The breath-taking Ridley Springs Park is now preserved as open space and a lab for students at West Chester University. (BILL RETTEW/MEDIANEWS GROUP).
A new grant program designating $2 million to make open space preservation more accessible throughout Montgomery County is slated to launch next month.
Along with nonprofits focusing on land conservation, all 62 boroughs, townships and municipalities will be eligible to submit applications to Montco Forever Green beginning Monday, Sept. 1. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, according to a county spokesperson.
Overseen by the Montgomery County Planning Commission, the program aims to streamline open space processes, which county officials stress offer a myriad of gains, ranging from economic to environmental.
“Montgomery County’s natural lands are essential to the health of our local agriculture, tourism, and even real estate industries,” said Montgomery County Commissioner Tom DiBello in a statement earlier this week.
Officials in a late July statement cited a 2022 Montgomery County Planning Commission study, in which findings revealed open space “creates a premium for home values, generates jobs and attracts people to spend in the region, reduces pollution and stormwater risks, provides free or low-cost recreational opportunities; and promotes health.”
A $2 million allocation from the county’s fiscal year 2025 capital improvement plan covered the program. Recipients could be awarded up to $500,000 grants, of which a 25 percent match is mandatory.
The “use of funds” might come from the “fee title and conservation easement acquisitions,” according to the program’s website. Other possible preservation ventures could vary in size as well as range from suburban to urban in demographic.
“From farmland in Franconia Township to a community garden in Norristown, open space is an integral part of building healthy, vibrant communities around Montgomery County. With Montco Forever Green, the County will be a vested partner in this effort, empowering municipalities to reimagine how open space can benefit residents,” Montgomery County Commissioners’ Vice Chairwoman Jamila Winder said in a statement.
Applications will be reviewed by the Montgomery County Planning Commission, which will send along finalists to the county’s open space board. The trio of Montgomery County Commissioners will authorize the recipients in a vote at an upcoming board meeting.
“Preserving Montgomery County’s natural spaces is an investment that returns nearly $3 billion in housing value, almost $200 million in annual stormwater management savings, and an annual economic boom of about $160 million,” Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairman Neil Makhija said in a statement.
“The Montco Forever Green program ensures that more municipalities than ever before will be able to access the economic, environmental, and social benefits that open space preservation brings to communities,” he continued. This is an innovative, research-backed evolution of the county’s long-standing commitment to open space preservation.”
Visit montgomerycountypa.gov/4808/Montco-Forever-Green-Grant-Program for more information.
