The Pennsylvania Land Trust Association (PALTA) is pleased to honor both Chester County and Warwick Township (Lancaster County) with the 2007 Government Leadership Award. This is the first annual presentation of this award, which was developed to honor Pennsylvania municipalities and counties that have demonstrated leadership and success in the conservation of our special places and landscapes.

Chester County
Chester County is responsible for a great many “firsts” in terms of land conservation at the county level...first to make a substantial capital investment in land preservation; the first to provide incentives for local municipalities to develop and implement land use plans and ordinances in accordance with the County program; the first to create a County Conservancy grant program; and the first to create a Farmland challenge grant program.

The county recognized a need for vision to preserve open space, protect the environment and promote balanced land use.  The Chester County Commissioners adopted the County’s national award winning policy plan Landscapes, the open space element of this plan called Linking Landscapes, and the water quality/quantity element titled Watersheds.  These plans provide a vision and a general framework for setting County funding priorities throughout all of the Landscapes 21^st Century grant programs.  Linking Landscapes sets a goal of protecting 5,000 acres annually toward the end goal of preserving 50% of the County’s remaining undeveloped lands.  Since Chester County began tracking this information in 1999, an average of 5,500 acres has been preserved on an annual basis.

The sustained commitment on the part of the County and the way in which the grant programs have been structured has served as a catalyst for open space efforts at the local level, as well.  Chester County’s comprehensive land acquisition and preservation strategy builds on goals in adopted municipal and County plans.  In 1990, the County placed the highest priority on providing County funding for municipal open space, recreation, and environmental resources plans.   Seventy-two of the County’s 73 municipalities have agreed to work with the County Planning Commission to promote sound land use plans and ordinances.  Through referenda and borrowings, townships have invested over $62 M in conservation with $100 M in remaining capacity.

Chester County has invested more than $170 M in natural and agricultural land preservation, sound land use planning and urban revitalization. By the end of 2004, the County had protected 83,000 acres of public and private lands and has been directly responsible for preservation of 31,500 of that total, including nearly 22,000 acres of farmland. 

 "Since 1989, the Commissioners of Chester County have created and funded a comprehensive,  sustained effort to preserve the county's quality of life”, explains Morrison.   “Their groundbreaking, integrated approach to protecting the county's  resources  serves as a national model and has had a profound impact. Since the inception of the program, over 31,500 acres of land has been protected, 84 new municipal parks have been created in 51 municipalities, 13 downtowns have received infrastructure and streetscape funding and over $215 million in non-county monies have been leveraged.

 “None of this would have happened without the vision and commitment of the county commissioners  and the overwhelming support of the residents of Chester County."

Warwick Township
When at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!  This philosophy exemplifies the determination of Warwick Township to protect farmland through its Transferable Development Rights (TDR) program. The township first implemented its TDR program in 1993; but when little interest was shown, township supervisors decided to revamp the program. Today the township offers a tremendous program that acts as a model for other communities.

In 1997, the Township Supervisors redefined its receiving area along the community’s major roadway and made a significant commitment to invest in the infrastructure of the receiving area as a means to increase its attractiveness to potential developers.  Under Warwick Township’s TDR Program, a single TDR is the equivalent of two gross acres of farmland.  TDRs are purchased from property owners within the Township’s Agricultural Security Area.  The purchase price is based on the fair market value of the farmland at the time the transferable development rights are purchased from the property owner.  Within the Campus Industrial receiving area, the baseline permitted maximum lot coverage without the purchase and utilization of TDRs is 10%.  To increase permitted maximum lot coverage, the developer of a property within the Campus Industrial receiving area must purchase and utilize TDRs.  For each TDR purchased and utilized, an additional 4,000 square feet of lot coverage is permitted, up to maximum of 70% total lot coverage. 

The success of the program is very much the result of forming effective partnerships.  While Warwick Township serves as the broker of available TDRs, cooperative partnerships with the Lancaster County Agricultural Preserve Board and Lancaster Farmland Trust have been formed.  Outreach to these two organizations was sought as a result of both the expertise of these groups and constituencies served. The funds generated by the purchase of TDRs by developers are provided to these two organizations with such being specifically earmarked for additional preservation within Warwick Township.

Karen Martynik, Executive Director of the Lancaster Farmland Trust, has watched the evolution of the Township’s TDR Program.  “Warwick Township serves as a model for other townships in Pennsylvania.  The township, with Dan Zimmerman's leadership, has crafted and implemented the most effective TDR program in the state”, Martynik explains. 

“While many townships have adopted TDR ordinances, few have actually made the program work.  Warwick Township has demonstrated that TDR's can be a very effective tool in preserving land and managing growth.”

 The awards were presented Saturday, May 12 at the 5th Annual Land Conservation Conference in State College in the presence of land trust and conservation colleagues.

Receiving the award on behalf of Chester County was Bill Gladden, Director of the county’s Open Space Preservation Office. The award was presented by Molly Morrison, President of the Natural Lands Trust.

Jeff Swinehart, Lancaster Farmland Trust Deputy Director presented the award to Dan Zimmerman, Warwick Township Manager, who accepted the award on behalf of  the Township.

 On behalf of the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association and the land trust community, we thank the elected and appointed officials of Chester County and Warwick Township for their remarkable leadership and commitment to land preservation efforts in Pennsylvania.