Open space preservation is vital to ensure a high quality of life in Pennsylvania. Open space involves prevention of overdevelopment, the constant upgrading of parks and recreation areas in our inner ring suburbs, and the beautification of our communities.
Here in Delaware County, the reasons for focusing on open space preservation are self-evident. We are one of the most densely populated and heavily developed counties in the state. The standards developed by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) show that 36 of our municipalities do not have sufficient park space. Our kids do not have enough places to play safely. We do not have places where we can enjoy a simple walk through land unencumbered by asphalt and concrete.
Furthermore, overdevelopment in Delaware County has led to an increase in traffic, noise, and congestion. Space preservation serves as a way to combat the overdevelopment that threatens to overwhelm many suburban areas. By doing so, we can preserve land for conservation projects, park development, bike trails, and more.
I helped to spearhead an effort in my own town, Nether Providence Township, to purchase large tracts of open land and turn them into fields where our kids can play. I am committed to ensuring that we take all possible steps to preserve the space that we have left in Delaware County.
The Issues
Delaware County has fallen far behind neighboring counties in its efforts to preserve open space. We lag behind other counties in both adhering to a comprehensive open space plan and financing open space preservation and development. While Delaware County lack a plan, Montgomery, Bucks, and Chester counties have open space plans. Council hired the Natural Lands Trust to identify areas in the Western part of the county that would be valuable to conserve, but it is up to individual communities to come up with their own plans and funding to secure those resources. Council’s failure to strategically plan hinders the ability of municipalities to create multi-municipal initiatives and secure funding.
In 2007, Delaware County allocated just under $500,000 for open space preservation. Montgomery County allocated just under $37 million. The County’s refusal to come up with creative finance solutions places the burden of financing open space initiatives directly on municipalities, who lack the resources to implement comprehensive plans. Therefore, municipalities cannot acquire large tracts of land for open space preservation or create or refurbish parks and recreation areas. It simply costs too much.
The county could ease the cost borne by municipalities or finance its own open space programs by using some of the state grant money available. For instance, the Governor’s Growing Greener II initiative gives money to the counties to be spent within the confines of the program. Even though the money became available in November of 2005, Delaware County has left its $2.7 million share sitting untouched in Harrisburg. I find this unacceptable.
My Plan
The good news is that we can and will fix these problems. I have a plan that addresses the issues surrounding open space in Delaware County; a lack of communication on all levels of government, the development of and adherence to comprehensive plans, the development of flexible and creative financing options, and equitable distribution of resources and services throughout the county. Below I have laid out how I plan to deal with these barriers:
I. Development of and Adherence to Open Space Plans
I will ensure that we Implement the County’s five-year consolidated plan to revitalize and reinvigorate our communities through responsible development while raising quality of life through space preservation and park creation.
A. Planning
The Delaware County Planning Department must work to ensure equitable distribution of County resources in planning and execution. In part, this is due, to a lack of planning resources, especially in comparison to neighboring counties. In order for municipalities to develop viable long-term planning assistance, Delaware County must expand its planning department. Furthermore, the County should work with the State in achieving multi-municipal plans, allowing for shared expense across municipalities and greater chances of procuring grant money from state and federal agencies.
B. Follow-Through
The existing consolidated plan identifies five reconstruction zones in the County. Steps must be taken to ensure that in each of the five identified revitalization zones infrastructure development and maintenance must continue to focus on park planning and open space acquisition. Housing development that is not accompanied by infrastructure development and maintenance, including space preservation and cleanup of contaminated sites is environmentally and economically irresponsible. I will focus on the following municipalities: Chester City, Chester Township, Parkside and Upland Boroughs, Aldan, Collingdale, Colwyn, Darby, Folcroft, Glenolden, Norwood, Prospect Park and Sharon Hill Boroughs and Darby Township, Clifton Heights, East Lansdowne, Lansdowne, Millbourne and Yeadon boroughs, and Upper Darby township.
C. Park Development
The application of regional standards developed by the Delaware Valley Planning Commission shows that 36 Delaware County municipalities lack sufficient park space. The County government must take an active role in searching for the opportunity to develop parkland both in partnership with municipalities and by itself. A greater focus on open space preservation will help ensure that space exists for park facilities.
II. Space Acquisition
I will explore creative yet efficient financing options to allow Delaware County to become competitive with neighboring counties in Open Space preservation. I will inform people of these options, so that we can make an informed choice about how to best approach preserving open space as a county.
A. Financial Comparison
Delaware County has fallen extraordinarily far behind its neighbors in funding the preservation of tracts of open land. The county’s budget for 2006 allocated $820,000 for open space preservation, while the 2007 county budget allocates just under $500,000. Adjacent counties (Bucks, Montgomery and Chester) have all developed systems of bond issuance to fund space acquisition, allowing Montgomery County to allocate over $35 million for open space preservation.
B. Funding Options
Various options for increasing funding for open space acquisition must be explored, including:
- Soliciting community opinion on county bond issuance
- Multi-municipal and inter-county expense sharing
- The pooling of grant monies from various state and federal agencies to create an amount large enough to acquire tracts of open land for preservation
III. Equitable Open Space Preservation
I will strive to allocate financial resources and county planning services in a manner that protects the existing open space
A. Western Delaware County
A number of opportunities exist, in the western part of Delaware County, to purchase open space. However, because of the lack of funds allocated for open space preservation, the county is limited to using Community Development Block Grants and non-profit coordination to secure open space. However, these nonprofits and grants focus on more densely populated areas, often in the east, leaving large tracts of land in the western part of the county vulnerable to overdevelopment and overcrowding at the expense of the environment. Furthermore, when the county hired the Natural Lands Trust to develop a plan, they focused only on planning for the Eastern part of the county, leaving land in the West of the county vulnerable to overdevelopment.
B. Eastern Delaware County
The eastern region of Delaware County must continue to focus resources on more heavily developed and urbanized spaces, including Chester and Upper Darby. To effectively revitalize urban areas, we must act to insure that sufficient park space is maintained and that land use is planned and monitored to preserve open space and recreation areas. The leveraging of HUD’s Community Development Block Grants with other grant money will create pools of money large enough for both the creation of urban parks and acquisition of empty lot space and larger tracts of land. Furthermore, better avenues of communication between municipal and county government will allow for citizens to take a more active role in identifying areas where land preservation efforts should be focused.
IV. Communications
I will work to ensure that we move away from the current council’s Bush-style secrecy by opening communications on all levels of government to ensure a comprehensive approach to Open Space preservation.
A. Municipal
Facilitating communication between municipalities is a function of county government. County government should assist constituent municipalities to work together in the financing and formation of regional open space and environmental initiatives by forming partnerships with municipal government.
B. County
Municipal governments must be able to rely on county government not only to streamline communications with one another, but also to work with the various departments of the county infrastructure. This can be accomplished in part with a larger planning staff commensurate with the planning staff of neighboring counties. The county government must also seek to communicate with neighboring counties to plan inter-county open space initiatives.
C. State
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania offers a number of resources and services to county and municipal governments for the purpose of preserving open space and environmental conservation. The County government must effectively communicate with the state in order to secure and maximize these resources or it will allow resources to go to waste.
