Community Planning/Parks & Rec
PANELISTS:
Felicia Dell, Panel Moderator; Executive Director, York County Planning Commission
Lauren Imgrund, Director, Bureau of Recreation & Conservation, Pa Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources
Ray D’Agostino, Chair, Lancaster County Planning Commission
Felicia Dell, Panel Moderator; Executive Director, York County Planning Commission
Lauren Imgrund, Director, Bureau of Recreation & Conservation, Pa Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources
Ray D’Agostino, Chair, Lancaster County Planning Commission
Scribe Notes
by Steve Snell
Facilitated by Felicia Dell, Director of York County Planning Commission
Felicia began by describing the current state of funding for planning. While there had been money available for community and land use planning, parks and recreation, in the years before the Chesapeake Bay cleanup plans, that issue reduced $ for other issues. Now there is even less. Financial support has been significantly cut and stimulus funding is winding down.
To date, there has been no reauthorization for transportation funding and what there has been has gone largely to the Marcellus shale areas.
Few big plans are now being pursued and those that do exist need to cobble together various sources of funding.
There does remain Chesapeake Bay funding so many plans try to show they will have some impact on the cleanup efforts.
Lauren Imgrund – Director of the Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
She reported that DCNR manages 120 state parks and 2.2 million acres of state forest.
Lauren talked about the importance of partnerships when seeking funding. A stronger case needs to be made for the importance of parks and recreation.
She noted that in a recent listing of the 20 top places to ride out the recession, 17 were bicycling friendly communities.
She referenced a perspective on why parks matter advocated by John Crompton. The emphasis is on the practical, not simply exercise and recreation. Focus instead on these benefits:
She gave examples of successful partnerships:
Ray D’Agostino – Chairperson of the Lancaster County Planning Commission
Ray stated that he thinks the planners role in today’s economy is to plan, now! The time to plan is not when things are in “crisis” but when, like now, we can spend time on planning for when growth resumes.
He sees the changes/challenges as:
His comments focused on these areas:
In the Q&A portion after the formal presentations, one of the attendees made suggestions regarding recreational planning. Can we do a better job of dual planning and land use? For example, can state government coordinate departments to say utilities would get permitting contingent on use for other purposes too. For example: Hiking over gas line rights of ways or sewage system lines?
Felicia began by describing the current state of funding for planning. While there had been money available for community and land use planning, parks and recreation, in the years before the Chesapeake Bay cleanup plans, that issue reduced $ for other issues. Now there is even less. Financial support has been significantly cut and stimulus funding is winding down.
To date, there has been no reauthorization for transportation funding and what there has been has gone largely to the Marcellus shale areas.
Few big plans are now being pursued and those that do exist need to cobble together various sources of funding.
There does remain Chesapeake Bay funding so many plans try to show they will have some impact on the cleanup efforts.
Lauren Imgrund – Director of the Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
She reported that DCNR manages 120 state parks and 2.2 million acres of state forest.
Lauren talked about the importance of partnerships when seeking funding. A stronger case needs to be made for the importance of parks and recreation.
She noted that in a recent listing of the 20 top places to ride out the recession, 17 were bicycling friendly communities.
She referenced a perspective on why parks matter advocated by John Crompton. The emphasis is on the practical, not simply exercise and recreation. Focus instead on these benefits:
- Reducing health care costs
- Community cohesion
- Alleviating/reducing juvenile crime
- Attracting tourists
- Enhancing real estate values
- Environmental sustainability (controlling flooding, providing clean water)
She gave examples of successful partnerships:
- South Mountain
- Lower Susquehanna (boroughs of Columbia, Wrightsville, Marietta)
- Lebanon Valley Rail Trail
- Heritage Rail Trail (York Co)
Ray D’Agostino – Chairperson of the Lancaster County Planning Commission
Ray stated that he thinks the planners role in today’s economy is to plan, now! The time to plan is not when things are in “crisis” but when, like now, we can spend time on planning for when growth resumes.
He sees the changes/challenges as:
- Shrinking resources
- Fewer plans
- New mandates
His comments focused on these areas:
- Agriculture – funding cuts at the state level mean that local governments need to do more on their own to promote agricultural preservation. Their tools may be zoning, TDRs and dedicated funding. Can we promote alternative energies without taking valuable ag lands out of production for solar or wind “farms”?
- Transportation Planning – There are big cuts in transportation funding and what there is available has been focused on short term not the needed long term plans. We need to do a better job of prioritizing projects and also promote smart growth transportation. How might we use scarce money more efficiently like adding turn lanes and signalizing traffic lights to help control congestion – not just build more or wider roads?
- Housing & community development – how do we plan for an aging populations? Smaller houses and smaller lots? walkability?
In the Q&A portion after the formal presentations, one of the attendees made suggestions regarding recreational planning. Can we do a better job of dual planning and land use? For example, can state government coordinate departments to say utilities would get permitting contingent on use for other purposes too. For example: Hiking over gas line rights of ways or sewage system lines?