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If the Altoona Planning Commission had a crystal ball capable of seeing many years into the future, the discussion that the panel had recently about waiving sidewalk requirements could have produced easy conclusions and an easy decision based on them.
But not only does the commission not have a crystal ball, it also has two options that could prove to be perfectly right or very wrong, depending on how future development proceeds. However, there is no way to be sure about what course has more likelihood of prevailing for the city's best overall interests.
The current situation is ripe for many "what-ifs" then, regardless of the conclusion for which the planners ultimately opt. Perhaps commission member Devin Saylor provided the best observation, noting that ultimately the commission needs to find "a balance."
That balance needs to be fair as well as provide adequate wiggle-room regarding potential cases impossible to anticipate at this time.
There are issues about which governments and their associated entities can be firm from the start, once rules are established. Yet there are issues, like this one dealing with sidewalks, about which being too rigid could produce an unsightly mess capable of undoing certain progress already attained.
During the commission's discussion, Saylor acknowledged developers' extra expense of meeting a sidewalk-or-else edict.
He expressed the logical view that when there are no existing sidewalks to connect with, it becomes easy to imagine that forcing one to be built could result in a stranded strip of concrete for the next 20 or so years.
But then he continued that one proposal follows on another, and it often becomes regrettable when an ordinance, as initially established, is not enforced.
There are those people who would automatically embrace the notion that no matter what the city would opt to do, it will be wrong.
Still, the more optimistically-minded are prone to suggest that even those ideas that do not pan out totally as envisioned initially can, through community leaders' skills and flexibility, be adjusted to achieve remarkable success.
Consider Altoona's initial redevelopment efforts of the 1960s and early '70s. No one ever could have envisioned how the razing of so many buildings, virtually at once, could enable the downtown to survive.
On the downtown revitalization front, much more work is needed, but the important point is that efforts are well underway.
Regarding the city's sidewalk efforts and the issue of whether waivers ever should be granted, a to-do list could be destined to remain in play for many more years, if the city remains open to the waiver option.
Here is where some words of caution need to be injected into the discussion.
Many times a rule is weakened when exceptions to it are permitted. That reality necessitates a clear, written understanding within the community of what makes a property eligible for a waiver and what does not.
Without such an understanding and document, the city could become bogged down, to the detriment of so much other work that needs to be addressed.
An article in the July 17 Mirror referenced pedestrian features as one of the enhancements that make communities attractive to prospective businesses.
Installed correctly, sidewalks depict a meaningful and welcoming attitude for which a crystal ball is not needed to appreciate.