad Weiser and Oley
Valley high schools which,
he said, were each attended
by 100 or more persons
Farmer attendance was
best at Conrad Weiser, ac-
cording to Ruth, and
discussion was considerably
more constructive than at
Reading. Robert Manbeck
and Harold Heck, both
farmers in Heidelberg
use discussed in Berks County
township where ag land is
protected by stringent
zoning regulations, gave
testimony which indicated
that the majority of
residents of Heidelberg are
happy with the situation
there
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Heck had also attended the
Reading meeting where he
briefly responded to
testimony made by one in
dividual who suggested that
implementation of the
concept of preserving ag
land would economically
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disadvantage the farmer or
his heirs who wished to sell
their land. Heck informed
the gathering at Reading
that three farms in
Heidelberg township
now been sold for ag 7 use
under the present zoning
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not detrimental in value.”
Ruth also expressed
satisfaction with the Oley
meeting, although he pointed
out that likeßeading, farmer
attendance was poor. Feryl
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[Continued on Page 33)
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covering three or
more spans
130
73
46
32
151
85
54
38