Planning Commission Launches Sustainability Resource Guide for Chester County HOAs
Fall 2023
Did you know that 46% of homes in Chester County are located within a community that has a home owners' association, or HOA? HOA covenants often impose strict standards to regulate a community's aesthetics, although the result often restricts residents from adopting sustainable practices like growing food in a backyard garden, having a compost bin, or installing solar panels.
Additionally, common open space land within HOA communities accounts for over 18,000 acres of land county-wide — about 12 percent of the county's protected open space. This open space land, which often includes natural resources like woodlands, steep slopes, and stream corridors, and sometimes historic resources, can be invaluable as wildlife habitat, greenway corridor, trails, or spaces for community gathering if stewarded well.
Many Chester County HOAs are beginning to consider what they can do to steward their resources more intentionally, whether by allowing residents to install rooftop solar, or by transforming unused lawn areas in their common open space to wildflower meadows. Although interest in sustainable practices is growing, concepts are new to many HOAs, so the Chester County Planning Commission, along with a host of partner organizations, has developed a web-based resource guide for HOAs looking to adopt more sustainable practices. The resource guide includes information on 9 different sustainable practices from stormwater management to adaptive reuse of existing historic structures. Each topic includes potential funding sources and links to a curated list of locally-relevant informational resources.
Do you live in an HOA in Chester County? If so, the Chester County Planning Commission wants to hear your thoughts and gauge your interest in sustainability initiatives in your community. Please take this survey and share it with anyone you know who lives in a community in Chester County with an HOA!