Southeast PA counties move to activate renewable energy purchasing
Four counties that formed the Sustainable Energy Partnership of Southeast PA (SEP) have made the first major step in purchasing low-cost, stable and transparent electricity for county operations. As members of the SEP, Chester, Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery counties have started receiving electricity through wholesale market purchasing. In August 2024, the SEP’s energy board set a goal — by 2035, all four counties will purchase 100% of their operations’ electricity from renewable sources, with interim targets along the way. Read more at the Montgomery County website.
Source: Montgomery County; 2/28/2025

Data show Black and Hispanic homebuyers were more likely to be denied loans
A low supply of homes for sale, elevated mortgage interest rates, and rising home prices kept people in the Philadelphia area from buying homes in 2023. But among those who did apply for mortgages, racial disparities in who got approved persisted, despite researchers calling more attention to the issue in recent years. In Philadelphia in 2023, lenders denied Black, non-Hispanic and Hispanic mortgage applicants who were well-qualified for mortgages more often than they denied white, non-Hispanic applicants who were similarly or less qualified, according to a Reinvestment Fund analysis of 2023 data released through the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. Read the full story in the Inquirer.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 3/3/2025

Fair housing groups report DOGE cuts
On Feb. 28, private fair housing organizations reported that the Trump administration had terminated at least $12 million in grants awarded for local fair housing education, outreach and enforcement. Local fair housing centers, funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Fair Housing Initiatives (FHIP) grant program, are often the first line of contact for people who believe they have experienced housing discrimination. In 2023, FHIPs fielded upward of 25,000 reports, according to the National Fair Housing Alliance. Termination letters sent to grantees said the cancellations were at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). HUD’s union and the media have reported that DOGE has proposed cutting staff at HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) by 76%. HUD has not yet formally issued a Reduction in Force (RIF) plan for FHEO, but a plan is reported to be under review. HUD has already issued a RIF for its field office staff. The union has told the media that DOGE has proposed cutting 50% of HUD's overall staff and closing the majority of the agency's field offices nationwide. As efforts continue to reduce the size of government, NAR is engaging with administration officials, lawmakers and housing industry partners to minimize disruptions and potential adverse impacts on the housing industry. Read more at NAR’s website.
Source: NAR; 3/4/2025

Children First PA releases 2025 county reports
Children First PA, a nonprofit group formerly known as Public Citizens For Children and Youth, has released five reports on the children in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. The collection of reports, titled “A Decade of Stalled Progress,” notes that pre-COVID, families were starting to gain more financial security, but inflation and the ending of pandemic-related government assistance has caused families to lose economic ground. Child care is unaffordable for many, while the child care workforce is dwindling due to low wages. The report says underfunded public schools are depriving students of quality education. Lack of health insurance for about 147,000 Pennsylvania children and youth presents immediate and long-term health risks. While the reports show the negative impact of poor public policy on health and education, proactive public policy reforms in the child welfare and juvenile justice areas have delivered notable improvements. Each report offers recommendations for state and county government and school districts to help keep children healthy, well-educated, productive and happy. See the reports by county here.
Source: Main Line Media News; 2/18/2025 & Children First; 2/25/2025

State lawmaker wants to change how local governments, school districts advertise public notices
State law requires local governments and school districts to publish public notices in print newspapers of general circulation, giving residents a chance to know what their elected representatives are doing. State Rep. Robert Freeman (D-136), of Northampton County, plans to introduce legislation that would update the nearly 50-year-old Newspaper Advertising Act by expanding the definition of “newspaper of general circulation” to address technological changes in the newspaper industry. Under the bill, a “digital newspaper” would be an online newspaper formatted similarly to a printed newspaper that meets specific legal criteria regarding its purpose and its ties to the community, or be a digital descendant of a printed newspaper. A “free newspaper” would be acceptable, but it also has to fit certain statutory criteria regarding its content. Print and free newspapers would also have to maintain a website and post public notices online at the same time and in front of a paywall. Newspapers would be required to post public notices on a statewide, publicly accessible website maintained by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.
Source: Reading Eagle; 2/27/2025 

Consultant recommends Langhorne establish rental registration and inspection ordinance
Langhorne Borough Council is following the recommendation of a consultant and moving forward with a rental housing registration and inspection program ordinance. The council meeting minutes from Jan. 8 show an approach that requires three new ordinances — the first is the rental housing registration and inspection ordinance, the second would provide for nonresidential fire safety inspections and perhaps establish the offices of fire marshal and fire inspector, and the third would adopt the 2018 International Fire Code. Consultant Paul Leonard recommended that the borough not worry about keeping track of each individual tenant and that there be no fees for registering apartments, and suggested establishing ways to reward compliance with inspections by making the process easier. The Feb. 27 agenda had the council slated to discuss the matter. Langhorne Borough Council will next meet on Wednesday, March 12. Check the Langhorne Borough Council Meeting Agenda page for up-to-date information.
Source: Langhorne Borough; 2/2025

Hilltown gives preliminary approval to 17 homes
Hilltown Township supervisors approved the preliminary plan for a 17-single-family-home subdivision along South Perkasie Road. The Weidner Tract subdivision would be built on two parcels with four lots situated in neighboring East Rockhill Township. Developers with the project are now moving forward with final permitting and waiver approvals. Final approval from both Hilltown and East Rockhill townships is still necessary for the project to move forward.
Source: Bucks County Courier Times; 3/1/2025

Homeless people in Bucks County have limited daytime shelter options
According to annual point-in-time survey data taken in late January each year, the number of homeless people living in Bucks County has nearly tripled from 60 in 2021 to 173 last year. Bucks County nonprofits and volunteers work to provide the homeless with overnight shelter when outdoor temperatures drop below freezing. But those shelters close during the day, leaving many homeless unsheltered and outside in the cold during daylight hours. Bucks County commissioners have no plans to build or fund a day shelter, leaving limited options for the homeless during the day. The Reach Out Foundation in Penndel has become a rare sanctuary for the unhoused. It operates a center providing mental health and addiction recovery support services that opens on weekdays at 6 a.m. The center saw increased demand with prolonged stretches of below-freezing temperatures, often reaching its capacity by 7 a.m.
Source: Bucks County Courier Times; 2/27/2025

Leaky pipeline problems continue in Upper Makefield
A leak in a Sunoco pipeline off Mount Eyre Road continues to dominate discussion in Upper Makefield Township. The leak from a 2.5-inch crack in a petroleum pipeline was described as a “slow drip” by Sunoco officials. It was discovered in January, but reports of water tasting and smelling of gas came from residents as early as September 2023. Sunoco located the leak in 2025 after consulting records from the 1990s and digging up a section where a dent had been covered with a sleeve decades ago, officials have said. Residents at a recent public meeting questioned whether a six-inch rainfall and subsequent flash flooding could have caused the jet fuel to enter their private wells. State Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D-10) asked Sunoco to provide a copy of its post-flood inspection report, although it is not known if that information has been provided. Residents expressed concern that contractors testing their wells refused to test water from the top of the well. Some of the residents’ wells had visible accumulations of petroleum at the surface. A geologist for Energy Transfer, parent company of Sunoco, explained that the goal of the well testing was to gauge how much of the toxic chemicals are in the water that residents drink, rather than the amount of petroleum in the well as a whole. Eligible households have or will have Point of Entry Treatment (POET) systems installed to ensure the water supply is safe. Energy Transfer also purchased a house on Spencer Road in Upper Makefield to facilitate the cleanup of a jet fuel pipeline leak affecting the well water of area homeowners. The pipeline company said it plans to begin drilling two recovery wells at 108 Spencer Road, which will be used to pull poisoned water from the ground. Meanwhile, local and national elected officials have joined community members’ calls to shut down the pipeline during an ongoing investigation. Updates from Energy Transfer are available on the incident response website. See Upper Makefield Township updates here and updates from neighboring Lower Makefield Township here.
Source: Bucks County Herald; 2/21/2025, WHYY; 2/27/2025 & Bucks County Courier Times; 3/5/2025 

Aqua PA sues chemical manufacturer, alleging it contaminated drinking water
Aqua Pennsylvania has filed a federal lawsuit against a King of Prussia-based chemical manufacturer, accusing the company of negligence for contaminating a creek used as part of a network of waterways that supply thousands of people in Delaware and Chester counties with drinking water. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, says that the waterway, part of the Goose Creek watershed, showed “significant contamination” from a class of human-made compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) when tested downstream of Arkema Inc.’s plant on Bolmar Street in West Chester. PFAS are often referred to as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down easily in the environment and in humans. Aqua says in the suit that it serves about 16,000 customers with drinking water from the watershed contaminated by PFAS. Aqua pulls from the watershed to supply customers in Delaware County and a small portion in Chester County. Communities served include Media, Rose Valley, Middletown, Upper Providence, Nether Providence, Chester Heights, Aston, Marple and Ridley townships. The lawsuit does not specify whether PFAS ever reached those customers. It says that PFAS got into its main system, which draws from rivers, creeks and wells.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 3/5/2025

West Caln considers chicken ordinance
West Caln Township supervisors are considering a draft ordinance that would allow for domesticated chickens. The draft ordinance lays out definitions and regulations for residents to keep “a small number of female chickens on a noncommercial basis while limiting the adverse impacts on the surrounding properties.” Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the proposal on Wednesday, March 19, at 7 p.m. at the township building, 721 West Kings Highway, Wagontown. Read the public notice and view the draft ordinance on the township website.
Source: West Caln Township; 3/5/2025

Schuylkill Township acquires 65-acre Sedgley Farm property for preservation
Schuylkill Township announced the successful acquisition of the Sedgley Farm property, located at 930 Valley Forge Road, Phoenixville. The $17 million purchase, finalized in December, marks the culmination of nearly two decades of proposed land development plans. The acquisition of 64.7 acres of Sedgley Farm represents the fulfillment of efforts that began with the establishment of the township’s open space commission, which first identified the property as a high-priority parcel for preservation nearly two decades ago. In 2006, when township residents approved the referendum to enact an open space tax, Sedgley Farm was already under contract with a developer. The open space fund continued to grow and, when the opportunity for acquisition arose in early 2024, the township was able to act quickly on the purchase. Read more on the township website.
Source: Schuylkill Township; 12/19/2024

Birmingham updates zoning code
Birmingham Township now has an updated zoning code regarding impervious coverage. Township supervisors adopted a change that Supervisors Chairman Scott Boorse said makes the code consistent throughout the township. The amended code focuses on the amount of allowable impervious coverage, primarily on residential zoning districts. The amendment allows for 20% impervious coverage in all residential districts and makes some definition changes for other areas. Previously, different residential districts had different impervious coverage requirements, Boorse said, and it was confusing.
Source: Chadds Ford Live; 3/4/2025

County releases 5-year trends report
The Chester County Planning Commission (CCPC) released a Five-Year Trends Report that will help inform its work over the next five years and lay the groundwork for the next update of Landscapes3, the county comprehensive plan. According to the report, the county has made significant strides in the plan's overall goal to balance growth and preservation. CCPC identified the five most important trends that were not fully anticipated when the plan was adopted in November of 2018, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Trends in the report include: changes to how and where we work; pandemic impacts on transportation; commerce and industry trends; housing affordability 2.0; and climate change impacts and sustainability. Read more and view the report on the county website.
Source: Chester County; 2/11/2025