Watershed Conservation Plan - Destination Erie

It would seem impractical to expect the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to obtain a statewide consensus
for legislative changes that would mandate regulations for Smart Growth, although the Rendell
Administration's economic development principles provide at least nominal leadership for that to occur.
Ideally, regulations would be needed to: (1) obtain consistency between comprehensive plans and land use
regulations, (2) obtain consistency between those plans and how well they are implemented by local
infrastructure authorities, and (3) require multi-municipal planning and land use regulations. Within the time
frame for implementation of the Pennsylvania Lake Erie Watershed Rivers Conservation Plan, the best
strategy appears to be that we move forward under currently existing legal and programmatic framework and
work with local governments to advance the principles identified in section 8.3. One exemplary model for
advancing this strategy is the "Conservation Design" program developed by the Natural Lands Trust for the
Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Recommendations addressing land use planning needs are summarized in
chapter 9, and specific actions to address them are identified in chapter 10.
9 RECOMMENDATIONS SUMMARY
Recommendations for specific actions are included here to address the land use issues described in
chapter 8, followed by restatement of recommendations that arose from analyses in chapters 5 and 6. Many
of these items will be considered within the broader context of the proposed action plan described in chapter
10.
9.1 Land Use Planning Recommendations
1. GIS tools should be used to define areas containing intact aquatic and natural resources
critical for protecting biodiversity and maintaining water quality and quantity, to allow
prioritization of target areas for acquisition or other means of protection. Property owners
should then be educated regarding the benefits of selling or donating conservation easements
to local land trusts and/or government agencies.
2. Conservation interests should work with federal, state, and local governments as well as
local/area-wide foundations to obtain funding necessary to acquire conservation easements
on targeted properties. Dedicated funding sources should be secured for building and
maintaining staff capacity of local and regional land trusts.
3. Multi-municipal planning should be carried out, especially involving the City of Erie and
neighboring suburbs, possibly modeled after the current Act 167 county-wide storm water
management planning. New intergovernmental cooperation and coordination among
municipalities and infrastructure authorities is needed to develop and adopt land use
regulations that are consistent with the rivers conservation plan.
4. Multi-municipal partnerships should seek funding resources that will be dedicated to the
revitalization of urban areas to make them safe, clean, and attractive places to reside and
work. These groups should also promote brownfield and grayfield redevelopment wherever
possible, and develop the means to promote the incorporation of green infrastructure in the
design of new developments.
5. The "conservation design" program developed for the Chesapeake Bay watershed should be
implemented as the new "standard" for development in suburban areas of our watershed,
especially in locations where agricultural or forest lands are targeted for development in
county and local municipal comprehensive plans. Municipal officials, developers, and
prospective property owners need to be educated about the benefits of conservation design,
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