P&Z Considers Rule Revisions

On Selecting Open Space

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are considering a proposed set of revisions to the town’s rules on selecting open space land. The P&Z is scheduled to conduct a public hearing on the proposed rule changes at its August 7 session.

The Conservation Commission is recommending the various open space rule changes to the P&Z to refine the criteria used in selecting open space areas.

“It’s meant to address how the town considers [the selection of] open space,” said Rob Sibley, the town’s deputy land use agency director. Mr Sibley serves as an advisor to the Conservation Commission.

Current subdivision regulations require that at least 15 percent of the area of proposed subdivisions be designated as open space areas earmarked for public recreational use and where development is prohibited.

The proposed open space rule changes would place greater emphasis on preserving wildlife habitat as open space, as well as protecting water quality, according to Mr Sibley. Also, the proposed rule changes would require a minimum 25-foot width for open space areas, he said.

The proposed open space rule changes would set the stage for the Conservation Commission’s planned natural resource inventory of the town, Mr Sibley said.

The proposed open space rule changes, coupled with a natural resource inventory, would provide the P&Z with more regulatory leverage in obtaining desirable types of open space land, Mr Sibley said. Such an inventory would contain factual details on the natural aspects of the local land parcels that would have value as open space areas, he said.

The proposed open space rule changes also would provide the P&Z with more flexibility in terms of how open space areas are delineated with signage in the field, Mr Sibley said.

The rule change proposals call for the Conservation Commission to make formal recommendations to the P&Z concerning the location, appropriateness, configuration, and size of open space areas.

 P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean said she expects that P&Z members would endorse the open space rule changes as recommended by the Conservation Commission.

Generally, the existing P&Z regulations define “open space” as land or water areas that are left in their natural state, agricultural land, areas and facilities intended for noncommercial and nonprofit passive and active forms of recreation, wildlife habitat, groundwater recharge areas, and scenic areas.

The P&Z requires that open space areas contain the types of physical characteristics which are found on the entire development site, in effect, requiring that open space areas not be of poor physical quality.