Do cell phones for county workers fit the bill?

Police Blotter

<b>First Posted:</b> 6/21/2007<br><br>RORY SWEENEY 
 



DORRANCE TWP. &amp;ndash; Wednesday night&amp;rsquo;s hearing regarding a proposed 335-unit residential development should have been about traffic, but the most interesting news from it was that developer TFP has decided to replace 18 planned retail stores with 18 townhouse units.
TFP&amp;rsquo;s engineer Tim Connolly said the switch was made after residents complained at a previous installment of the hearing. &amp;ldquo;The owners decided it caused a lot of controversy with the residents, so they said, &amp;lsquo;Take it out.&amp;rsquo; So I did,&amp;rdquo; he said.
When the announcement was made, residents laughed in disgust, which prompted township solicitor James Schneider to admonish the crowd, &amp;ldquo;What did I just say about civility? No laughing; it&amp;rsquo;s just not fair.&amp;rdquo;
However, the highly restrictive formal hearing process prevented residents from confronting anyone but traffic engineer Alexis Wilkinson, which meant questions about the switch were off the table. Instead, residents spent about two hours questioning the validity of the study done by her firm, Stroudsburg-based Reilly Associates.
Testifying before supervisors Gary Zane and Royce Engler &amp;ndash; Supervisor Gwen Sakowski missed the hearing, despite being reproached by residents at June&amp;rsquo;s supervisors meeting for missing too many hearings &amp;ndash; Wilkinson said the study showed the development would have minimal traffic impact.
Citing the county&amp;rsquo;s growth projections of 3 percent per year, she said the township would experience a 30 percent increase in vehicles in the next 10 years. The development would account for roughly 40 percent of that increase, or about 12 percent of the total. 
The study monitored peak-hour traffic at two intersections near access points to the development, one at the intersection of Stairville and Blytheburn roads and the other at Prospect Road and Country Club Drive. Both intersections are graded &amp;ldquo;A,&amp;rdquo; meaning motorists wait no longer than 10 seconds at stop signs.
The Stairville/Blytheburn intersection would immediately fall to a grade &amp;ldquo;B,&amp;rdquo; meaning a 10 to 15 second wait, when the development is completed, the study projected. The other intersection wouldn&amp;rsquo;t reach that level of congestion until 10 years after completion.
&amp;ldquo;It is a degradation,&amp;rdquo; she said. &amp;ldquo;I wouldn&amp;rsquo;t call it detrimental.&amp;rdquo;
Addressing residents&amp;rsquo; concerns that the development would create a shortcut to, and thus more congestion on, Stairville Road, Wilkinson assured that the access road between Country Club Drive and Stairville would be gated in the middle and only opened for emergency vehicles.
But residents have been adamant about retaining their rural lifestyle &amp;ndash; exactly as it is.
Trying to make a point through a question &amp;ndash; a strategy residents have adopted to conform to the strict hearing rules &amp;ndash; Wayne Balliet noted he had never waited 10 seconds at an intersection in the township then asked, &amp;ldquo;If you&amp;rsquo;re used to (waiting) 10 seconds, 25 seconds would seem like a lifetime, is that correct?&amp;rdquo;
Smiling, Wilkinson agreed.

Plans for retail stores scrapped in Dorrance