Never miss a thing! Get news and announcements from Chesco Planning delivered directly to your inbox.
The U.S. Census Bureau recently released the 2018 official estimate of the county’s population. Chester County had 522,046 people in 2018, a 3,112 person increase from 2017. Chester County had the highest rate of growth in Southeastern Pennsylvania since 2010 and over the past year.
Over 50 professional planners recently attended the Chester County Planning Commission’s seventh semi-annual Planners’ Forum to learn about topics ranging from revitalization efforts and affordable housing in Phoenixville to progress on the Schuylkill River Trail.
The Chester County Planning Commission anticipates applications for the first round of Vision Partnership Program (VPP) cash grants for 2019 will be accepted from mid-May until the end of June. This program provides funds to municipalities for comprehensive plans, ordinance updates, or planning studies to implement Landscapes3, Chester County’s comprehensive plan.
Celebrate 30 years of open space preservation in Chester County! The inaugural Chester County Open Space Summit will take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2 at the Lenfest Center at ChesLen Preserve, 1199 Cannery Road, Coatesville. The event will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the county’s open space preservation program and recognize the economic benefits of these efforts. The results of a study, Return on Environment: The Economic Value of Protected Open Space in Chester County, will be announced at the event. The report highlights the proven and substantial economic, environmental, and public health benefits of open space preservation to surrounding communities. Register online.
Oliver Bass, president of Natural Lands, highlighted his regional land conservation organization and its partnership with Chester County during a Chester County Planning Commission board meeting April 10th.
Bass said the 65-year-old nonprofit organization “saves open space, cares for nature, and connects people to the outdoors in eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey.” The organization has been around since the early 1950s thanks to Allston Jenkins, an accountant who took up birding as a hobby.
Ellen Ferretti, director of the Brandywine Conservancy, highlighted her organization and its partnership with Chester County during a Chester County Planning Commission board meeting March 13th.
The Brandywine Conservancy was founded in 1967 as the Tri-County Conservancy serving Chester and Delaware counties and New Castle County, Delaware. It is based in Chadds Ford, Delaware County.
Every month, the Planning Commission highlights one of its staff or board members.
The Chester County Commissioners recently appointed Stephanie Duncan as the newest member of the Planning Commission’s board. Stephanie, the secretary/treasurer for the Borough of South Coatesville, discussed her new role at the Planning Commission and also shared information about her life philosophy, interests, and more.
If you’re a municipal official in Chester County who is wondering how you can implement Landscapes3, the county’s newly adopted comprehensive plan, the Chester County Planning Commission has suggestions for ways to do that through your ordinances that strengthen preservation, encourage smart growth, and improve the character of new development.
Professional planners from Chester County are invited to join us at the spring 2019 Chester County Planners’ Forum from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. April 4 at Phoenixville Borough Hall, 351 Bridge Street, Phoenixville.
Apartments continued to be the most popular proposed housing type in Chester County in 2018 – a trend that started a few years ago – but there also was an increase in proposals for single-family detached homes.