Below you’ll find news and updates about Chester County’s Land Use Planning.
Category: Land Use News
Forum Focuses on Current Planning Issues in Chester County
About 50 professional planners and municipal officials from the local area recently attended the Chester County Planning Commission’s fall 2018 Planners’ Forum to learn about current issues, including long-term planning at Longwood Gardens, understanding the Certified Local Government Program for historic preservation, and wayfinding signage for Chester County. Continue Reading →
Planning Commission Announces Grants for Chester County Municipalities
Congratulations to the Chester County municipalities that received funding through the competitive cash grant portion of the fall 2018 Vision Partnership Program (VPP) to help with future planning, including East Marlborough, Easttown, Valley, and West Caln townships. Continue Reading →
Chester County Municipalities Move Forward with Future Plans
Congratulations to the Chester County municipalities that are moving forward with plans that will help their communities thrive.
Malvern Borough recently completed a Multimodal Transportation Study that evaluated existing issues in the borough and identified ways to improve the transportation network. Primary concerns were pedestrian travel issues, regional multimodal connections, cut-through traffic, and safety for all transportation modes. Continue Reading →
Regional Planning Agency Releases Video about Long-Range Plan
Did you know Chester County is expected to be the fastest growing county in southeastern Pennsylvania in the next 30 years? In fact, there will be 146,000 new residents and 88,000 more jobs in Chester County in the next 30 years, according to Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) estimates. The DVRPC highlighted these facts and other regional trends and forecasts in “Connections 2045 Plan for Greater Philadelphia,” a long-range plan for the region’s future. Continue Reading →
Second Round of Vision Partnership Program Grants Opens
The second round of the Vision Partnership Program (VPP) planning grants for 2018 opened today (June 25). Through VPP, Chester County municipalities are eligible for funds to assist their communities with comprehensive planning, ordinance updates, and other studies. The 2018 VPP Grant Manual and application materials are available online. Pre-application meetings are strongly encouraged, and can be scheduled by contacting Chester County Planning Commission Planning Services Director Susan Elks at selks@chesco.org. The deadline to apply is Aug. 15. Learn more about the VPP process, as well as projects funded previously through the program.
Examining Housing Trends in Chester County
Over the past decade, residential development in Chester County has been gravitating toward multifamily and attached units versus single-family detached homes – a trend that continued last year. To put that in perspective, there were over 2,400 multifamily and attached units proposed in 2017 versus about 700 single-family detached homes. Continue Reading →
Planning Commission to Host Commercial Landscapes Symposium
The Chester County Planning Commission will be hosting a Commercial Landscapes Symposium from 4 p.m.-6 p.m. June 7 at the Penn State Great Valley campus. The planning series focuses on trends and potential strategies to address changes in retail centers, office parks, transit centers, and old industrial properties around the county.
The featured speaker will be James Cook, the Americas Director of Retail Research at Jones Lang Lasalle, who will discuss the future of commercial real estate in Chester County and the Philadelphia region. There also will be a panel discussion with experts. Click here to register for the event.
Exploring Housing Trends in Chester County
If home is where the heart is, the heart of Chester County housing these days is multifamily homes, particularly apartments.
There were nearly 3,000 multifamily units proposed in 2016, which was an increase of approximately 1,000 since 2015. In particular, there was a drastic increase in the apartment development proposals over the past year. There were 2,231 apartment units proposed in 2016 compared to 1,150 in 2015. Continue Reading →
Landscapes2 Index Report Card 2015
We have just released the Landscapes2 Index Report Card 2015, which shows how 16 different planning related measures have changed since Landscapes2 was adopted in 2009. This report, which can be viewed here, is published each year to provide a long-term planning perspective. This report presents recent trends that relate to the preservation of open space, land development, housing features, transportation, and the local economy. A notable recent improvement revealed by this report was the increase in the amount of housing in proposed growth areas, which may reflect the desire for more multi-family and rental units, especially in walkable areas.
Millennials in Chester County
On Thursday July 22, 2016, Jake Michael of the Planning Commission staff gave a presentation at the Chester County 2020 Citizen Planner Breakfast about the how local planning is adapting to meet the needs of Millennial Generation. How Chester County’s communities will adapt to the changing housing and employment needs of Millennials is become a significant planning issue, since this generation now comprises roughly a quarter of the population.
The presentation provides a lot of information that provides insights into the preferences and decisions made by this large, new cohort of our population. The primary topics include housing, education, employment and transit choices since these could significantly impact planning decisions. View presentation.