More than 200 multi-municipal panning initiatives involving over 700 municipalities are underway since Pennsylvania adopted its own smart growth legislation in June 2000.
Planning Beyond Boundaries
Playning Beyond Boundaries is now available online. Please click here.
In November 2002, 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania released Planning Beyond Boundaries – A Multi-Municipal Planning and Implementation Manual for Pennsylvania Municipalities. Authored and edited primarily by Joanne R. Denworth, former president of 10,000 Friends, the manual is a how-to guide for municipalities that choose to work together through agreements to develop and implement a multi-municipal plan as authorized by the 2000 amendments to the Municipalities Planning Code.
The manual includes articles and contributions from Pennsylvania planners, lawyers, and others with special expertise in land use issues, and is chock full of details on planning practices and tools, case studies, sample agreements, legal analyses and other useful information. It's seven chapters are: Why Do It?; Getting Started; Planning I; Planning II; Adopting the Plan; Implementation; and Special Implementation Topics, including articles on planning for housing, infrastructure, water resources, open space, traditional neighborhood development, the specific plan, transfer of development rights, infill development, brownfields, transit-oriented development, and sharing of tax revenues.
The manual was developed with support from several foundations, as well as DCED's Center for Local Government Services. It is being used in Center training programs on multi-municipal planning and implementation, and is also available to interested municipal officials, professionals, and citizens. Please
click here for the introduction and table of contents of the manual.
Click here for ordering information.
Acts 67 and 68
Acts 67 and 68 amend the Municipalities Planning Code (MPC) and enable counties and municipalities to take more control of their destiny by planning together for both development and conservation of resources.
To learn more about these amendments and their impact on Pennsylvania planning, please click on the links below.
Current Multi-Municipal Plans in Pennsylvania -- to be provided shortly
For more information, or to tell us about your multi-municipal plan, please contact us. More information to be provided shortly
For PA, Regional Cooperation is the Future, February, 5, 2008
"Distressed municipalties exist in large part because state mandates have tied the hands of officials in all types of municipalities". For the complete column by Stephen Stetler, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Economy League, please
click here.
After the flood, neighbors join hands, January 28, 2008
"When the Delaware River overflowed its banks in Easton a year and a half ago, Palmer Township and Wilson sent men and equipment to help their neighbor in the cleanup.
The three municipalities, all members of Two Rivers Council of Governments, realized the value of that kind of help. They drew up an agreement to share resources -- labor and equipment -- in times of emergency." Please
click here for the complete Allentown Morning Call article.
Building Costs Deal Blow to Local Budgets, January 26, 2008
"State and local governments in many parts of the country are struggling to pay for roads, bridges and other building projects because of rising construction costs, adding another burden to budgets already stressed by the troubled housing market." Please
click here for the complete New York Times article.
Editorial: Ex-solicitor correct on issue of mergers, January 19, 2008
"The Issue: A retired municipal solicitor said many Berks townships and boroughs should merge.
Our Opinion: We agree. Many municipal problems could be more easily handled through consolidation.
As far as Norman E. Dettra Jr. is concerned, Berks County has too many townships and boroughs, and the problems they face could be dealt with more efficiently if there were fewer of them.
“The only way we’re going to resolve these problems ... is to abolish municipal boundaries and have larger municipal units,” Dettra said in a recent interview.
He has an excellent point, one which we have been raising for several years. But what gives Dettra’s viewpoint weight is the nearly half century he has spent dealing with those problems as a solicitor for many of the county’s municipalities as well as his own service as a Spring Township supervisor." Please
click here for the complete Reading Eagle editorial. Please
click here for a pdf of it.
Sometimes, bigger government is better, retired solicitor from Berks County says -
January 12, 2008
A man with more than four decades of experience serving municipalities says it’s time to break down some borders and make local government units bigger.
"“The only way we’re going to resolve these problems that Berks County is confronted with, in my opinion, is to abolish municipal boundaries and have larger municipal units,” said Dettra, a longtime municipal attorney.
“And yet, that’s not going to occur very easily because everybody wants to protect his own turf,” he added.
Consolidation would lower the cost of government and provide benefits for municipal planning, services and infrastructure."
Please
click here for the complete Reading Eagle article.
"Our communities have outgrown the boundaries that divide them" - October 4, 2007
When 10,000 Friends Board Member Terry Kauffman addressed the House Urban Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Cities, Third Class, he said, "Crime serves as a good example of a problem that does not respect municipal boundaries. More and more suburban municipalities that once considered themselves havens of security now find themselves fighting crime problems that spill over from nearby cities and boroughs. Yet police departments are divided by arbitrary boundaries that keep them from working together effectively. Too often, a suspect wanted for armed robbery in one municipality will be pulled over for a traffic violation in a neighboring municipality and released because the two police departments are not communicating effectively." Click here for the full testimony, presented by Kauffman, manager of the Borough of Mount Joy.
Tiny N.J. Towns Are Resisting Push for Them to Merge, January 22, 2007
"New Jersey, home of the nation's highest property taxes, is contemplating consolidating some of its 566 municipalities, 616 school districts and 486 local authorities to try to save money. Gov. Corzine has urged voluntary mergers and service-sharing, while some legislators are calling for mandatory consolidations." Please click here for the complete Philadelphia Inquirer article.
Suburbs Are Under the Gun, October 12, 2006
"If you don't begin helping the city with its problems, those problems will be knocking at your door." Please
click here for the full York Daily Record article.
Cities Caught in Cash Crunch, October 8, 2006
"A $13.4 million deficit, a proposed tax increase and the threat of employee layoffs don't make Harrisburg unique. The capital city has plenty of company. As city officials across the state begin to prepare 2007 budgets, many are dipping their pens in red ink. " Please
click here for the full Harrisburg Patriot-News article.
A Regional Approach to Growth, July 2, 2006
"Maryland's Eastern Shore is home to 59 municipalities, each with its own government and growth priorities. But in some states, many small towns have worked together to plan as a region - an approach conservationists say Maryland should try." Please
click here for the Baltimore Sun article.
In Dolington Case, Pa. Supreme Court Upholds Joint Municipal Zoning Ordinance
In a decision that stands as a clear judicial endorsement of multi-municipal planning and zoning, the Pa. Supreme Court rendered its decision to uphold key provisions of the Newtown Area Joint Municipal Zoning Ordinance. In the case, Appeal of Dolington Land Group, and Toll Brothers, Inc., the court affirmed the long-range land use planning practices that were put into place in several municipalities in central Bucks County.
In 1983, the Newtown Area Jointure enacted a joint municipal zoning ordinance. The Dolington Land Group sought to develop land in the joint planning area reserved for conservation and agricultural uses, and the Zoning Hearing Board denied the developer’s application to construct multi-family dwellings. Dolington asserted that the joint zoning ordinance made inadequate provision for higher density, multi-family development and was invalid.
The Court held that 1) the ordinance did not have an exclusionary effect by allocating a disproportionately small amount of land for multi-family dwellings; and 2) the conservation management zoning district regulations did not unreasonably restrict landowners’ right to develop land.
10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania played a role by submitting an amicus curiae brief in support of the ordinance, and one of the key positions in the brief argued against the developer’s argument that prime agricultural land should be considered “undeveloped.” 10,000 Friends’ position is that the land is indeed “developed” in it highest and best use, and should not be considered “available” for future development. In its opinion, the court acknowledged the importance of protecting prime agricultural lands via zoning restrictions.
The General Assembly enlarged the opportunities for multi-municipal planning and zoning with the passage of Acts 67 and 68 in 2000. The Supreme Court’s decision in Dolington Land indicates that, when municipalities do the hard work of honestly projecting their growth, and of directing that growth to appropriate areas (and of restricting development in other areas), the Court will affirm those decisions.
The court also acknowledged 10,000 Friends' position that participants in a multi-municipal plan can allocate growth and density to one municipality while keeping significant areas in other member municipalities in agriculture or other open space uses.
