ABSTRACT
Despite its proximity to Philadelphia, Lancaster County has largely succeeded in retaining its storybook landscape of prosperous farms, historic villages, rustic covered bridges, and horse-drawn buggies. The people of Lancaster County have long recognized the vulnerability as well as the significance of their rural heritage. Lancaster County followed through with an implementation strategy that included a wide array of tools, including agricultural zoning, purchase of development rights (PDR), and urban growth boundaries (UGBs). Lancaster County also encourages its municipalities to create UGBs. In 1993, the first UGB in Pennsylvania was adopted in Lancaster County, seven years before UGBs were explicitly enabled by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code. Warwick Township runs Lancaster County's most successful transfer of development rights (TDR) program. Warwick uses its own general fund money to match funds from the county's PDR program. The resulting preservation creates TDRs, which the county allows Warwick to keep and deposit in the Warwick TDR bank.
