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Grants to Pennsylvania Municipalities in Eligible Locations to Improve Local Planning Programs

Vision Partnership Program (VPP) Cash Grant


Agency
Local

GrantWatch ID#
139184

Funding Source
Chester County Board of Commissioners, Chester County Planning Commission (CCPC)
Array ( )

Geographic Focus
USA: Pennsylvania: Chester County

Important Dates
Deadline: 09/08/23 4:00 PM Save

Grant Description
Grants to Pennsylvania municipalities in eligible locations for activities that improve the preparation of local government plans. Funding is intended to support updates to ordinances, revisions to plans, and studies that enable applicants to implement goals and achieve high-impact benefits through innovative municipal and multi-municipal planning. Chester County municipalities and multi-municipal groups are eligible to apply.

The purpose of VPP is to advance consistency with and implementation of the county comprehensive plan while accomplishing impactful, lasting, and positive benefits for municipalities through innovative municipal planning; multi-municipal planning; and new and revised municipal plans, ordinances, and planning studies that address opportunities and issues of community concern.

General project types that may be eligible include plans, ordinances, ordinance amendments, and planning studies that advance one or more of the Landscapes3 goals and objectives, and implement one or more of the Landscapes3 recommendations at the municipal or multi-municipal level. 

For eligible projects, see https://www.chescoplanning.org/MuniCorner/VPP-Docs/2023-CashGrant-Manual.pdf#page=5.

For eligible costs, https://www.chescoplanning.org/MuniCorner/VPP-Docs/2023-CashGrant-Manual.pdf#page=19.



Recipient

Additional Eligibility Criteria
Eligible Applicants:
A. The VPP cash grant program is open to all Chester County municipalities which have endorsed or acknowledged Landscapes3. Eligible applicants include a single municipality or a multi-municipal group, which may consist of two (2) or more contiguous municipalities or two (2) or more municipalities when located in the same school district. The application shall be submitted by a lead municipality in the case of a multi-municipal group application.

B. Only one (1) VPP funded project shall be underway at a time by an individual municipality to ensure proper grant administration and promote successful completion of the project. If approved by the County Planning Commission, a municipality may be permitted to have an individual project underway while participating in a multi-municipal project.

C. Municipalities involved in a multi-municipal comprehensive plan shall not be eligible for VPP funding to undertake a full comprehensive plan update at the same time as the contract term of the multi-municipal plan. Partial updates to a specific comprehensive plan section, such as the historic resources plan, may be considered on a case-by-case basis.


Pre-Application Information
Program Dates and Deadlines
Cash Grant — 2023 Second Round
- July 3, 2023: Round 1 grant cycle opens
- August 18, 2023: Deadline for pre-application meetings (optional, but strongly encouraged)
- September 8, 2023: Grant applications due by 4:00 p.m. — online submittals only
- November 8, 2023: Grant awards announced
- Winter 2023/2024: Grant contract preparation
- Spring 2024: Anticipated project start dates

Please note that for the 2023 VPP cycles, individual pre-applications meetings are optional. However, municipalities are strongly encouraged to contact the Chester County Planning Commission to discuss their proposed project. Requests for pre-application meetings and other questions about the grant program can be directed to William Deguffroy, Community Planning Director and VPP Grant Administrator.

Matching Funds: The minimum required local match shall be forty (40) percent for single or multi-municipal group projects.

Reimbursement for the portion of the project funded by the VPP grant occurs after the project has been adopted or accepted, as applicable, and a reimbursement application with required documentation has been submitted.

Only one (1) project per municipality may be submitted per grant round.

Additional Funding Information

Estimated Total Program Funding:

$125,000

Estimated Size of Grant
Maximum funding levels by type of project:
- Plans or Ordinances: $50,000 plus $10,000 for each additional municipality
- Planning Studies: $30,000 plus $5,000 for each additional municipality

Term of Contract
A schedule depicting the completion of each major task, deliverables, and other key project components is required and shall include the adoption or acceptance process. The proposed schedule shall be accommodated within the minimum contract timeframes, which shall be as follows:

Plans:
- Municipal Comprehensive Plan Update: 24 months
- Multi-municipal Comprehensive Plan: 36 months

Ordinances:
- Full Ordinance Update: 24 months
- Ordinance Amendments: 12-24 months
- Official Map: 12 months
- Planning Studies/Guides: 12-18 months
- Multi-Municipal Planning Studies: 18-24 months

Contact Information
Apply online from July 3, 2023.

Questions about the grant program and requests for pre-application meetings can be directed to William Deguffroy, Community Planning Director and VPP Grant Administrator at 610-344-6285 or wdeguffroy@chesco.org.

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