Woodbury seeks public comment on open space plan until Feb. 15

Highland Mills - The Town of Woodbury, long been faced with ever increasing demand for residential and commercial development, has a proposed plan to address its open space and natural resources that are being threatened by this development. The Open Space Plan, yet to be adopted by the Town Board, was drafted by Stuart Turner & Associates of Suffern and includes 14 pages of text and eight detailed maps. It is designed to manage current and anticipated development to better insure the preservation of Woodbury’s open space and the protection of the Town’s natural resources. This Open Space Plan would ne one part of Woodbury’s growth management strategy and would work in conjunction with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. Although not in the same league as the Town of Monroe when it comes to growth rate, Woodbury’s population has increased 50 percent faster than Orange County as a whole between 1980 and 2003. The construction of Woodbury’s many large commercial outlets has had an even greater impact on overall development. There are several projects, some controversial, before the town now. Open space provides for clean air and water, the protection of wildlife, flood control, the preservation of scenic vistas and recreation. The plan identifies several major open-space parcels, both public and private, located in part or in whole within the Town of Woodbury. Among these parcels are Palisades Interstate Park, West Point Military Reservation, Columbia University’s Arden House Conference Center, Black Rock Forest and the vicinity around Peckmans Pond. The plan also delineates the many public parks and trails used for both active and passive recreation. Woodbury is rich in historic and cultural resources, and the plan lists these also. Included are the Woodward House in Central Valley and the Hazard-Earle Smith House in Highland Mills. In addition to the outright purchase of land, the plan’s open space protection strategies include both conservation easements and regulations. A conservation easement involves the town purchasing development rights from a landowner, a landowner donating development rights to the town or a combination of both. Regulations mentioned in the plan include conservation zoning, cluster development, incentive zoning and the transfer of development rights. The adoption of the Open Space Plan will better enable the Town of Woodbury to attract funding from sources other than the town itself. These include federal, state, county and private funds. The Town of Warwick has an Open Space Plan, part of which is the town’s purchase of development rights (PDR) from landowners. The landowners continue to own the property (mostly active farms), but cannot build structures on the property. Between 1997 and 2005, 1,160 acres have been preserved through PDR at a cost of $7,960,000 paid to landowners from town, county, state, federal and private funds. Town officials estimate another 1,000 acres will be preserved in the next year using similar funding methods. The Open Space Plan is available at the Woodbury Town Hall at 511 Route 32 in Highland Mills. Written comments on the plan will be received through Wednesday, Feb. 15, by Woodbury Town Clerk Desiree Potvin at the Town Hall or may be mailed to P.O. Box 1004, Highland Mills, N.Y. 10930. Call 845-928-6829 ext. 7 with any questions concerning the Open Space Plan.