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Alternative Futures |
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Change: Park Alternative |
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The 'Park Alternative' advocates conserving all of the existing undeveloped land in Monroe County. It envisions the County following an updated vision of Warren Manning's National Landscape Plan of 1923 and the creation of a major landscape reserve for the Northeastern United States. It advocates preservation of the last unprotected northeast-metropolitan scale landscape of such high quality. The management of this reserve would be directed both to the protection of Monroe County's natural habitats and to the development of its recreational possibilities, without neglecting the needs of the present and future County residents. In order to keep Monroe County's high environmental quality in balance with its development needs, this Alternative encourages the County to concentrate future development in or near existing urbanized areas, and at higher densities.
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The 'Park Alternative Landscape Design' utilizes Conservation Plans 'A' and 'B.' Undeveloped land not covered by these would be bought for further conservation and for recreational development in Recreational areas 'A' and 'B.' The 'Park Alternative Infrastructure Design' shows use of the new I-80 railroad alignment with one station stop at Bartonsville. The Township of Chestnuthill would be sewered in all already developed land. The sewered zones of Chestnuthill, Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg, and Mt. Pocono would be upgraded to R-3, high density residential and R-U, mixed-use commercial/residential. Now may be the last chance for such a bold approach. Today's residents and their children will pay for this, but their grandchildren and all future generations will benefit. Everyone will gain by maintaining those qualities of landscape that attracted people here in the first place. The 'Park Alternative Landscape Impacts' map shows the impacts associated with this land use possiblity. |