APB agenda 082003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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121 Within the category of open space, the amount of open space that is in crop, pasture or grass cover (as opposed to forested or open water), the amount of open space owned by government entities, the amount of open space that is currently vacant but zoned for developed use, and the amount of open space covered by conservation easements were measured. The locations of potential disamenities were determined and mapped. There are four landfills located in Berks County, one regional airport twenty -seven sewage treatment plants (not counting plants located in the. City of Reading), seventh four properties that have been used for mushroom production, and seventy -one large -scale animal production operations, defined here as housing more than 200 animal equivalent units (aeu's), as defined for each species by the Pennsylvania Nutrient Management Act (Act 6 of 1993) (Beegle 1997): For each house, the proximity of the house to potential local disamenities was measured. For landfills, mushroom ' production facilities, and high-traffic roads, the distance to the closest landfill, facility, or road was measured. For the regional airport, the distance to a line -extending two miles from either end of the main runway was measured. For sewage treatment plants and animal production facilities, the location to each plant or facility was measured. For each potential local disamenity, an index of proximity was constructed. These indices have the property that the impact on house price decreases as the distance from the house to the local disamenity increases, reaching 0 at a defined distance. For sewage treatment plants and animal production facilities, the indices have the additional property that each plant or facility can impact house price independently of other plants or facilities. Other databases used in the analysis included information on elevation and slope, soils, location of streams, zoning, school district, and commuting distance to regional employment centers, Reading, Allentown and Philadelphia. The implicit house price function was estimated using an instrumental variables approach, similar to that used by Irwin (2002). The instrumental variables approach is used to avoid potential bias in the estimation due to a form of relatedness, termed endogeneity, between land use and house prices. V. Results of Statistical Analysis of Residential Property Values Regression Results - House Characteristics Complete regression results are presented in the longer, technical report. The variables included in the estimated implicit house price function explained about 87 percent of the variation in house price. All of the coefficients for the structural characteristics of the house were statistically significant different from zero, and of the expected sign. The following characteristics are associated with higher house price: more square feet, more bathrooms, more bedrooms, existence of a basement, a brick, stone or masonry exterior, central air conditioning, better physical condition, and newer construction For a given size, a house is worth less if some of its finished area is in an attic. Houses located in school districts with higher average 12th grade PSSA test scores had higher sale prices. 4