Open Space Ordinance, Public Hearing

Changes to the Open Space Ordinance that created the Open Space Committee, the Open Space Trust Account and the funding to it, were reviewed for public comment at a BOA Public Hearing on Ordinances held Tue Jul25, 2006. The proposal contains 2 components: Elimination of the Open Space Committee (rolling their duties into the Conservation Commission), and changing funding to the Open Space Trust Account.

The Open Space Committee was created to prepare an Open Space Plan, and recomend, monitor and report on activities to the Open Space Trust Account. The OSC is made up of a representative from the Board of Alderman, Inland Wetland Commission, Planning and Zoning Commission, Sewer Commission, Conservation Commission (all with alternates) and 2 members at large.

The Open Space Committee in recent years started commenting on plans for subdivision. This creates conflict to members of the regulatory boards that make up the Committee and may be reviewing those applications. Partly in response to this, the Committee has great difficulty creating a quorom to conduct a meeting.

The Open Space Plan was completed in 1992. The Conservation Commission has been in the process of updating it, and several years back started a Quality of Life initiative to identify properties of interest that would be appropriate to consider for acquisition in light of the Open Space Plan. In effect, the Conservation Commission was doing this work of the Open Space Committee.

The Conservation Commission at it's July meeting reviewed the outcome of several meetings between myself and Board of Alderman president John Anglace regarding changing the ordinance. This included recomending $250k be allocated from the annual budget to the Open Space Trust Account. This is based on previous history of annual expenditures and receipts from subdivision's fees in lieu of open space land set asides. The amount also considered upcoming expenditures required for properties under acquisition and those that are likely to be acquired in the near future.

The Conservation Commission believed (and the Open Space Committee concurred) that this was a reasonable amount to receive from the annual budget into this restricted account held in trust for the use toward purchasing Permanently Protected Open Space Land and the ancillary expenses of studies, title insurance, attorney fees, etc related to such acquisitions.