Land Use and Growth Management

The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code requires the Governor’s Center for Local Government Services to prepare a comprehensive State Land Use and Growth Management Report every five years, beginning in 2005. This report is to be a comprehensive land use and growth management report with information, data and conclusions regarding growth and development patterns in PA along with recommendations to state agencies for coordination of executive action, regulation and programs. This is the inaugural report.

The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code requires the Governor’s Center for Local Government Services to prepare a comprehensive State Land Use and Growth Management Report every five years, beginning in 2005. This report takes an in-depth look at statewide and regional growth and development patterns. It will be a vital tool in assessing trends and barriers related to land use, population and development and will be a tremendous resource in mapping out future growth opportunities for Pennsylvania."

The report provides updated information on the status, condition, and trends of land, soil, water, and related resources on America's farmland. The 2012 NRI provides nationally consistent data for the 30-year period 1982–2012.

The report contains data on a variety of issues relevant to land use and development in Pennsylvania. It was prepared by the Governor’s Center for Local Government Services with input from a variety of state government agencies and the Pennsylvania State Planning Board. Data covers land use and growth trends; changes in demographics, the economy, and resources that affect land use; and land use and development tools used by municipalities.

These documents are handouts from a 2009 workshop regarding managing open space in subdivisions.

This resource guide was created to increase awareness about the funding and technical assistance programs available to support the cleanup and reuse of brownfields in the Delaware Valley region.

Recent trends have indicated that Chester County’s population will grow an additional 146,344 people by 2045, and much of which will occur in urban and suburban areas. Development options such as transit-oriented development can guide population growth and encourage development in the county’s growth areas, while helping to preserve the county’s open space. Many centers within the region are building compact walkable development, such as TOD, to accommodate both Millennials and Baby Boomers.

This chapter of Human Population Growth and Land-Use Change, written by Peter Claggett synthesizes the USGS findings about the rate of urban sprawl in the Chesapeake watershed and outcomes from a vulnerability assessment.

PowerPoint presentation on the Resource Lands Assessment (RLA) currently being developed for Pennsylvania with assistance from the US EPA. This presentation briefly reviews the RLA developed for the Chesapeake Bay, and the process being used to develop a similar, but different RLA for the whole state.

This information sheet provides ideas for converting traditional industrial park sites into conservation-oriented spaces using landscaping techniques, renewable energy, and other environmentally conscious design practices.

This presentation focuses on conservation efforts in urban communities

This report discusses a first attempt to use Scenario 360 to set up an application that would report a set of development impacts associated with a sample development to a planning board.

This report is designed to aid municipalities and developers in effectively financing mixed-use development. Included are an overview of the benefits and challenges to implementing mixed-use development, best practices in financing (including specific financing mechanisms), different organizational structures for financing, and strategies for achieving success. Case studies of successful mixed-use projects in the Delaware Valley region are presented, as well as funding sources that exist in the region.

Greenscapes: The Green Infrastructure Element of the Lancaster County Comprehensive Plan defines a vision, goals and objectives, strategies, and tools to preserve, conserve, restore, and enhance natural resources through the establishment of a countywide, integrated green infrastructure system. It highlights the importance of protecting large blocks of contiguous land and improving connectivity as it aims to establish a network of natural areas, conservation lands, and working landscapes. Greenscapes provides a blueprint for accommodating appropriate growth and development while preserving the region’s most valuable natural resources, native species, cultural assets and agricultural economy.

Explains the benefits of Traditional Neighborhood Development, tips for implementation, and examples from the Lehigh Valley.

Press release announcing the kick-off workshop for the Hazlet 2030 visioning process and describes the purpose and funding for the process.

This document was used at a public workshop and presents the existing conditions, describes prior planning efforts and the key focus areas, and provides questions for public discussion during the workshop.

Communication towers in North America kill millions of birds annually, and most of these are Neotropical species that migrate at night. This paper reviews and analyzes the literature on the features of towers that can be regulated, particularly tower design and placement, to provide a scientific basis for regulation of tower construction and operation.

Presentation on the PA Natural Heritage Program

This guide contains practices and tools used in Pennsylvania to promote responsible land use.

The purpose of this plan is to guide the conservation, restoration, and enhancement of the county's open space and cultural resources and create linkages between these vast resources. This plan is intended to guide the decisions of municipalities, conservation organizations, landowners, and developers, and encourage partnerships to achieve common goals for natural resources; outdoor recreation facilities; greenways and blueways; agricultural lands and historic, cultural and scenic resources.

The purpose of this plan is to guide the conservation, restoration and enhancement of the County’s open space resources and create linkages between the County’s vast natural resources; outdoor recreational facilities; greenways and blueways; farmland; and historic, cultural, and scenic resources

This publication is a guide to municipal land use planning. It covers topics that include tree commissions, public landscaping, stormwater management and reclamation of vacant lots.

This article discusses the impact the resource land assessment (a development threat analysis) had on preservation efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Each guide describes a different type of zoning district (including related open-space issues) and provides a model ordinance for each. Districts include: village residential district, village mixed-use district, land preservation district, neighborhood residential district, rural residential district.

One way to address environmental sustainability and housing affordability issues is to build smaller houses. Cottage housing is an innovative style of development based on the idea of “better, not bigger.” Although it faces the same obstacles as other higher-density development types, cottage housing’s advantages could make it more acceptable to neighbors. This development type would be a useful option for developers, fitting between the detached single family house and the condo or townhouse. It makes more efficient use of the land, is more affordable and offers better energy efficiency than traditional single family detached housing, while providing more privacy than attached housing.

Model ordinance to promote mixed-use zoning and development in a community.

This website provides information on proposed legislation, state statutes, and land use case law rulings.

This section of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code lists the powers and duties of planning agencies.

This report compares 26 metropolitan areas in terms of demographics, natural resources and the environment; livable communities; the economy; and transportation. The Philadelphia region’s strengths include its diverse economy; relatively affordable housing, myriad of colleges, universities, and cultural opportunities; health care resources; extensive highway and transit network; and quality air and port facilities. These strengths, however, threaten to be checked by regional challenges, including urban concentrations of poverty and unemployment; low labor force participation; disparately low educational attainment in its cities; an aging population; and fragmented local government. The challenge facing the region is identifying how to capitalize and build on its strengths while recognizing and working to resolve its identified weaknesses.

This resource provides information about brownfields redevelopment targeted to municipal planners and decision-makers. The primer defines brownfields, identifies benefits and barriers involved in brownfield redevelopment, discusses related issues such as green building and equitable development, and describes Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and federal brownfields funding and technical assistance resources. The primer is organized within a folder. The folder also contains case studies of brownfield redevelopment projects from the region, as well as two previously-published DVRPC resources on brownfields: the Brownfields Resource Guide: Funding and Technical Assistance for Remediation and Reuse (publication number 07052) and Municipal Implementation Tool #10: Reclaiming Brownfields.

This guide presents a set of guidelines and strategies to assist in the rejuvenation of brownfield sites. The purpose is to highlight the importance of brownfield revitalization and provide guidance and processes on how to redevelop brownfield sites.

Provides a detailed description of forests and their benefits; analysis of threats to forest land; and description of various tools municipalities can use to maintain, protect, and restore forests.

Traditional Neighborhood Development creates compact, mixed-use, non-automobile- dependent neighborhoods and communities. It serves the needs of people and accommodates growth with minimal waste of land. (Print version of ConservationTools.org Guide)

These underutilized commercial centers come in all shapes and sizes. Some are simply outdated while others have been converted to non-traditional retail uses or remain vacant. Fortunately, greyfields offer an opportunity for a municipality to rethink and repurpose these areas to become strong financial assets and centers of their community. Adaptive reuse and redevelopment of struggling properties is not a new concept, but as properties age and demand for brick-and-mortar retail stores declines it becomes more important to consider these options. Introducing a mixture of uses and experience-based retail in greyfields, and incorporating green infrastructure and renewable energy, can begin to revitalize these centers.