Planning News

CCPC Releases 2024 Annual Report

Posted March 20, 2025

Chester County Planning Commission's 2024 Annual Report provided yet another great snapshot of the year behind us. The 2024 report stepped into the second half of Landscapes3's lifespan (2024-2028), taking a dive into the results from the plan's first five-years (2019-2023) and considering trends that will take us into the final years of Landscapes3 — and beyond.

Let's take a look at some of the accomplishments within the six goal areas:

In 2024, the county continued to prioritize open space preservation under the Preserve goal with some of the largest protected open space projects including the addition of the 95-acre Keen easement in East Nantmeal Township, the 89-acre Kestrel Hill Preserve in Willistown Township, and the 156-acre Embreeville acquisition in West Bradford Township. Overall, it was reported that more than 31.2% of the county's land has been protected as open space, with new totals being announced in the spring of 2025.

Additionally, the county partnered with local land conservancies to provide each municipality with a holistic inventory of their open space efforts and tools they might want to consider adding to their open space protection options. These efforts will help encourage the preservation of more open space throughout our municipalities.

The county also secured funding in 2024 from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' Community Conservation Partnerships Program (C2P2) in 2024, which will allow CCPC to launch an Open Space Accelerator program for municipalities in the summer of 2025.

Homeowners Associations, or HOAs, became a hot topic in 2024 under the Protect goal, especially regarding sustainability. CCPC hosted a Sustainability Summit for residents and those involved with HOAs in the spring of 2024, with over 200 people registering for the event. Additionally, four workshops were held throughout the summer highlighting different sustainability topics for HOAs. See the webpage to learn more.

Under the leadership of CCPC's Sustainability Division, the county received a gold designation from the national SolSmart program in 2024 by meeting the criteria for best practices for building solar friendly communities! See the designation.

In terms of the Appreciate goal, CCPC completed various Heritage Preservation efforts in 2024, including the creation of an Adaptive Reuse Guide and a Village Preservation Guide, both of which provide information and resources for communities. A Heritage Tourism Plan was adopted by the county in April of 2024, furthering these efforts and increasing heritage tourism as an economic factor through the preservation and public awareness of the county's historic communities and landscapes.

Efforts also continued toward the 250th anniversary of the U.S. through the Chester County America250 Commission, and the annual Town Tours and Village Walks program celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2024, seeing record attendance at some events.

With housing being another extremely relevant topic, CCPC continued to focus on the trends and data associated with the county's housing market through the Live goal. Some ongoing projects in 2024 included wrapping up CCPC's Starter Home Initiative by providing zoning recommendations for six municipalities, as well as a housing assessment, a draft of the A+ Homes Adaptable Housing guide, strategies developed as a result of the conversations at the Housing Forum, and looking into the creation of a county land bank — work on these important housing issues will continue in 2025.

To keep data fresh under the Prosper goal, CCPC transitioned the annual County Economy Report to an online dashboard in 2024, with information on resident, employment, business, and real estate characteristics, gross domestic products, and key industry groups.

The annual Urban Centers Forum took place in a regional format in 2024, with forums at two different locations and ten urban centers participating in a round table discussion about their successes and challenges. Other projects included the annual Chester County Farm Guide, and the Non-residential Construction Report.

CCPC also continued to support the county's urban landscapes in 2024 by providing a woodlands and tree protection webpage, along with a brochure: "Growing the Urban Tree Canopy" to showcase the benefits of trees within urban landscapes.

And finally, two exciting plans under the Connect goal were completed in 2024 after years of planning and hard work — the Public Transportation Plan (an update to the 2014 plan), and the Chester County Trails Master Plan. Both plans provide an overall transportation vision for the county and specific strategies on moving forward with projects such as the SEPTA regional rail service and bus network, as well as interconnected trails.

Additionally, CCPC took on the responsibility of advancing the design phase for four separate trail development projects; and the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) update in 2024 included the addition of six major county projects, plus continued work on the restoration of SEPTA service to Coatesville.

Towards the end of 2024, CCPC's Executive Director of nearly a decade, Brian O'Leary, retired. But we're happy to announce that a new face stepped in at the start of 2025, Matt Edmond! With so much going across in the county, CCPC staff continues to carry on at full speed ahead.