Indiana Gazette from Indiana, Pennsylvania • 26

Po9 24 Wodnesday, June 7, 2000 gHe glnbimia Qpnattte House measure to quell suburban sprawl lacks punch By CHRISTOPHER NEWTON Associated Press Writer HARRISBURG, Pa. House members passed a heavily diluted version of a bill aimed at halting the explosion of suburban housing developments and corporate expansion in rural areas. The bill passed 175-17 in Tuesday's vote. Lawmakers have struggled for more than a decade to craft a bill that would protect the shrinking rural areas outside of Philadelphia. The bill will now be sent to the Senate for approval.

In its original form, the bill would have allowed municipalities to draw up strict boundaries in which certain types of development would be prohibited. An amendment offered Tuesday restructured the measure, removing all Language about boundaries. Instead, the bill now encourages communities and municipalities to join into groups and make regional plans for growth. For instance, if one of the joint municipalities has a landfill, the neighboring municipality would have in-' creased ability to fight any attempt to put a landfill within its city limits. The same is true of shopping centers and other developments.

The plan- ning groups would also be eligible for special funding from the state. "We have worked long and we have worked hard to build this consensus," said Rep. David Steil, R-B ucks. "Tlus represents a substantial move In the right direction. It helps to allow our communities to preserve the beautiful countryside of this slate for our future generations." But.

without the strict language creating boundaries, some legislators were skeptical about the measure's effectiveness. "This amendment is so new and so fresh and was so obviously negotiated with people outside of tills body," said Rep. Richard Geist, R-Blair. "We were not tn on this and are hot sure of whether it will accomplish what some say it will." Even as Tuesday's bill passed, a companion land-use bill remained on the House's calendar. Among other things, the measure would mandate that land-development or-' dinances comply with a regional development plan devised by a group of municipalities.

The bills comprise a land-use plan backed by Gov. Tom Ridge in Febru- ary. Ridge issued a statement commending the House's action and calling on it to pass the second element of the package. Rep. Samuel Smith, R-Clearfield, said late amendments and the Senate bill left lawmakers guessing at what the final fate of the measure would be.

"I feel as though we have three shells and two balls," Smith said on the House floor. "The shells are being moved quickly and I'm worried that when 1 finally get to look under each of these shells, I'm not going to find the item I'm looking for." The related bill originally contained language, since removed, that would have allowed local governments to delay developers from building their projects while roads and other infrastructure were put in place. Most outside groups interested in the measure supported the plan. "People have been negotiating this for duee or four months," said Debra Tingley, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Builders Association. "It balances the need for sustained growth and land use responsibility." Tingley said stricter measures have failed in other places and questioned the legality of ruling that someone cannot develop their property.

"The constitutionality of a no-development law is suspect Tingley said. "If you happen to have a piece of property outside of an urban boundary, then under the old bill you wouldn't be able to develop it." nll Dill cans I t3LrtVTiTnCB for labels on explicit e-mai Dad always had all the answers. Get him a Verizon CDM-4000 phone fnr FatheS DaU and hP almaus -1 The Digital Phone Verizon Wireless CDM-4000 For only $1099 By GEORGE STRAWLEY Associated Press Writer HARRISBURG, Pa. Companies that send e-mails soliciting for sexually explicit World Wide Web sites would be required to include a warning label within their subject lines under a bill sent to Gov. Tom Ridge on Tuesday.

The Senate unanimously approved the measure, which requires the messages to contain the designation "ADV: ADULT' at the beginning of the subject line. The label will make it easier for parents to block children's access to unsolicitated advertisements for pornographic Internet sets, said Sen. Melissa Hart, R-Allegheny, the bill's prime sponsor in the Senate. "It doesn't prevent anyone who wishes to view those things from viewing those things, but it gives parents the tool, with those words, to screen that out if Uiey so choose," Hart said. Although many software programs can weed out e-mails that contain sexually explicit words, they cannot block seemingly inoffensive messages favored by some advertisers who include links to pornographic sites, Hart said.

However, the executive director of the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said the bill has both constitutional and practical problems. "Putting tags on these e-mail advertisements is like giving a guidebook to any teen-ager' who will flock to, the Web sites, said Larry Frankel of the ACLU. He said courts have struck down laws in which states attempt to regulate the interstate commerce of the Internet "If each state starts interfering with this, there's going to be a morass on the Internet," Frankel said. Hart said the bill was cleared by the state attorney general's office and would apply only to messages sent by Pennsylvania companies to residents within the state. "What we're doing here is starting something that will ultimately have to go on a national level' she said.

Hart is running against Democratic state Rep. Terry Van Home for U.S. Rep. Ron Mink's seat in the 4th Congressional District near Pittsburgh. Han also said the bill was aimed at protecting smaller children more so than adolescents.

"Believe me, teen-agers can find the sites if they choose to find the sites," she said. "They already have and they already can. That's not who we're really looking to protect. It's the little kids who don't know and would be adversely affected by it." Ridge is expected to sign the bill, a spokesman for the governor said. Fireworks uith a 2-year agreement.

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1 1 1 111. for safety NEW HOPE, Pa. (AP) The borough's Chamber of Commerce has dropped plans to bring fireworks back to New Hope for the July 4 holiday, after emergency workers said crowds expected to show up for them would be unsafe. Stephanie Nagy, who had headed the drive for a fireworks show, said the clinching argument against it was a video of the last time New Hope held fireworks, In 1994. It showed the center of town clogged with people.

That year, 20,000 people turned out, and Nagy said this year 30,000 to 40,000 could be expected. "If there is no way for emergency vehicles to get through, then you have a problem," she said. "We just felt the safety of the people was a little bit more important" Councilman Bob Gerenscr remained unconvinced, however. "People want to see fireworks'" he said. "If the public is asking for something it is incumbent for (emergency personnel) to figure out how, not just give the reactionary COMMUNICATIONS STORES Bbmucti r.

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