Montco 2040:
a shared vision
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Conservation Area
– Conservation Areas primarily consist of parks, environmentally-sensitive land, and connecting land,
with little, if any, existing development.
The primary uses in these areas might include:
Federal, state, county, and municipal parks.
Privately-owned land that is permanently preserved as open space.
Concentrations of environmentally-sensitive land, including stream corridors and wooded highlands.
Undeveloped land that connects parks or environmentally-sensitive land.
Secondary uses might include existing homes, institutions, and other buildings, with very limited new development around
these existing developed islands in the future.
New development should only occur in the following situations:
■■ Development of brownfield and old industrial sites in elevated and flood-proofed buildings located along streams or rivers.
These sites should be in redevelopment areas encouraging economic revitalization, and open space and public access
should be maintained along the river or stream.
■■ Creation of park and recreation facilities for the public.
■■ Limited expansion of existing development on privately owned land.
■■ Residential cluster development that preserves open space corridors, greenways, viewsheds, and critical environmentally-
sensitive land.
Even heavily developed boroughs can have natural open
space areas.
Nonprofit organizations are important partners for
preserving open space.
The county’s greenways and conservation landscapes are
focus areas for preservation.
