Regional Planning

Land Use and Community Planning

Crafting and implementing a vision for the future growth and development of the region is a core responsibility for DVRPC. Our long-range plan considers ongoing growth trends, the availability of infrastructure, and the pattern of our natural resources to identify future growth areas appropriate for additional development as well as priority lands for preservation. This land use vision forms the framework for our transportation investments and provides guidance for other infrastructure and land preservation investments.

DVRPC also works closely with our member governments, individual municipalities and local communities throughout the region to assist in local land use and community planning. In both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the primary responsibility for land use planning and development decisions rests at the municipal level. As a regional organization, DVRPC is available to facilitate or undertake the development of multimunicipal land use plans, particularly in areas or corridors of new transportation investments. We have assisted the townships and boroughs of our older suburbs to prepare coordinated economic development and revitalization plans for multi municipal corridors. DVRPC has also worked with local community development corporations and neighborhood associations to prepare comprehensive neighborhood plans.

Affordable Housing

DVRPC recognizes that owning a home embodies the American dream. The Commission has examined the availability of affordable homeownership opportunities in close proximity to existing and emerging employment centers and in areas that are well-served by public transit. We have also analyzed the region's rental housing stock, its supply of public and assisted housing, homelessness, and housing for an aging population. In each case, staff has considered background housing data and trends, reviewed existing housing
policies and legislation, and presented recommendations for improving and expanding the region's stock of affordable housing. Check out our Publications Guide for reports of interest on this subject.

In addition, the DVRPC Regional Housing Committee provides a regional forum for housing issues facing the Delaware Valley and directs housing research and planning activities by DVRPC staff. The committee makes recommendations to the DVRPC Board and staff on housing-related issues to be addressed in the annual work program; keeps DVRPC Board and staff apprised of current and emerging citizen concerns relating to housing; and serves in a technical review capacity on all housing-related studies being conducted by DVRPC staff.

Job Access Planning and Environmental Justice

DVRPC has been actively involved for many years in analysis and planning activities to promote greater access to job opportunities for the region's welfare and lower-income populations. This work has included the trend toward more reverse commute trips to connect Philadelphia, Camden, Trenton and Chester residents to the growing pool of suburban jobs, as well as support for the region's public transit providers and transportation management associations (TMAs).

These studies became more formalized with the 1998 announcement of the Federal Transit Administration's Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) program as part of TEA-21, the national transportation funding bill. Using work already undertaken or underway, DVRPC was able to respond quickly to this new grant program's planning requirements by developing the Regional Job Access and Reverse Commute Transportation Plan.

The plan and its strategies are used to evaluate and rank project proposals submitted annually in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, in conjunction with SEPTA and NJ Transit. The DVRPC Board selects the projects, in priority order, which are then submitted to the FTA for grant funding. Successful projects are included on the TIP and implementation activities are coordinated with the two primary regional transit agencies.

Since its inception, this grant program has resulted in more than $21.5 million of FTA funds to support rail, bus and van service initiatives, including non-traditional, early and late hour service, reverse commute routes and traditional transit services in the region.

Planning for job access and reverse commute services has been supported and bolstered by DVRPC's assessment of the Environmental Justice (EJ) impacts of our programs. The concept and intent of EJ, which dates to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is to assure that all groups are treated fairly and that no group bears a disproportionate share of the negative impacts of public programs. To that end, DVRPC analyzes the location and distribution of minority, handicapped, elderly and low-income populations in the region to assess and ensure that transportation projects and services are fairly distributed and meet the specific needs of the population.

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)

Well-planned, well-designed communities help make the Delaware Valley a more desirable place to live. DVRPC supports the concept of transit-oriented development (TOD) as a tool to revitalize communities, increase transit ridership, and promote healthier living through pedestrian-friendly design.

While the Delaware Valley region has over 340 rail stations, many of them lack pedestrian and bicycle access. They also lack land uses that complement the station, such as consumer services, and building design and orientation that serve the rail user. TOD promotes land use that capitalizes on its proximity to rail stations, with development that is mixed-use, pedestrian friendly, and promotes transit ridership.

DVRPC has been instrumental in developing a number of studies promoting TOD, such as Transit Village Design in Burlington County, the Schuylkill Valley Metro (SVM) Corridor Station Area Planning and Implementation Study,and Linking Transit, Communities, and Development: Regional Inventory of Transit-Oriented Development Sites. In addition, the TOD webpage on DVRPC's website at www.dvrpc.org/planning/tod.htm contains information on transit supportive land uses as well as links to TOD studies.

Open Space and Environmental Planning

Our Open Space and Environmental Planning program works to promote smart growth and smart conservation throughout the region by engaging in a number of planning projects, coordinating committees, and special studies. Open space planning activities include maintaining an inventory of protected lands, monitoring locally funded open space initiatives, conducting county and municipal natural resource inventories and open space plans, and developing multi-municipal greenway plans.

The Commission is also involved in sewer and water infrastructure planning, public education regarding local watersheds, non-point source pollution, and stormwater management; coastal zone management coordination in Pennsylvania's coastal zones, and special studies such as an analysis of sea level rise in the region.

DVRPC has initiated a special program to prepare natural resource inventories, open space plans, and conservation elements for a number of New Jersey communities. Contact the Manager of Environmental Planning at 215-238-2838 to learn more about this program.

In addition, DVRPC works with the Tri-County Water Quality Management Board, which reviews wastewater management plan amendments in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties. UWAG, or the Urban Waterfront Action Group, hosted by DVRPC with funding from the Pennsylvania Coastal Zone Management Program, provides one-stop shopping for information about waterfront development permits along the Delaware River in Philadelphia

Municipal Assistance

DVRPC thinks regionally, but also acts locally to assist individual municipalities throughout the Delaware Valley with their land use planning responsibilities. Regional policy analysis provides guidance for local action on such issues as the implications of an aging population or the mismatch between jobs and workers. Planning grant programs, such as TCDI (see page 14), provide funding for local revitalization plans. Information on the use of local planning tools, from impact fees to parking policies to the use of land value taxation, is provided in a series of "Implementation Tools" brochures.

For more information about any of these programs, contact the Assistant Executive Director for Regional Planning at 215-238-2831.