NEWTOWN, PA-The Bucks County Board of Elections has approved theinclusion of a referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot that calls for an$87-million open-space bond. It follows by 10 years a $57-millionopen-space initiative that won overwhelming approval of thecounty's voters in 1997 and helped preserve more than 15,000 acresbetween then and year-end 2006.

The current proposal “would ensure that land preservationcontinues in Bucks County,” says Michael Fitzpatrick, a lawyer withLanghorne-based Begley Carlin & Mandio LLP and one of threechairs of Save Bucks County, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group devotedto campaigning in favor of the bond. “There is no organizedopposition,” he says, and the referendum is not in reaction to anyspecific developments, but rather an effort to continue the earlierprogram.

“It is the same as the previous bond with one new component,”Fitzpatrick tells GlobeSt.com. “That is the inclusion of Delawareriverfront preservation and access to the Delaware.” Proceeds ofthe $87 million are divided among five programs. The acquisitionand preservation of riverfront land would utilize $7 million.