Chester County developers and municipal planners have a new deadline to meet before breaking ground on subdivisions and land-development projects.

Gov. Josh Shapiro signed Senate Bill 1287 on Thursday, Oct. 8, creating Act 58 of 2026, as first reported by MyChesCo. The law requires municipalities to obtain evidence identifying an intended public or communal water supplier before granting final approval to subdivision and land-development plans. It takes effect Monday, Dec. 7.

The change closes what the bill's prime sponsor, state Sen. Dawn Keefer, R-31, described as a gap in existing law. Pennsylvania's Municipalities Planning Code already required developers relying on public water to show they had a supplier lined up. It did not specify when that proof had to arrive.

In her April sponsor memorandum, as quoted in a separate MyChesCo report published Oct. 6, Keefer noted that while many municipalities treated pre-approval submission as best practice, the requirement was not uniform across the state.

Act 58 makes that timing mandatory statewide.

Acceptable documentation includes a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) Certificate of Public Convenience, an application for one, a cooperative agreement, or a commitment to provide water service, according to the bill's official page. An application alone can satisfy the requirement, meaning developers do not need a final PUC certificate in hand before seeking approval.

Planning commissions in West Chester Borough, West Goshen Township and East Goshen Township will need to incorporate the new requirement into their review of residential, commercial and industrial projects before granting final approvals.

The legislation drew no opposition in Harrisburg. The Senate passed it 50-0 on June 2, and the House followed 203-0 on Oct. 6 without amendments. State Sen. Elder Vogel, R-47, co-sponsored the bill. The General Assembly's fiscal note found no direct cost to the Commonwealth.

The new rule arrives as Chester County contends with water-supply pressure. The county was under a drought warning as of June, when the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection cited declining groundwater levels affecting private well users.

No public response from West Chester Borough Council, West Goshen or East Goshen supervisors has appeared in public records as of publication. The Dec. 7 effective date gives local governments roughly two months to update their review procedures.