S.A.V.E. Rt. 41, Southern Chester County, PA: PennDOT's Plan Cancels Out Antisprawl Efforts

PennDOT's Plan Cancels Out Antisprawl Efforts

See also Voters OK open-space efforts
from May 22, 2002 Philadelphia Inquirer

Evidently, our government's "left-hand" (PennDOT) doesn't know — or care — what the "right hand" is doing. PennDOT plans to ignore popular and important public policies that private citizens, taxpayers and their elected representatives have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to achieve.

It is well understood that the building of large, new highways is one of the most important contributors to sprawling development. New highways make locations that are now "too far away," much closer and more available. Highways do not relieve congestion. Building major highways actually increases traffic, since a larger geographic area is brought into reasonable travel time. This traffic phenomenon is called "induced travel."

Look who testifies in favor of new highway construction and expansion at Department of Transportation hearings — predominantly those who make their money from real estate and new development, and of course, those who actually construct highways. They know what large, new highways will mean for them.

According to Tom Caramanico, president of McCormick, Taylor & Associates Inc., one of the largest highway construction consulting firms in the United States, (and a principal consultant in PennDOT's plan), "Public investments in infrastructure create market conditions that attract private development. A drive along any major highway illustrates how transportation access spurs private development."

However, highways do not create wealth — they just move it from one place to another. Highway profits go to the sprawl developers who destroy green space as they move jobs and people from historic real places to faceless new places. A letter written by the organization, Environmental Defense, explains this in more detail.

If PennDOT is allowed to proceed with its scheme, soon the rolling farmland of southwestern Chester County and the small historic towns will be swallowed up. The area will look just like Exton and Frazer, PA.

Government Efforts to Limit Sprawl

A large majority of Chester County voters (majority Republican) have recognized these simple realities. When given the chance, in the last 12 years, they have voted overwhelmingly, time after time, to tax themselves in an effort to preserve open space and prevent more sprawling development.

On November 7, 1989, Chester County communities united to support a $50 million open space bond program to preserve the landscape and heritage of Chester County. The following is a summary of the open space bond program's financial status as of its conclusion in 1996:

Open Space: Municipal Grant Program: County award was $11 million, which leveraged 19.9 million for the program, which preserved 1,498 acres.
Agricultural Conservation Easement Program: County award was $12 million, which leveraged 17.9 million for the program, which preserved 7,600 acres.
Open Space Partnership Program: County award was $7 million, which preserved 452 acres.
Open Space County Park Program: County award was $20 million, which leveraged $3 million for the program, which preserved 874 acres.

Chester County Open Space and Land Preservation programs continued beyond the depletion of the $50 million Open Space Bond and continue to fulfill the original mission. The Agricultural Land Preservation Program remains the most successful component of the open space initiative in terms of preserved acreage, lifestyles and heritage. Between October 1989 and January 2002 over 15,000 acres of prime Chester County farmland were preserved through the Chester County Agricultural Land Preservation Program. The combined County and State financial commitment to the Agricultural Land Preservation Program during this time period was over $58,000,000.

In addition to the 1989 county-wide bond issue, many municipalities have allowed voters in their townships to vote to set aside township money to buy development rights and stop sprawl.

Voters do not raise their own taxes for altruistic reasons to save pretty views. Voters recognize they will suffer what economists call "negative externalities" — costs third parties are forced to bear — that are directly caused by uncontrolled development: higher property taxes to pay for educating children of the developer's customers; higher township taxes to pay for the additional police and fire services for developers customers; traffic congestion; traffic noise; the use by government of eminent domain to seize private property for new schools and new highways and bigger roads; often the obliteration of Pennsylvania's historic old homes and villages, built alongside former country roads.

The American Farmland Trust has published a "Community Cost Study" comparing the cost to taxpayers and residents of different types of land use.

Private efforts to stop sprawl — conservation easements

Hundreds of Chester County private property owners, concerned about preserving their property's natural or agricultural resources, scenic beauty of cultural heritage have used "conservation easements". A conservation easement is an agreement made between a landowner and a land trust that permanently restricts the use of the property forever in specified ways. Land trusts active in Chester County include the Brandywine Conservancy, the French and Pickering Creek Conservation Trust, the Nature Conservancy and others.

A conservation easement is granted in perpetuity and will apply to all future owners. It most often prevents or severely restricts residential or commercial development, often, significantly reducing the value of the land. Owners can use a charitable income tax deduction to recover some of the value they or their heirs will have lost when the property is sold. To find out more about conservation easements: visit The Brandywine Conservancy's Environmental Management Center or American Farmland Trust, Farmland Information Center

The following is a list of Chester County acres preserved using private conservation easement.

Brandywine Conservancy's acres by township near Route 41:

Highland — 1956.95
West Fallowfield — 13.20
East Fallowfield — 2026.31
West Marlborough — 6739.54
Newlin — 2650.43
West Bradford — 1311.63
Londonderry — 1342.25
Londongrove — 1072.41

The Brandywine Conservancy holds conservation easements on 29,970.55 acres in all of Chester County.

Conservation easements held by other land trusts:

Brandywine Valley Association — 68.84
French and Pickering Creek Conservation Trust — 3133.65
Kennett Township Land Trust — 90.40
Natural Lands Trust — 2374.04
Open Lands Conservancy — 297.52
PLLT — 89.48
The Nature Conservancy — 526.79
TU — 106.36
Willistown Conservation Trust — 486.12

It is important to note that a government agency such as PennDOT can seize by force private property on which to construct development-related infrastructure costs, regardless of whether it has a private conservation easement or taxpayer-purchased limits to development. Therefore, if PennDOT is allowed to proceed with its plan, many of these acres donated by their owners to remain undeveloped forever, will be lost.