From the Board of Commissioners

At the Board of Commissioners meeting on March 21^st, the Commissioners approved a new section of their Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan is a long- range planning tool used to guide growth and development. It expresses a community’s vision of itself – projecting what resources and services “the vision” requires. It’s a massive and lengthy “what if” attempting to outguess demographic variables like population trends, age distribution, median income, and projected land uses.  Earlier in the decade the Municipalities Plan Code (MPC) was amended to encourage municipalities to plan together – for economies of scale benefits - as well as to address regional issues.

Concord Square

The Comprehensive Recreation, Parks and Open Space Plan is a subset of that planning process. As such, it has regional as well as Township specific aspects. At both levels, the objectives remain focused: “To provide and maintain parks and recreational facilities to meet the needs of the residents, provide appropriate programs for all ages and preserve and

Valley View

On a regional level, Aston joins with Lower and Upper Chichester Townships in pursuit of strategic goals including those of Recreation, Parks and Open Space. The Delaware County Planning Department who analyzes and reviews the status quo, objectives and progress of this planning process states “…this nearly built-out group of townships is fortunate to have a variety of types of open space including athletic fields, playgrounds, natural areas, and linear stream valley parks.”  As of the latest census information, all three of the townships have surplus open space when compared to standards provided by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. In short, Aston, together with its planning partners, gets “good grades” for status quo, and your Commissioners aim to keep it that way.

Wier Park

On March 21, the Board of Commissioners unanimously voted for the implementation of a new Comprehensive Parks and Open Space Plan focused on improving the Township’s parks, natural resource areas, recreational facilities and recreational programs. The plan runs on a ten-year cycle with reviews annually. The latest plan strives to maintain existing facilities and improve upon them by “creating more safe places to walk, more safe places for children to play, and more opportunities for enjoyment of the Township’s natural resources.” 

Bridgewater Farms

Parks and open space can take many forms ranging from a public recreation area, cemetery or private natural areas. Aston Township has a total of 302.3 acres of parks and open space. The Township owns 144.26 acres, homeowners’ associations own 84.2 acres, and the Penn-Delco School District owns 91.6 acres. Much of that 91 acres of  open space has dual purposes which is used by the School District for its primary mission as an educational provider but also can provide recreational space for local organizations when requested and when not in use for their primary mission.

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