Buffalo Township supervisor Linda Stover, who resigned, effective Tuesday, had the positive distinction of being the first woman ever to serve as the board of supervisors' chairperson. Stover and supervisor Marianne Hill are the first two women to hold supervisor positions in the township.

Stover, who surprised other members of the board on May 25 when she announced her plan to resign, seven months prior to the end of her term, said she believes the township is headed in the right direction and is confident the municipality will not allow too much uncontrolled development to occur.

"The township is not turning into a Cranberry," she said, referring to the congestion and too-long-unmanaged growth in the southwestern Butler County municipality.

She said the major issue facing Buffalo Township is completion of its comprehensive plan, which, when approved, will guide how the township uses its resources.

But while Stover is correct that avoiding Cranberry's growth problems must be a priority for Buffalo, her reference to "too much development" ignores the realities of progress and growth.

"Avoiding too much development" shouldn't be the primary focus. The emphasis should be on promoting orderly growth that allows development to take place without harming the municipality.

Buffalo Township cannot be an island - shielded from growth while development occurs all around it. Stover obviously recognizes that by way of her concern that the comprehensive plan is essential to the township's future.

Meanwhile, there is too much of a penchant in some places in the county to bash Cranberry for what it has become. But the Cranberry bashers ignore the positive tax impact that municipality provides for county government; county taxes would likely be significantly higher, if it weren't for the tax revenue emanating from Cranberry's growth and development.

Stover, whose early resignation was prompted by her decision to move to neighboring Clinton Township - she did not seek a party nomination in the May 17 primary election - helped preside over Buffalo during an interesting time in the township's history. Her years of service allowed her and the other supervisors to focus not only on the rural aspects of the municipality, but also on the business and housing development moving northward from Allegheny County.

The trend of township government business will continue in the multi-faceted ways that prevailed during Stover's leadership. Buffalo will never return to the days when road maintenance was the only dominant matter.

Stover was part of the township leadership that took a big step on behalf of farming in December when the Rural Residential and Agricultural Zoning District was approved as a vehicle for protecting and promoting continuation of farming in areas of prime soils. That measure will help keep development from squeezing out agriculture from the Buffalo landscape, as well as work on behalf of orderly growth.

Stover merits praise for her positive service and dedication to the municipality. Township residents should hope that her successor understands the realities of what is occurring and is willing to work within those realities in a positive, rather than obstructionist, way.

Like it or not, development is destined to continue in the municipality. The challenge is to ensure that the development is not haphazard, and that it is consistent with the resources that make Buffalo what it is.