Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 25, June 22, 2024
Section 9.171 - Open space in metropolitan areas(a) The protection and maintenance of ecologic values in the metropolitan areas of the Commonwealth can enhance environmental quality and provide a wide range of important environmental values. The major environmental policy concern is the protection and maintenance of these values.(b) It shall be the environmental policy of the Commonwealth to protect open space lands in metropolitan areas by maintaining ecologic values and protecting the social and psychological, recreational, educational and other community environmental values of open space lands.(c) The character and extent of development across the Commonwealth will influence the availability and quality of open space opportunities. Influence of development on open space is particularly evident in the metropolitan areas of the Commonwealth where the provision of open space for the protection of ecologic values and subsequent fulfillment of other human needs is a significant environmental concern. The following policies are necessary to protect these metropolitan open space values.