Borough looks to update its plan for revitalization

SOUDERTON >> With SoudertonTelford Main Streets and the Souderton Business Improvement District having merged the beginning of the year into Souderton Connects, it’s time for Souderton to revise its revitalization plan, officials said at the June 21 Souderton Borough Council work session meeting.

“Right now the only revitalization plan that we have is the Souderton-Telford revitalization plan, but that’s not really going to be the direction of Souderton Connects,” Borough Manager Mike Coll said.

The borough should consider making a new revitalization plan that is specific to Souderton, he said.

That idea was also discussed by the planning commission, which recommended starting a committee to oversee the creation of a new revitalization plan, he said.

While that group should include some borough council members, it should also have business owners, council President Brian Goshow said.

“They’re the ones with the feet on the street,” he said.

Any revitalization plan should be revisited and updated periodically, he said, but that hasn’t happened in recent years.

Coll said there was some work done in 2018 to update the existing plan, but that was never completed.

“I think we’re overdue for this to be updated and then you have the whole issue of changing it,” Goshow said.

Revitalization plans are approved by the borough and become the borough’s official plan, he said.

Borough council members Dan Yocum, Donna Rogers and Julie Munden were chosen to be on the steering committee along with Souderton Connect’s recommended steering committee members Harry Boardman, Liz Peitzman, Kyle Hoff and Alison Giles.

The Montgomery County Planning Commission staff member who works with the borough planning commission will also be part of the steering committee, Coll said.