Township Comprehensive Plan

2023 Willistown Comprehensive Plan

The new Comprehensive Plan, Guidelines for Growth & Sustainability, was adopted at the regularly scheduled Board of Supervisor Meeting on Monday, June 19, 2023 at 7:00 pm.

The township’s original comprehensive plan, Guidelines for Growth, was adopted in 1962 and has been revised and updated several times over the intervening years. The previous version, the 2011 Guidelines for Growth was direct outgrowth of past planning efforts, including the 1997 comprehensive plan and the township’s 1993 open space, recreation, and natural resources plan.

Purpose of Comprehensive Plans

Comprehensive plans are intended to provide a community with a vision for the future. Recent efforts by the Township’s Planning Commission and Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee culminated in a new comprehensive plan for the community. The township is authorized to plan for its future (and required to do so) pursuant to the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247 of 1968, as amended).

Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code

According to the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, municipal comprehensive plans shall include, at a minimum:

  • Objectives for future development
  • A plan for land use
  • A plan to meet the housing needs of present and future residents
  • A plan for the movement of people and goods
  • A plan for community facilities and utilities
  • A discussion of short-range and long-range plan implementation strategies
  • A plan for the protection of natural and historic resources

Code Topics

Topics range from an assessment of the amount, intensity, and character of land use to an evaluation of local street systems, parking facilities, and mass transit routes to an assessment of public facilities (parks, libraries, fire. and police services).

Once adopted the policies and recommendations of the plan can be implemented through ordinances and other methods.

Constituent Survey of 2020

Survey Summary

In preparation for the update to the 2011 Comprehensive Plan, Guidelines for Growth, a Comprehensive Plan Update Survey was sent to every Willistown household and business and conducted online in June of 2020 to help the Township prioritize and improve current services, infrastructure, and facilities and to plan for future needs.

Survey Instrument

View the print version of the survey

Survey Reports

Top Line Report
The Top Line Report addresses the statistical success of the survey, discusses the survey approach, supplies baseline land use demographics, and provides a 30,000-foot view of overall Township sentiment. 
 
 Top Line Report by Planning Area  
 View the Top Line Report survey data by Planning Area