Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Study finds the ‘green’ in open space
Value adds up to more than $4B every year
POTTSTOWN >> Ask most people what value they place on the preservation of open space and they will talk about the peace and beauty of the woods or an open field; the view it offers from their window or perhaps even the preservation of habitat for native species.
But what about cold hard cash?
As it turns out, open space in Montgomery County has a monetary and economic value in the billions of dollars (yes, “billions”) above and beyond what was paid for the land or the development rights — more than $4 billion, annually.
And in May, the county issued a report — “Return on Environment: The Economic Impact of Protected Open Space in Montgomery County” — to prove it.
Currently, members of the county’s planning commission and a team of open space advocates are touring the county to promote the report and what it says about the economic value of
open space and on Oct. 25, that tour stopped in Pottstown at the Challenger Learning Center at the Riverfront Park campus of Montgomery County Community College.
The report outlines four major ways in which open space is an economic boon to Montgomery County, and offers a case study for each: Home and property values; economic activity; environmental services and direct use benefits.
Stephen Wray, Senior Vice President of E-Consultant Solutions, which prepared the report, delivered its findings.
Home and Property Values
Wray said first and foremost, that because Montgomery County has so much preserved open space — 46,022 acres out of 320,000 — that 92 percent of the county’s homes are located within a half-mile of some form of open space. So perhaps that explains the fact that collectively $2.9 billion of value has been added to that housing.
The average increase in the value of homes within a half-mile is an additional $11,300. That results in $48 million in additional property tax revenues every year from those homes. This comes on top of the tax impact open space has, or rather its lack of impact. Studies have shown that because open space requires minimal municipal services and prevents the construction of housing, It keeps costs, and taxes, down particularly for school districts. That’s because the cost of educating the average home’s children far exceeds the property taxes it generates.
These figures were reached by looking at home sales of 143 houses over a period of 20 years, from 2000 to 2020 and account for differences in home value due to other factors, like perceptions of school districts, square footage, number of bedrooms and the year a home was built.
As a case study, the report looked at the 12.6-mile Green Ribbon Trail and 578-acre preserve of the same name in the townships of Upper Gwynedd, Lower Gwynedd, Whitpain, Upper Dublin, Whitemarsh and Springfield, and the boroughs of Ambler and North Wales.
There are 2,646 homes within a half-mile of this preserved acreage and were it not there, the total assessed value of those homes would drop by $87 million, or $33,184 per home, creating a $2.83 million gap in local property taxes every year.
Economic Activity
In addition to the passive economic value provided by increased property value, there is also the economic value provided by less passive pursuits.
Three kinds of activity associated with open space all provide a direct economic benefit: agriculture; management and maintenance expenditures for open space (like the jobs and costs associated with maintaining parks); and spending associated with open space tourism.
Protected farmland in Montgomery County has an annual impact of $8 million and supports 195 jobs, according to the study
The maintenance and upkeep of the county’s open space has an annual impact of $112 million and supports 940 jobs, according to the study.
About $39 million in annual economic activity is created by the tourism that surrounds the county’s open space, supporting 420 jobs, the study found.
In the report, the economic activity that surrounds the Schuylkill River Trail in Pottstown provided the case study.
EConsult found that roughly 70,000 people visit the trail in Pottstown each year, said Wray, with a total economic impact of more than $8 million
Environmental Services
Something’s economic value is measured by money not spent.
Trees and vegetation do more than just look nice. Think of them as sponges that absorb stormwater, helping prevent flooding; absorb carbon out of the air carbon, and soil absorbs and cleanses pollutants from water.
Were those things not happening in the natural world, society would have to pay for those services with manmade filters and solutions. Open-space vegetation does it for free.
Open space absorbs 1.7 billion gallons of stormwater each year; which keeps 61,000 pounds of nitrogen, 28,000 pounds of phosphorus and 116 million pounds of sediment out of our drinking water, avoiding $179 million a year in infrastructure costs.
Add in $1.2 million worth of air pollution removal; $3 million in carbon sequestration; $1.8 million in wildlife habitat protection each year.
What’s that worth? According to the study, more than $31 million annually.
By way of example, for a case study of how this works, the report focuses on the Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust, 862 acres in Upper and Lower Moreland townships and Bryn Athyn borough.
The total value of the services this preserved land provides is $1.2 million every year, according to the report.
Direct Services
What is a walk in the woods worth?
Well, that depends on what you’re willing to count. For example, your cardiologist would like you to do it often and the value of reduced health problems as a result of all that exercise can be measured. And your therapist would certainly vouch for the benefits of a walk in nature to one’s mental health.
So too the resulting reduced pressure on your health insurance and your employer’s worker compensation insurance can be measured. Lost productivity at work is also reduced as a result of time spent in nature, according to the study,
The study also measures what people are “willing to pay” for recreational activities in open spaces.
The county study looked at Norristown Farm Park as an example and nearly $700,000 in value is generated there each year for the more than 4,600 families who visit the park on average 17 times per year as well the more than $6 million for the health problems that open space prevents.
“Where can municipalities afford to spend dollars?” asked Dulcie Flaharty, vice chair of the Montgomery County Planning Commission and a long-time land preservationist. Instead of building infrastructure that must be maintained and updated constantly to perform functions open space does all on its own, that tax money is better spent on land that “doesn’t cost anything once you buy it, and provides benefits that never go away,” she said.
“Open space preservation is a long-term effort and more often than not, it’s a long slog,” said Bill Hartman, trails and open space planning manager for the county planning commission. “But the data shows it’s worth it and we believe that data is power.”
“The bottom line is that there is a return on the environment in Montgomery County,” said Wray. “Those who came before have been investing and protecting open space for over 100 years, and you are seeing and reaping the benefits every day. How you build and expand on those investments will be your legacy for the future.”
All of that data will be part of the county’s new comprehensive plan, titled “Montco 2050,” work on which has already begun said Scott France, executive director of the Montgomery County Planning Commission.