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	ATTENTION: Plainfield Township Environmental Advisory Council Information Please click here to read the full newsletter ATTENTION: On October 17, 2008, the PA Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act was signed into Law and will become effective July 1. 2009. Every contractor working in PA must register with the PA Bureau of Consumer Protection. The fee is $50.00 and must be renewed every 2 years. The Contractors Registration number must be used on every advertisements, contracts, estimates and proposals after July 1, 2009. Residents should not sign any contract without it containing the following information: Three business day right of cancellation, phone number of PA Bureau of Consumer Protection, Scope of work including specifications, start/completion date, change order notice, full address of contractor/registration number, notice of insurance and only one-third of total contract price as a deposit/down payment. This Law was enacted to protect the consumer from home improvement fraud. ATTENTION: Plainfield Township has made strides toward its goal of keeping Plainfield rural, and an attractive place to live. To preserve farmland and to discourage sprawl, Developers must create 5-acre lots if they insist on the standard “cookie-cutter” subdivision in the Farm and Forest Zoning District. This is meant to encourage the Conservation by Design option, requiring each subdivision to create an Open Space parcel (1 house allowed) of 50% of the property. Total densities have been reduced by an average of 25%, but the reduction of road infrastructure and stormwater management costs, plus the increase in value due to the “Proximity Effect” (proximity to preserved Open Space) mitigates the economic impact on our landowners. Perhaps more importantly, the Conservation by Design Zoning gives added confidence to our landowners who are considering selling their Development Rights to the County/State Farmland Preservation Program. Fewer landowners would sell their easements if they thought that their farms would be surrounded by houses built up against their hedgerows. The new zoning gives them confidence that if they “Preserve” their farm and their neighbor does not, at least they have the possible relief of an “Open Space Buffer” between them and the new development. ATTENTION: There are now 1,925 acres of preserved farmland in Plainfield Township. Approximately 9 million state and country dollars were spent in acquiring these easements. Had these lands been developed, the cost of providing services to new residents would greatly exceed the amount spent purchasing these easements. Quality of life issues, water quality benefits, local employment and farm fresh locally grown food all add to the appeal of this popular and successful program. Plainfield Township currently has an additional 442 acres on the “Waiting List.” This is a competitive program with 32 landowners in the country applying for the 2009 program. Seven of these landowners are from Plainfield Township. The country program has approximately 2 million dollars available for the 2009 program. The Township, through it’s Open Space Committee (the EAC) is currently working to partner with Northampton County Farmland Preservation Board in order to take advantage of the countries existing administrative staff and to leverage municipal “Open Space” dollars with the country program. Supervisor,                Matt Glennon
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