OPEN SPACE PLANNING IN
CENTRAL NEW YORK

OPEN SPACE PLANNING IN
CENTRAL NEW YORK
• Presented by Richard Smardon, Ph.D.
• Professor/Chair Faculty of Environmental
Studies at SUNY/ESF
• Taught open space course for 6 years with
John Felleman
• Member of Save-the-County Land Trust for
20 years plus twice past president

OPEN SPACE PLANNING in CNY
• Outline of Presentation
– Why do open space planning? functions/values
– What should be inventoried: data needs?
– What planning process should be used? and
– Who should be involved?
– What tools and resources are available?
– What are other communities doing?
– Who are the potential partners?
– What happens after ownership?

Why do open space planning?
• Growth control - an issue for some areas
• Public health and safety,eg. floodplains and coastal areas subject to storm damage
• Biodiversity protection-fauna, flora, habitat
• Recreational access for residents & tourists
• Community character protection - includes historic, cultural and aesthetic interests

North American Greenways
• Connecting open space & habitat
• Multi-nodal transportation
• Aesthetics and recreation
• Air and water quality maintenance
• Urban climate amelioration
• Supported by some government programs and private land trusts

What should be inventoried? which functions did you choose?
• Data on land development/infrastructure $
• Spatial mapping data: floodplains,water bodies, wetlands, watersheds
• Spatial data on flora, fauna, habitats
• Recreational facility location/usage data
• Historical, cultural and aesthetic landscape spatial and perceptual data

Example of infrastructure inventory

Example of open space inventory
• Biological diversity inventory from
Rhinebeck, NY
• Involved exhaustive biological inventory of the town area

What planning process?
• Open space planning as part of comprehensive plan?
• Multiple purpose open space planning ?
• Or single purpose open space plan?
• How to structure the process?
– Expert driven rational process
– Consensus based participatory process

Visioning Process for the Onondaga Creek
Sub-Basin Revitalization Plan
Get acquainted with the Creek
Review the
‘State of the
Creek’
Perform the visioning process steps
•Tour the Creek
•Understand the 8 segments:
•Functions
•Uses
•Values
•Water quality and quantity
•Climate and physical effects
•Soils, vegetation, and wildlife
•Discover critical elements
•Analyze their compatibility
•Explore alternatives
•Evaluate and refine
•Develop plan

Open space planning process?
• NY guide for local open space planning
• Addresses open space planning alone or as part of comprehensive plan
• Also addresses many of the tools in NYS

Who should be involved?
• Local government?
• State government?
• Non-government organizations?
• Local citizens?
• Partnerships?
• All of the above?

What tools are available?
• Acquisition of fee simple or development rights
• Voluntary easements, covenants, gifts and donations
• Taxation policy:
– Ag districts, forest tax law + local reduced assessments
• Local regulatory
– Zoning
– Site plan approval
– Subdivision
– Cluster development/PUD
– SEQR- critical area designation

Financing open space implementation
• Local sources
– Dedicated revenue
– Local bond acts
– County/local capitol funding
– Gifts and donations
– Partnerships with land trusts
• State/Federal sources
– Environ.Protection
Fund
– Clean Water/Clean Air
Bond Act
– Clean Water State
Revolving Fund
– Federal Programs

What are other communities doing?
• Burlington, Vermont
• Saratoga County, New
York
• Rhinebeck, New York
• Other examples of greenspace planning around the country

Burlington,Vt. Open Space Plan

Saratoga Co. Open Space Plan

Rhinebeck, NY - open space as part of the comprehensive plan

Example: North American Biodiversity Plan
• Chicago Wilderness: Biodiversity
Recovery Plan
– 1: Executive Summary
– 2: Values of Biodiversity
– 3: Biodiversity Challenge
– 4: Assessment Processes
– 5: Terrestrial Communities
– 6: Aquatic Communities
– 7: Endangered/Threatened
– 8: Preserving land/water
– 9: Management, Research &
Monitoring
– 10: Education/ Communication
– 11: Role of Key Players

Visited trails and Greenways
Towpath,
Erie Canal, OH

Visited trails and Greenways
Natural Trails,
Portland metropolitan area, OR

Visited trails and Greenways
Center for Wooden Boats,
Blueways in Seattle, WA

Visited trails and Greenways
Urban Greenways,
South Plate River, Denver, CO

Open space planning in CNY
• Manlius has already enacted key legislation
• Could utilize sorting of priority open space functions and values
• Could utilize prioritized sorting of key open space areas/properties
• Then look at tools available to protect these areas with strategic partnerships

Manlius Greenspace Coalition

Land Trust Alliance

STC-local land trust

STC-local properties

More STC Properties

Trust for Public Land

The Nature Conservancy

Onondaga Nation

Smart Communities Network

Practical Issues after ownership
• Monitoring and maintenance
• Fostering stewardship -who does it?
• Whose liability?
• Examples of physical management issues
– The dam at Austin Wildlife Preserve
– Access improvements-trails, signs,etc.
– Clean up
– Vegetation/habitat management

Instilling stewardship is key!