The documents included in this page are the most current version of the Mercersburg Area Comprehensive Plan. The process, and these documents are compliant with the Pennsylvania Municipal Planning Code (MPC) requirements for a comprehensive plan.

PLANNING PROCESS DETAILS. This comprehensive plan has been developed in open and public forums including:

  • More than 25 public municipal meetings were held in 2022, 2023 and 2024, where the plan development process and progress were discussed. Each municipality has adopted a formal resolution to participate in the planning process.
  • Five “pop-up” events as part of Mercersburg Area organized gatherings including the Mercersburg Fair, Mercersburg Fall Fest, and the Mercersburg Spring Fest.
  • More than 400 hard copy or on-line Citizen Survey results between July and September of 2024, which were included in the development of recommendations for the comprehensive plan. Hard copy documents were converted to electronic format and included in the tally of final results. The results are published in the appendix of the plan document below.
  • 24 public Mercersburg Vibrancy Steering Committee (MVSC) meetings during which the approach and status of the comprehensive planning process was discussed. Each meeting included an agenda item for public comment.
  • Six dedicated newspaper articles in the Mercersburg Journal, and many other organic reports of the status of comprehensive plan including contact information relative to the development of the plan.
  • Seven Mercersburg Area Steering Committee meetings of a cross-section of public officials, business owners, non-profit leaders, and citizens. These meetings developed the outline, themes, and details of all sections of the comprehensive plan by consensus.

At the end of October, 2024 the final version of the plan was submitted to each municipal planning commission for recommendation. As required by the State of Pennsylvania, the individual planning commissions of each municipality, reviewed and recommended the comprehensive plan to the municipal leaders in November and December of 2024.

A public review and feedback period of 45 days commences on December 23, 2024. The expectation is that additional public feedback about the plan will be considered and consolidated by the consensus of the Mercersburg Area Steering Committee. Adoption of the plan by each municipality is expected in February of 2025.

The owners of these documents are the municipalities of Montgomery Township; Peters Township; and the Borough of Mercersburg.

FUNDING. It is notable that 90% of the project funding for this comprehensive plan was raised from private sources by the 501(c)(3) organization MVSC, during a capital campaign. The Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development (DCED), then committed to a 50% match of funding for the documented project expenses.

The point of contact regarding feedback about the content of these documents is:
MVSC at email address mercersburgsteeringcommittee@gmail.com