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Pennsylvania Mandates Zoning in Municipalities Along Appalachian Trail Municipalities along the Appalachian Trail will be required to have zoning rules to protect the trail from adjacent development under a new Pennsylvania law. Courts have ruled that a 1978 law intended to preserve the renowned hiking trail fell short of mandating the zoning. The 1978 bill was proposed after a private auto-racing club wanted to build near the trail in Monroe County, PA. To help with the cost of any new zoning, the new law requires the Department of Community and Economic Development to give priority to any affected municipality for planning grants. Still, critics of the bill called it an unfunded mandate. The new bill gives municipalities a year to enact zoning and other land-use ordinances to protect the Appalachian Trail, even if the remainder of the township is not zoned. Those municipalities without ordinances get priority for state grants, and the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources must help municipalities acquire property in an effort to protect the trail. Public Opinion Harrisburg Bureau, http://www.publicopiniononline.com/localnews/ci_9570607
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