Part One

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a planned multipart series looking at the Salisbury Township 2026 Comprehensive Plan.

The Salisbury Township 2026 Comprehensive Plan is ready for its close-up, that is, a closer look by township residents and the Lehigh Valley.

The Salisbury Township 2026 Comprehensive Plan is subtitled “Planning for a Safe, Healthy, and Connected Future.”

The plan is a kind of vision board for the township, its residents, officials and those who work there and developers who build there.

As stated in the executive summary of the 104-page plan, “From 2025 to 2026, Salisbury Township facilitated a process to update its 2012 comprehensive plan to guide future growth and development in ways that ensure the community remains vibrant, sustainable, and adaptable to the needs of residents and businesses.”

Over the course of 15 months, the township worked with Strategic Solutions, a Pittsburgh-based public sector planning firm, to assess existing policies and collaboratively develop a vision for the township.

Local officials and community members guided the project to ensure it accurately reflected the values and priorities of Salisbury Township.

A public survey was distributed in fall 2025 to gather feedback and ideas from the community. Residents, business owners and local organizations have had and will have opportunities to continue sharing ideas about what Salisbury’s future should look like.

The Salisbury Township Planning Commission voted 6-0 with one abstention at its May 27 meeting to recommend adoption of the draft of the comprehensive plan by the Salisbury Township board of commissioners.

The township commissioners voted 5-0 at its June 25 meeting to advertise the hearing to adopt the comprehensive plan, to be held 7 p.m. Aug. 13 before the commissioners’ meeting.

Residents and interested parties are asked to review the plan and bring any concerns about it to township officials and at the hearing.

The plan can be viewed on the township website:

https://www.salisburylehighpa.gov/article/2923213.

States the summary, “At its heart, the plan tells Salisbury Township’s story — where the community has been, where it is today, and where it hopes to go next.

“Every member of the community can find something that connects to their interests, whether it’s housing, transportation, parks, the local economy, or overall quality of life.”

The plan includes township history, the township’s location in Lehigh Valley, the township’s proximity to major metropolitan areas and information about township population and demographics, housing, economy, environment, parks and recreation and infrastructure.

The Comprehensive Plan includes four focus areas:

Growing strategically for financial benefit:

Preventing property disinvestment;

Building a connected community, and

Sustaining and enhancing parks and pen spaces.

Each of the focus areas has “Impact Action Items,” or ways to implement the goals.

Next: Existing Salisbury Township conditions

The Salisbury Township meeting schedule in the municipal building, 2900 S. Pike Ave., includes: 7 p.m. July 8, zoning hearing board, canceled; 7 p.m. July 9, board of commissioners; 7 p.m. July 22, planning commission, and 7 p.m. July 23, board of commissioners.