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GLOSSARY OF PLANNING TERMS
Term
Description
Pennsylvania Farmland and
Forest Land Assessment
Act of 1974
Better known as “Clean and Green” or Act 319, this
legislation provides a real estate tax benefit to owners
with land in agricultural use, agricultural reserve, or
forest reserve and are enrolled in the “Clean and
Green Program,” enabling the land to be assessed
according to use rather than its prevailing market
value.
Pennsylvania Historical
and Museum Commission
As of 1945, the official history agency of
Pennsylvania, which is responsible for the collection,
conservation, and interpretation of the state’s historic
heritage.
Pennsylvania Land
Recycling Program
A 1995 state law known as Act 2, this law
encourages the voluntary cleanup and reuse of
contaminated commercial and industrial sites by
allowing an owner or purchaser of a brownfield site
to choose any one or combination of cleanup
standards to guide remediation. When one or a
combination of the background standards are met, the
remediator receives liability relief for the property.
Pennsylvania Sewage
Facilities Act (Act 537)
A 1966 act which requires municipalities to develop
and implement Official Sewage Facilities Plans to
ensure adequate sewage service for existing needs
and new growth.
Pennsylvania Stormwater
Management Act (Act 167)
Enacted in 1978, this Act was in response to the
impacts of accelerated stormwater runoff resulting
from land development. It requires counties to
prepare and adopt watershed based stormwater
management plans, as well as municipalities to adopt
and implement ordinances to regulate development
consistent with these plans.
Positive Train Control
(PTC)
A system of functional requirements for monitoring
and controlling train movements to provide increased
safety through (1) train separation or collision
avoidance, (2) line speed enforcement, (3) temporary
speed restrictions, and (4) rail worker wayside safety.
Pottstown Area Rapid
Transit (PART)
A multi-line bus service, owned by the Borough of
Pottstown, that serves Pottstown and several
surrounding municipalities.
Term
Description
Rail Safety Improvement
Act of 2008
A federal law enacted to improve railroad safety.
Among its provisions, the most notable was the
mandate requiring positive train control (PTC)
technology to be installed on most of the US railroad
network by 2015. This was spurred by the 2008
Chatsworth train collision the month prior to passage
of the act.
Recreation and Parkland
Fields
As shown on the Existing Land Use Map, a land use
category pertaining only to outdoor recreational uses,
both public and private, and parkland fields, even if
not currently developed for active recreation,
including parkland fields, golf courses, picnic areas,
camps, fairgrounds, swimming pools, and zoos.
Retail
As shown on the Existing Land Use Map, land
predominately used for the sale of goods and
services, including commercial strips, malls, big box
stores, shopping centers, gas stations, convenience
stores, and restaurants.
Senior Center
A non-residential facility and community focal point
where independent older adults come together for
shared services and activities.
Single-Family Attached
As shown on the Existing Land Use Map, residential
areas with homes that share at least one vertical wall
with a neighboring house, including housing types
like rowhomes, twins, townhomes, and quadruplexes
Single-Family Detached
As shown on the Existing Land Use Map, residential
areas with homes which do not share party walls and
have yards of varying sizes on all sides.
Single-Family Detached
Low Density
As shown on the Existing Land Use Map, residential
areas with the same characteristics as Single-Family
Detached, but with larger lot sizes (typically an acre
or more) and more rural character, generally found in
areas without public sewer service.
Southeastern Pennsylvania
Transportation Authority
(SEPTA)
A regional transit company that provides regional
rail, subway, trolley and bus service to Philadelphia
and its Pennsylvania suburbs.
