Vol. 19, No. 2, June 1981 - "Agricultural Preservation"



AGRICULTURAL PRESERVATION: THE CHESTER COUNTY APPROACH

(pp. 1 - 5)


Stephen L. Kehs 

Chester County Planning Commission 

West Chester, Pennsylvania


Abstract


Agricultural preservation is one of the newest, most discussed, and most perplexing problems facing our nation today. It is a problem relevant to all segments of our society from those urbanities whose sole contact with farmland is in the consumption of its products to the farmers whose continued existence depends upon a healthy and vibrant agricultural industry. A growing awareness of this issue and its ramifications are essential. We as a nation must came to grips with this problem since it may transcend our own communities and manifest global significance in the not too distant future.




THE CHESTER COUNTY AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL: A MODEL FOR AGRICULTURAL PRESERVATION

(pp. 5 - 9)


Robert J. Thompson

Chairman Chester County Board of Commissioners 

West Chester, Pennsylvania


Abstract


Chester County is located in the southeastern quadrant of Pennsylvania. Part of the Philadelphia urban area, it is the last of the suburban Philadelphia counties which is predominantly rural. It has an increasing population in a region which is losing population.




SOLVING THE AGRICULTURAL LAND USE DILEMMA: ZONING TECHNIQUES IN YORK COUNTY

(pp. 9 - 20)


William J. Conn

Chief Land Use and Development Controls 

York County Planning Commission 

York, Pennsylvania


Abstract


York County is located in south central Pennsylvania just west of the Susquehanna River. We are at the crossroads of U. S. Route 30 and Interstate 33 approximately 50 miles north of Baltimore, 25 miles south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and 90 miles to the west of Philadelphia. The County has a current population of 312,000 people living on 911 square miles. The City of York, with a population of 45,000 is the central place. The County is comprised of 72 local municipal governmental units (York City, 35 townships, and 36 boroughs). Each of these municipalities has the right under Pennsylvania law to govern its own land development through application of subdivision and land development ordinances and zoning techniques. The County also has the power to adopt similar regulations; however, where local ordinances have been enacted they take precedence over any County ordinance in effect. Because of this situation, the County has not adopted any zoning ordinance to date and while there have been subdivision and land development regulations in effect since 1964, they are currently applicable in only a handful of boroughs. Table 1 entitled "York County Characteristics" summarizes our population data, indicates the amount of land and farms, average size of farms, gross farm income, value of farmland and provides some characteristics of our farmers. It also provides information on the agricultural capability of soils in the County based on the Soil Conservation Service's standard class ratings. As you can see from reviewing these data, York County's agricultural land is indeed one of its prime resources.




RURAL PLANNING IN THE CUMBERLAND VALLEY

(pp. 21 - 31)


John E. Benhart 

Shippensburg State College

Shippensburg, Pennsylvania


Abstract


The Cumberland Valley, as it is locally called, represents the middle section of the Great Valley, a feature over 900 miles long extending from New York to Alabama. To the north the Cumberland Valley becomes the Lebanon Valley. To the south lie the Hagerstown and Shenandoah Valleys. From Carlisle southward, the Cumberland Valley is bordered on the east by South Mountain. The western and northern boundary is marked by the first ridge of the Valley and Ridge Province locally called North, or Blue Mountain. The northeast boundary of the Cumberland Valley is the Susquehanna River and the southwest boundary is the Potomac River. Both the watersheds originate in the Valley with the Conococheague Creek draining southward to the Potomac and the Conodoquinet Creek draining northeastward to the Susquehanna River. The situation of the Cumberland Valley at the edge of Megalopolis with increasing urbanization pressure from Hagerstown, Maryland and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has made rural planning an essential process for preserving some of the unique environmental qualities of the region. The review of rural planning in this article will be confined to Cumberland and Franklin Counties. In both counties, municipalities have been feeling urbanization pressures from 1970-1980. The major population growth from 1970-1980 has occurred in counties not contiguous to Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The Franklin County map displayed in Figure 1 indicates some of the population changes and growth pressures rural municipalities are experiencing in Pennsylvania.




THE PRESERVATION OF THE RURAL AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPE: CHALLENGES AND TECHNIQUES IN PRESERVING HISTORIC SITES AND OPEN SPACE

(pp. 32 - 36)


Eleanor M. Morris

President French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust, Inc. 

Pottstown, Pennsylvania


Abstract


The French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust, Inc. is a small nonprofit organization started in 1967 for the preservation of historic sites and open space in the watersheds of the French and Pickering Creeks. Members have gone from nine in the first year to 481 in 1980. The Trust operates with a skeleton staff and many volunteers.



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