Chester County is the fastest-growing county in Pennsylvania, and the question of what it will look like in another generation hangs over every township meeting and planning commission. Underneath that growth, a different kind of work has been happening for more than three decades. a systematic effort to take land permanently off the table before development can reach it.

The county's strategic plan targets preserving 32 percent of all acreage as protected open land, with a specific goal of an additional 7,000 acres of farmland beyond what has already been secured. Chester County has funded the preservation of over 65,000 acres across all 73 municipalities. Just over 31 percent of the county's total acreage, 151,000 acres, are permanently protected. The county is one percent from its target.

In 2024 alone, the county permanently preserved more than 1,240 acres. The Agricultural Land Preservation Program accounted for over 500 of those through state and county easement programs. The Open Lands Preservation Partnership Program saved another 740 through grants to municipalities and conservation organizations. These are not temporary measures. They are permanent legal restrictions recorded with the deed that bind every future owner.

The way they do this is with a conservation easement. When a farmer sells one to the county, they receive financial compensation up to $5,000 per acre or 33 percent of the appraised value in exchange for permanently restricting the property to agricultural use. The farmer keeps ownership and can still farm, sell, or pass the land to their children. What no future owner can ever do is develop it. It is not a zoning designation that a future board of supervisors can vote to change. It survives elections, economic cycles, and political shifts.

Pennsylvania leads the nation in preserved farmland with over 646,000 acres protected statewide, and Chester County has been among its most aggressive participants. Four Chester County farms were preserved in a single state investment round in April 2025, securing 341 acres across West Fallowfield, East Vincent, Upper Oxford, and Highland townships.

As of 2024, 38 of Chester County's 73 municipalities have voted through referendum to dedicate tax revenue or bond funding specifically to open space preservation. Honey Brook Township has been among the most committed, preserving 4,710 acres through a voter-approved 0.5 percent earned income tax that generates roughly $840,000 annually. About 35 percent of the township's farmland is now permanently protected.

Let’s move Pennsylvania forward.