LOCAL

Chambersburg residents can weigh in on updates to revitalization program

Staff report

Residents are invited to share input as the borough and its local partners prepare to update the Elm Street Neighborhood Area Plan. 

A public meeting is scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Bard Hall at Eugene C. Clarke Jr. Community Center, 235 S. Third St. 

The Borough of Chambersburg, BOPIC Inc., Downtown Chambersburg Inc., the Elm Street Advisory Council and other neighborhood-based organizations work together to run the local Elm Street program. Borough council hired Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson to update the plan. 

First adopted in Chambersburg in 2007, the Elm Street program was created to prevent neighborhood decline by addressing things like old houses, high rental-to-owner ratios, insufficient affordable housing, improvement of links to the downtown business district and the creation and maintenance of a clean, safe and green community.

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The Elm Street neighborhood covers 324 acres west of the railroad tracks to the Franklin County Housing Authority, south of Falling Spring and Conococheague creeks (excluding the downtown district), and north of Derbyshire Street. 

There is no actual Elm Street in Chambersburg but rather the term "Elm Street Community" comes from a state Department of Community and Economic Development program that grew out of a prior Main Street Program to revitalize dying downtown areas in communities across the state, Public Opinion previously reported. Projects located within a community's Elm Street Neighborhood and developed in line with the program's goals can receive DCED funding.  

The Washington Square Townhomes and Apartments, pictured here on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, are in the boundary of the Elm Street Neighborhood Plan. Funding made available because of the plan was used to demolish an old County Market grocery store in 2016, to make room for the housing project which serves low- to moderate-income seniors and families.

The borough renewed the Elm Street program in 2016. In its first eight years, more than 150 rehabilitation projects, 68 curb and sidewalk projects, eight neighborhood handyman projects, and dozens of neighborhood outreach programs per month were accomplished through the program, Public Opinion previously reported. 

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The Elm Street program has played a role in the development of housing for low- to moderate-income families and seniors, including the Washington Square townhomes and apartments and Redwood Park townhomes, as well as in renovations at Mike Waters Park, curb and sidewalk improvements, code enforcement, community programs and public safety activities. 

At the meeting on Tuesday, representatives from Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson will present and discuss the draft plan outlining goals and objectives to continue improvements to the neighborhoods within the area. 

Program leaders said the public's input is important to the program. Language interpreters will be available. 

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Children are invited to the family-friendly event. Light refreshments will be provided. 

For more information, please contact Jack Jones, Elm Street Program Manager, at 717-263-2100 or jvjones@bopicinc.org.