How You Benefit

No matter what our individual points of view or particular interests or political affiliation, we all stand to benefit from keeping Pike County green. Financially, environmentally, life quality and much more are matters of interest to us all:

• Municipalities
• Developers
• Businesses
• Landowners
• Residents

Municipalities
Because of increasing development applications received for approval, municipalities and local governments often do not have the resources to devote to larger planning issues or conserve special areas in our community. State grant programs provide some funding relief, but usually only provide a fraction of the costs. Additional County support, more community involvement, and a source of funds would ensure that each municipality has the ability to maintain quality of life.

Developers
Population growth in Pike County is forecasted to double in the next twenty years. The opportunities for profit are high, but can be even higher with improved county-wide planning. Streamlined approval processes, decreased risk, and incentives (in designated growth areas) are typically the result in counties where smart growth planning has been successful.

Businesses
Today, Pike County’s rural tourism businesses provide 6,400 jobs and $65,000,000 in salaries, according to the Pocono Mountain Vacation Bureau. Containing sprawl and conserving Pike’s environmental amenities will positively impact Pike County’s economy.

The second source of new jobs in Pike County is developing new local industries to diversify our economy. Smart Growth, by creating livable communities, can attract and retain high-quality entrepreneurs and build the climate for business development.

Landowners
Your land is your land to develop or to protect and preserve for future generations. Conservation options exist to encourage and compensate owners of working landscapes to keep these lands in active production. There are ways to ensure farming and forestry remain family sustaining choices for the next generation. Conservation options that respect private property rights while providing willing sellers with alternatives to development are available.

Residents
As Pike County doubles in population, we still can prevent the worst effects of poorly planned growth, we can protect much of our natural landscape, and we can preserve livable communities.

We owe it to our children and grandchildren to preserve some of the natural resources that we enjoy today. We have the ability to protect the exceptional quality of drinking water, to protect our recreational water, and to protect our outdoor sporting resources all while providing new employment opportunities.