Tri-County Regional Planning Commission Releases Smart Growth Toolkit

Land use control is jurisdictionally the purview of local government and represents one of its foundational responsibilities. To assist municipalities in meeting this important responsibility, the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission has released a web-based “planning toolkit” to serve as an educational and practical resource for municipalities and the public.

The toolkit provides information about best planning practices, including model ordinances, promoting Smart Growth principles. Topics covered include environmental topics such agricultural, natural, and historic resource protection standards; subdivision topics such as conservation and cluster subdivision design; transportation topics such as access management, Complete Streets, and Transit Oriented Development; and zoning topics such as form-based codes, affordable and attainable housing, and short-term rentals.

The toolkit was developed by Tri-County Regional Planning Commission staff with the financial assistance of a $37,500 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and will be updated regularly as trends emerge and additional best practices are identified.

The toolkit can be accessed on the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission’s website at http://www.tcrpc-pa.org/toolkit.