Twenty years ago, Chester County made a choice.   It chose to change - to redirect growth, to protect open space, and to revitalize its towns and communities. With the adoption of a new comprehensive plan, Landscapes, in July 1996, the County Commissioners chose to work with their municipal, business, and preservation partners to keep the county’s high quality of place. Landscapes2, adopted in 2009, continued Landscapes policies, seeking to balance growth and preservation.

Have Landscapes and Landscapes2 been successful? The answer is an unequivocal yes. The citizens of Chester County, the county government, local municipalities, the business community, conservancies, and many others have worked extremely hard to improve the county. Here is a summary of how the county has changed.

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Here are a few examples of how local municipalities have successfully planned for growth and limited sprawl:

Oxford Region Plans to Protect Rural Character and Agrarian Tradition

In 1969 the municipalities of the Oxford Region adopted the Oxford Region Comprehensive Plan. One goal in the 1969 Plan holds true today and provides a bridge to the Region’s recent planning initiatives, “To prepare a planning program which can be applied to all the communities and which embodies solutions to present and future problems and self-sustaining proposals for the control of growth of land use, community facilities, and a transportation network.”

In 2008, the Oxford Region’s unique character and valuable resources were threatened by development pressures from both outside and inside the Region. Through the development of a multimunicipal comprehensive plan, funded by the County’s Vision Partnership Program (VPP) and the municipalities, the Region addressed land use, transportation, community services and facilities, energy conservation, and resource protection. Representatives from the six municipalities met with county planners monthly over several years to develop the plan.

In 2012, the six municipalities adopted the Oxford Region Multimunicipal Comprehensive Plan, which focused on retention of agriculture as an industry, protection of natural resources, and management of residential and commercial growth. Future growth was focused around Oxford Borough and areas with existing infrastructure. Recommendations addressed sprawl by promoting development in and around existing developed areas, and by promoting alternative development options such as cluster/open space development, transfer of development rights (TDR), and effective agricultural zoning. Plan recommendations carried forward actions already underway in the Region - Upper Oxford Township adopted effective agricultural zoning years before adoption of the Multimunicipal Plan.

Following adoption of the Oxford Region Multimunicipal Comprehensive Plan, five of the six municipalities quickly signed an implementation agreement, with the sixth municipality signing on in 2016. The Oxford Region Planning Committee continues to meet monthly to discuss issues of regional interest and is currently engaged in a regional stormwater management program. For more information on their activities please visit www.chesco.org/planning/orpc.

Upper Oxford Adopts Effective Agricultural Zoning

Upper Oxford Township has a longstanding goal of maintaining its agricultural heritage. In 2005 the Township started development of an agricultural zoning district, a planning project funded by the County’s Vision Partnership Program (VPP) and the Township. Adopted in 2006, the new district was a modification of the prior agricultural/residential zoning district that applied to a majority of the township. The modifications helped to implement the goals and objectives of the Township's comprehensive plan - limit development on highly productive prime agricultural soils and establish criteria for locating residential land uses.

The prior zoning district mandated cluster residential development on parcels greater than 30 acres and allowed parcels less than 30 acres to be developed at a density of one unit per two acres. The modifications created an effective agricultural zoning district for parcels greater than 30 acres, allowing those parcels to spin-off one to two acre residential lots at a density of one unit per ten acres. Once the permitted number of spin-off lots has been developed, no further development for residential purposes may be permitted. Further subdivision for agricultural purposes is permitted, with specific restrictions on development other than agricultural use. Parcels less than 30 acres may be developed at one unit per two acres, as permitted previously. The modified zoning district also benefits agriculture through:

• Reduced regulations on farms.

• Additional use and development options for farms.

• Locating future development to reduce impacts on farms.

The adopted zoning district is consistent with Landscapes2, which identifies much of Upper Oxford Township as an Agricultural Rural Resource Area. Adopting this zoning ordinance amendment is one of several steps Upper Oxford has taken toward retaining agriculture as the primary use within its borders.

South Coventry and Chester County: A Partnership in Sound Planning

South Coventry Township has been working with the County for nearly twenty years on a local and regional level, implementing the strategies of Landscapes. In 2001, South Coventry adopted an updated zoning ordinance that implemented the strategies of their 1996 Comprehensive Plan. As a follow-up, South Coventry completed an update to their Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance. Both the Zoning and Subdivision and Land Development Ordinances were funded through the County’s Vision Partnership Program (VPP).

The 1996 Comprehensive Plan promoted the preservation of natural resources, protection of the Township’s rural character, and identified a limited growth area in the Pughtown/Bucktown area. The Zoning Ordinance supported the Plan’s principles by permitting medium density development in the area near the intersection of Routes 100 and 23, close to the Owen J. Roberts school complex. In 2001, a neo-traditional subdivision – Ridglea – was approved that would promote the preservation of significant areas of open space while accommodating medium-density housing. Ridglea’s narrow streets, pedestrian orientation and scale, short setbacks, and nearly sixty acres of open space are the antithesis of sprawl and an example of progressive planning in northern Chester County.

South Coventry continued their partnership with the County when they embarked on the development of the Regional Resource Protection Plan with fellow members of the Federation of Northern Chester County Communities (Northern Federation). This effort was funded through the County’s Vision Partnership Program (VPP) and the municipalities. In 2006, eight of the nine participating municipalities adopted the Plan, which included recommendations to protect natural, scenic, historic, agricultural, and open space resources in northern Chester County.

In 2014, the Township began an update to their 1996 Comprehensive Plan, once again partnering with the County through the VPP. The Township will seek to retain its rural character while providing opportunities for managed growth, and expects to adopt the updated Comprehensive Plan in the fall of 2016.  

Kennett Township – Planning on All Fronts

With its proximity to economic centers in Chester County and northern Delaware, Kennett Township has long felt the push of development pressure from all sides. Their response has included a long-term, continued focus on planning and a balancing of growth and preservation. Working with the County, as well as its neighboring municipalities, Kennett Township has guided new commercial development and higher density housing to areas around Kennett Borough that are served by existing infrastructure and the amenities in the Borough, while working to maintain mushroom and equine industries, rural historic character, and natural areas.

Kennett Township’s policy of focusing future growth adjacent and connected to Kennett Square Borough while working to preserve the rural areas of the Township has been enumerated in multiple Township planning and implementation projects in the years since Landscapes was adopted. The policy is currently detailed in and carried out by the comprehensive plan, a joint economic development strategy with Kennett Square Borough, open space protection efforts, and regulatory measures for groundwater protection, stormwater management, and natural resource standards. The current Kennett Township Comprehensive Plan provides an Action Plan with short- and long-term ‘to-do’ list determining yearly priorities, and the Township’s many committees and Planning Commission work with the Board of Supervisors to advance those priorities.

The County’s Vision Partnership Program (VPP) has supported Kennett Township’s planning efforts, including the soon to be accepted Kennett Region Economic Development Study, with both technical services and cash grants. The study provides detailed recommendations to ensure the area’s economic growth continues to be strong.  

The County Planning Commission tracks land development proposals that are submitted for review.  Several reports or indicators are used that are useful in determining the effectiveness of policies in place to guide development to areas defined as Growth Areas (see Landscapes2) as compared to development occurring in the Rural Resource Areas.

The Landscapes2 Indicators Report tracks a number of development related indicators, the two shown below illustrate key development patterns, in terms of housing and non-residential proposals, over the past decade.

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Source:  CCPC Landscapes2 Indicators Report, 2014.

Proposed Development by Landscape

Another report, listing development proposals by Landscapes (below), shows the number of units and structural square footage which have been proposed in the County by landscape type.  These figures show that the majority of new development proposals fall within the Growth Areas.

Additional information will be added under this Landscapes Accomplishment, check back soon.

You can also view other Landscapes Accomplishments stories by clicking the links below:

Valuable open space has been protected >

Downtown urban centers have re-energized >

Trails have become a key part of resident’s lives >

Transportation Systems >