Sustainable Development & Planning Videos

Delaware County has embarked on a planning process to update its Municipal Waste Management Plan to coincide with the development of the County’s first Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, and to comply with Pennsylvania’s Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act (Act 101 of 1988). A key difference between a traditional solid waste management plan and a Zero Waste planning process, is the focus on stakeholder outreach. Zero Waste requires a change in behavior. Changing behavior requires understanding the barriers and benefits of the proposed actions (reducing waste, recycling, and composting more) and developing new or expanded policies and programs to overcome the perceived barriers to take advantage of the potential benefits. Understanding requires engagement. To ensure that all stakeholders could meaningfully participate in the development of this plan, the County conducted an extensive outreach process. The Zero Waste approach in the Municipal Waste Management Plan update includes increasing the percentage of materials purchased with recycled content; reducing waste generated in County properties; facilitating local reuse, repair, and recovery of materials; supporting policies and programs to reduce residential and commercial waste generated per capita; preventing, reducing, and recovering food waste; and increasing methods of recovery to improve diversion from incineration and landfilling.

The link between climate health and personal health is becoming more widely accepted and is well supported by research. In this session EAC members will be introduced to several programs and resources they can tap into to assist their municipality in improving community health. Guest speakers Leann Chaney and Lillie Gabreski from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) will share information and resources to assist municipalities in advancing active transportation, as well as funding available for active transportation projects through the SPC. Tim Ifill from Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and Jeffrey Bergman from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy will share an overview of the TreeVitalize and Tree Tenders programs, the importance of tree canopy to the overall environmental health of a community, and how they partner with EACs and Shade Tree Commissions. Tim will also share how the work being done in Philadelphia is being expanded into the suburban counties served by Tree Pittsburgh.

As online shopping has become a major source of retail goods in the 21st century, logistics industry practices have changed, and so has the industry’s demand for land. Although often referred to as “warehouses,” today’s logistics facilities are not the long-term-storage-based warehouses of the past — they are huge distribution and fulfillment centers with the potential to generate far-reaching traffic, noise, aesthetic, and environmental impacts unanticipated by zoning ordinances drafted long before this development pattern was even a remote possibility. Communities across the Commonwealth are now faced with the influx of these massive logistics facilities, and municipalities are struggling to figure out how to respond before it’s too late. Zoning is perhaps the most powerful tool municipalities have to do this. In order to help Pennsylvania’s municipalities proactively prepare for this incoming land use, PennFuture has created a model zoning ordinance and guidebook. The Model Logistics Use Zoning Ordinance is based on the information and experience that PennFuture’s staff has gained through our engagement with community members and municipalities in the Lehigh Valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania, the logistics hub of the East Coast. We will share what we have learned in this process: how the logistics industry has changed in recent decades; how existing zoning ordinances are often inadequate to effectively address modern logistics uses; pitfalls we have noticed in the way zoning ordinances that do address these uses are doing so; and suggestions for how to draft an effective zoning regulation.

Various planning efforts are used by communities and organizations to evaluate their current conditions, document their expected future, and prepare action steps to achieve their community and/or organizational goals. Such plans include community visioning, municipal comprehensive, and organizational strategic plans. While these plans have similarities as well as differences in overall purpose, process and content, they all can play a role in natural resource conservation projects and practices. No matter the plan type, they should strive for ultimate implementation of the recommendations and policies that were developed during their creation. This session will show ways by which the implementation of such plans can direct and impact land use and organizational policy issues. It will also focus on factors (before, during and after plan preparation), that influence plan implementation.

Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) staff will present case studies illustrating different planning approaches to conserving three unique historic landscapes. In Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Valley Park, SHPO partnered with the city and other stakeholders to identify alternatives for preserving the historic, stream-side Valley Green Inn while addressing challenges such as stormwater management, streambank restoration, and access. At Dromgold Farm, SHPO is working with the Historical Society of Perry County and community partners to explore potential uses that capitalize on its history, open space, and recreational opportunities along Sherman Creek. At the state-owned Eckley Miners’ Village, SHPO is facilitating a dialogue between stakeholders to develop a new, sustainable business model that continues interpreting this historic, 82-acre coal mining town, achieves a planned connection to the Greater Hazleton Rail Trail, and responds to the changing needs of the community.

Natural resource protection is often at the center of an EACs’ work, but what are some methods EACs can employ to further this goal? Join us for a series of three presentations focused on methods of monitoring and protecting our air, water, and forest resources. Presentation #1: Community-scale air quality monitoring using low-cost sensors, including potential benefits and pitfalls. Data collected in Cranberry Township, PA will be shown as a case study. Dr. Albert Presto, Carnegie Mellon Presentation #2: The development of a systematic approach to mapping and assessing stormwater BMPs. William Ross Snook, New Hanover Township EAC Presentation #3: Pennsylvania’s Service Forester Program, and a discussion of managing invasives. Michael Hoffman, PA DCNR, Bureau of Forestry