Date: Fri 26-Jun-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

conservation-open-space

Full Text:

Conservation Panel Joins Open Space Project

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Newtown's Conservation Commission has begun a project to acquire land deemed

worthy of designation as open space for passive forms of recreation, such as

nature study and hiking.

Under the terms of the program, the state would pay half the costs of

acquiring open-space land, with the town covering the other half, explained C.

Stephen Driver, the town's conservation official.

Mr Driver, State Rep Julia Wasserman and other local officials attended a land

use conference in Litchfield June 24 at which the basics of the open-space

acquisition program were explained. Mrs Wasserman attended a Conservation

Commission meeting that night to explain the open-space protection program to

commission members.

Under the terms of the program created by the state legislature, the state

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) would pay half the fair market

value of a land parcel that the town deems worthy of open-space protection,

provided that the town indicates the local funding source for its share of the

price, among other requirements.

The program also would allow the town to buy easements that would prevent

development. The state has designated $10 million in funding for the program

for the 1998-99 fiscal year. The program is planned as a five-year project.

The protected land would be permanently preserved in its natural scenic and

open condition.

Basic criteria for the program would require that it be deemed valuable as:

land for recreation, forestry, fishing and the conservation of wildlife and

natural resources; a habitat for a native plant or animal species that are

listed as threatened, endangered or of special concern; a relatively

undisturbed example of an uncommon native ecological community; or enhancement

and conservation of water quality and preservation of local agricultural

heritage, among other criteria.

Mr Driver explained the state likely will give special consideration to

protecting land along the Housatonic River extending from Long Island Sound to

the Massachusetts border. Open space along the river is known as the

Housatonic Riverbelt Greenway. The locally proposed Pootatuck Greenway would

be a link in the Housatonic Riverbelt Greenway.

Conservation Commission members June 24 designated member Judith Holmes to

work with Mrs Wasserman and First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal in selecting

local properties worthy of acquisition under the terms of the open-space

program.

Any site that the committee of three would designate as worthy of protection

would need endorsements from the Conservation Commission, Planning and Zoning

Commission, and Board of Selectmen, Mr Driver said.

More detailed criteria on town participation in the state matching-grant

program is expected to be available in September, according to the

conservation official.

"We want to be ready" to participate in the open space program when state

matching grants become available, Mr Driver said.