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. 

The projects include:

• East Marlborough Township (for an open space, recreation, and environmental resources plan);
• Easttown Township (for Devon visioning and regulatory amendments);
• Valley Township (for a comprehensive plan); and
• West Caln Township (for a comprehensive plan).

Once again, competition was strong and unfortunately multiple applicants were turned away due to limited funding. This speaks to the ongoing desire of municipalities to properly plan for the future. When applications are turned away, the Planning Commission works with a municipality to strengthen its application for a future VPP grant round or potentially for another funding opportunity.

The Chester County Commissioners established VPP in 1996 to promote cooperation between the county and local governments in the implementation of the county comprehensive plan. With pending completion of Landscapes3, the Planning Commission will shortly begin a review of VPP to improve consistency between the program’s guidelines and application with the policies of Landscapes3. This review will likely impact the opening date of the 2019 grant cycle. We anticipate sharing more details early in 2019, and hosting a meeting for municipalities to review any changes to VPP. View more information about VPP.