Open Space, Park and Recreation Related Planning

Montgomery Township Comprehensive Park and Recreation Plan

Montgomery Township received a Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund Planning, Implementation and Technical Assistance Grant in order to update the Township's existing Park and Recreation Plan. 

Our staff led a nine member Study Committee comprised of representatives of the Township's Park and Recreation Board, Township staff and general public. The members of the committee were specifically selected to represent various geographic locations from around the Township regarding the facilities in their neighborhood. Our staff also managed a subconsultant who is a Certified Leisure Planner with over twenty-five years of experience in the park and recreation field.

F. X. Browne, Inc. staff worked closely with the Study Committee to make decisions regarding:

Lower Moreland Township Open Space Plan

The Lower Moreland Township Open Space Plan was successfully developed by F. X. Browne, Inc. and approved by Montgomery County. With the adoption of this plan, the Township became eligible for funding under the Montgomery County Open Space Program.

After careful analysis of the natural and manmade environment, F. X. Browne, Inc. provided guidance to the Township as to which direction to take in order to achieve an optimum relationship of varying land uses. Our recommendations suggested the following:

Both short-term and long-term objectives were presented to the Township in order to foresee significant improvements in the Township's quality of life. Short-term objectives which were recommended include: Long term objectives for Lower Moreland Township included:

Another significant objective which is prevalent throughout the entire plan is the Township's desire to provide environmental education opportunities to its residents. Several items in the action plan segment deal with actions needed to place an ecological study center within the Township as well as to establish an educational outpost in the vicinity of the Lower Moreland High School and one of the school districts middle schools. In addition, the Township desired to create an environmental education program for students of all ages in the Lower Moreland School District.

As part of the planning process, F. X. Browne, Inc. utilized its GIS capabilities to create maps for the final plan.

Upper Gwynedd Township Park and Recreation and Open Space Plan

F. X. Browne, Inc. developed a park, recreation and open space plan for Upper Gwynedd Township. With the completion of this plan, the Township became eligible to receive funding under the Montgomery County Open Space Program.

The Plan was completed by F. X. Browne, Inc. and included:

The Township has since utilized County open space acquisition funding to: Members of our staff recently completed a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment for a five acre parcel which was identified as an area for a potential conservation easement. The parcel was free of any type of contamination and the Township purchased the property outright with Montgomery County Open Space funding.

As a consulting firm, it gives us great satisfaction to see a municipality continuing to implement our recommendations. One of our major objectives as a firm is to provide our clients with realistic and implementable goals which can be carried out over a period of time. We realize that open space planning requires a great deal of effort as well as funding. Often times, municipalities simply do not have the financial resources to purchase land for preservation. Therefore we work with the municipality to devise solutions which are cost effective as well as beneficial to the public.

The Montgomery County Open Space Board approved the plan which we prepared for Upper Gwynedd Township. The Board also stated that the Plan placed the most emphasis on the environment over all of the other plans which had been developed by municipalities throughout the entire County. An editorial was published in a local newspaper stating that all subsequent open space plans should follow the approach taken in this particular plan.

The Neshaminy Creek Watershed Rivers Conservation Plan Implementation Project

The Doylestown Township Environmental Advisory Committee completed the Neshaminy Creek Watershed, Rivers Conservation Plan with the support of several adjacent municipalities. The Township hired F. X. Browne, Inc. to complete the Phase II Rivers Conservation Project grant application and implementation project.

As part of the implementation project, F. X. Browne, Inc. staff members

The nature trail formalized a foot path utilized by local fishermen to access a portion of the Neshaminy Creek. In addition, an informal parking area was made into an official parking lot for trail users. Along the trail, the Township placed two of our kiosks which provide trail users with an overview of the trail. Other information on the trail includes historical information of the area as well as information on the types of wildlife and plants can be found along the way.

Two other kiosks were designed by our staff and placed along various other trails which are located adjacent to the Neshaminy Creek. In addition, F. X. Browne, Inc. staff designed brochures detailing the environmental significance of the Neshaminy Creek Watershed.

In addition, members of our staff participated in the development of an environmental education curriculum designed for sixth grade students in the Central Bucks School District. Members of our staff joined staff of Doylestown Township, teachers, school administrators, employees of a local nature park and employees of a local water supply company on a committee formed to guide the development of the curriculum.

The curriculum consists of seven lessons intended to provide sixth graders with an overall understanding of how the environment relates to their everyday lives and what they can do to improve their environment. The final lesson consists of a field trip to a nature park where students are able to wade into the Neshaminy Creek and search for macroinvertebrates and aquatic plant life. Students are also taken on a tour of a local water supplier's water treatment plant to see how water from a local lake is treated for safe consumption by human beings.

The East Stroudsburg Area School District Park and Environmental Education Program - Resica Falls Elementary School and Middle Smithfield Township Park

F. X. Browne, Inc. designed a nature trail, park and environmental education kiosks in an effort to educate the public on the importance of aquatic environments, particularly wetlands. Several members of our staff worked with members of the East Stroudsburg Area School District and Middle Smithfield Township Board of Supervisors to determine the scope of the project and what type of information should be portrayed on the environmental education kiosks.

Our staff engaged in the following activities in order to complete this project:

This project was such a success that the Middle Smithfield Township Board of Supervisors entered into a partnership with the School District and agreed to utilize the nature trail and park as both an educational facility and as a public park for residents of the Township.

Another successful aspect of this project was that the citizens and students designed and built a "Leathers" playground that expressed important local environmental concepts. "Leathers" playgrounds are designed by the famous architect Robert Leathers. Mr. Leathers works with local citizens to design a wooden playground structure which embodies the spirit of the local community. Mr. Leathers also assists with the construction of the playground which is built totally by community volunteers.

The Lower Sylvan Lake Nature Trail

F. X. Browne, Inc. utilized its drafting proficiency to design environmental education kiosks which were placed along an existing nature trail in Burlington Township, New Jersey. The existing path of the trails were displayed upon the kiosk along with common types of natural resources one might see while walking along the trails. In an attempt to educate the public on the importance of various ecosystems, the kiosk also contained information on the importance of the aquatic environment within Lower Sylvan Lake and the forested wetland areas which exist along portions of the trails.

Prior to our design of the nature trail and educational kiosks, we performed a watershed management study of Lower Sylvan Lake and its watershed. As a result of the study, we designed a variety of management practices to protect the water quality and natural habitat of the lake ecosystem. Conservation measures included:

Delaware Township Park Master Plan

F. X. Browne, Inc. prepared the Delaware Township Park Master Plan for a 140 acre park. The site included several natural areas including a freshwater wetland, upland mixed hardwood forest and a freshwater pond. The Township hired F. X. Browne, Inc. to design additional active and passive features at the park. Some of the prominent goals of the Township were to provide additional recreational activities for a wide variety of age groups, particularly senior citizens.

Activities recommended for seniors by F. X. Browne, Inc. based on input from the Township's Board of Supervisors, Recreation Committee and staff include the following:

Other activities for younger age groups include: The final Park Master Plan was designed to utilize the park and its available resources in a creative, yet environmentally sensitive way.