Chester County's Vision Partnership Program Celebrates 25 Years of Success
Posted October 26, 2021
Chester County's Vision Partnership Program, or VPP, was created by the Chester County Board of Commissioners in 1996 as a means of partnering with municipalities to implement the goals, objectives, and recommendations in the county's comprehensive plan, Landscapes. Since its beginning, the VPP has supported nearly all of Chester County's municipalities in one way or another.
In fact, one of the VPP's first completed projects was Elverson Borough's Zoning Update in 1997. Elverson completed five more projects through the VPP over the years, including their second Zoning Update in 1999, a Revitalization Plan in 2011, a Comprehensive Plan update in 2014, a Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance update in 2018, and currently, they are working with the Planning Commission on a VPP funded Active Transportation Plan.
"In 1997 when Elverson needed to update our land use ordinances, the cost apart from VPP was prohibitive (25 percent of our annual budget). The County VPP made this update possible," noted Merle Stoltzfus, of Elverson Borough. "Over the past 24 years, the Borough's repeated partnership with Chester County has been more about the County people, expertise, and regional knowledge than affordability. VPP has been a critical resource toward our self-proclaimed status as 'the Greatest Square Mile in Pennsylvania.'"
Over the past 25 years, the VPP has leveraged more than $12 million in funds to municipalities in Chester County in support of planning. This includes $6 million distributed in cash grants, $2 million in technical assistance, and $4 million in municipal and private contributions.
The Planning Commission created a new interactive map that indicates what types of VPP projects municipalities have participated in since 1996.
Additionally, a new video showcases what some of our partners have to say about the VPP.
Learn more about the county's Vision Partnership Program, including a list of currently funded projects, guidelines, and more.