Early Years of Camden Greenways Inc.
Camden
Greenways, Inc. started operation in 1993 as the Camden
Greenways Working
Group (CGWG), bringing together three neighborhoods in
Camden that shared concerns about open space issues, particularly
the status of land along the Delaware and Cooper Rivers.
The organization's work evolved into a greenway plan for
Camden, which later also included the neighborhoods bordering
Newton Creek. With the grassroots organization of the CGWG, the City of Camden created some important policy changes. First, in 1998, the Camden Greenways Masterplan was incorporated into the City's Master Plan. A few years later, Camden City Council
incorporated the Greenway plan as part of the City's zoning
ordinance, creating two new conservation districts and
a Stream and River Corridor Protection and Management Overlay
Zone. City Council adopted these zoning amendments on 9/13/01,
after dozens of meeting and negotiations with residents
and businesses.
Just before City Council passed these important zoning changes, CGI incorporated a not-for-profit organization, the group's members decided on a new structure,
membership guidelines, and incorporation occurred
in March of 2000.
