“PennEnvironment congratulates the residents of Bucks County for their decisive vote to reauthorize funding for the county’s open space and farmland preservation program.
As we’ve known for many years, Bucks County residents from all walks of life support preserving the county’s rich natural heritage. If you’re a Democrat, Republican or Independent, or if you’re from Bristol or New Hope or Quakertown, voters showed that protecting Bucks County’s landscapes is important, for now and for future generations of Bucks County residents. Bucks County residents voted three to one to approve $87 million to preserve open spaces in Bucks County.
With sprawling overdevelopment encroaching on natural areas and family farmlands all over the county, voters sent a clear message today—they want to protect these areas, and they’ll take matters into their own hands and open their pocketbooks in order to do it.
Voters know that funding for open space conservation efforts is money well spent. With nearly 15,000 acres of open spaces protected in Bucks County over the past decade, voters showed that they desire the same sort of results over the next ten years as well.
Now it’s up to state officials to take the next step to protect threatened open spaces in Bucks County and across the Commonwealth by passing stronger land use and zoning laws that will protect our remaining open spaces and farms.
We can buy the best, but we must zone the rest. Strengthening our state’s land use laws is the missing link to guarantee that Pennsylvania is promoting smart, sustainable development and ensuring the preservation of our most important open spaces, family farmlands and wild places in the face of growing pressure from developers and the next controversial strip mall, housing development, or big box store. "
