I weigh a project’s impact on the immediate neighbors versus the needs of the overall community as equals within the law and best practices for planning and zoning. The borough’s zoning ordinance for the residential districts explicitly states: “The purpose … is to maintain the integrity of existing neighborhoods while providing for infill development which will be compatible with the general character of the district.” This is the standard which borough council members pledge to uphold when they take their oaths of office.

The “needs” of the overall community do not outweigh the “needs” of the immediate neighbors, and vice versa. Indeed, the immediate neighbors comprise part of the overall community. Elected officials sworn to “maintain the integrity of existing neighborhoods” must strike a balance by, first, representing the “needs” of their constituents; second, by weighing a project’s impact on the immediate neighbors; and third, by reviewing the impact of a project in the context of existing case law and best practices. An elected body must not allow one’s needs to supersede the other’s.

Above all else, however, council must “maintain the integrity of existing neighborhoods.” Phoenixville’s residential neighborhoods are the lifeblood of this community, the pulse that sustained this town during its transition from manufacturing center to regional center and bedroom community. Managed properly, these neighborhoods will sustain us again through the next unforeseen economic tsunami. We must not turn our backs on our neighborhoods.

Richard Mark Kirkner

Democratic Candidate

North Ward Borough Council