Open Space Advisory Committee (OSAC)

SARATOGA SPRINGS OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES MAY 29, 2019 5:00 P.M. SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS PRESENT: Tom Denny, Tim Holmes, Maureen Roberts, Zuzia Kwasniewski. ABSENT: David Miller CITY STAFF: Tina Carton, Parks, Open Lands, Historic Preservation/Sustainability Coordinator; and Tony Izzo, Assistant City Attorney OTHERS PRESENT: Geoff Bornemann. RECORDING OF PROCEEDING: The minutes are not a verbatim record of the proceedings. CALL TO ORDER: Tom Denny called the meeting to order at 5:04 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENT-15 MINUTES No Public Comment ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS Discussion of the fact that we have recently lost two committee members and are actively recruiting to replace them. The mayor is looking at possible applicants. We currently have five on the committee. The OSAC elected Maureen Roberts as secretary. The backlog of minutes waiting for approval was discussed. The minutes of eight meetings, from 10/23/18 to 5/1/19, were approved as distributed. A review of the OSAC Projects and Priorities next took place. Foundational documents are the 2015 Comprehensive Plan, 2002 Open Space Plan, and the 2002 Bond Act. 1|Page  SARATOGA SPRINGS OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES MAY 29, 2019 5:00 P.M. SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS There are several parallel efforts to our own, including the Recreation Master Plan, which is still a work in progress and awaits final City Council approval. In addition, the UDO (Unified Development Ordinance) recently presented a technical report and we reviewed sections that were relevant to our work in preserving open space. Tina Carton made it clear that as a committee, we are not tasked with giving recommendations to the UDO consulting team, but we are free to comment as individuals, with the deadline to do so being 6/5/19. A discussion of OSAC initiatives next took place. The group felt that accurate mapping and inventory of conservation easements was going to be crucial in the future, especially if these will be included in the final NRI report this fall. Saratoga Plan monitors their easements on a yearly basis. We discussed that having a template and policy that everyone can use in the future, including developers and city and land use boards will be important. A policy with regards to enforcement will be key as well. A discussion of funding took place next. We currently have about $200,000 in the bond funding that is available for land acquisition. Due to the upcoming election in 2019, we will not be able to ask for a bond referendum until 2020. We will need to revise criteria for purchasing open space; this should be done in 2019 and will need City Council approval. We reviewed two recent advisory letters written by Tom Denny at the request of the Planning Office and Mr. Mark Torpey, Chair of the City Planning Board. The Planning Board had asked for the OSAC input on two conservation subdivisions: one at 277 Kaydeross Ave East and 138- 148 Old Schuylerville Rd. The letters were based on site visits by OSAC members, accompanied by City staff. Specifically the PB wanted the OSAC assessment of priority natural assets on each property that would be most valuable for conservation, as well as OSAC opinion on the best location for structures and easement boundaries to maximize the benefits from the conservation easement. We discussed that our role is advisory only, but think that perhaps we should develop formal criteria to give our input. It was reported that both the Planning Board and the applicants found the OSAC input to be useful and constructive to the site plan development process. We discussed the fact that we have funding to revise the 2002 Open Space Plan, but we will have to create an RFP for a consultant; we should attempt to move this process along in 2019. 2|Page  SARATOGA SPRINGS OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES MAY 29, 2019 5:00 P.M. SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS A discussion of pocket parks took place with several locations around the city discussed. There is a 10 % parkland provision in the current zoning regulations. We need to get clarification on this, as it may be an underutilized tool. Developers can leave 10% of a new development as park space in lieu of paying recreation fees. Several sections of the April 2019 UDO report were discussed relating to natural resource protection, watercourse and wellhead protection, floodplain districts, and overlay districts. It is clear that the NRI report will inform the UDO work, so we need to review the NRI and make sure the document is as strong as possible so that is it a useful tool for the city. We discussed progress on the Natural Resource Inventory. A discussion of the section on scenic resources ensued. In the current draft outline, this would be limited to a review of steps taken thus far and a general summary of issues. Tom proposed that we add a more concrete document, a revision of the Scenic Resources table we had worked on in fall 2018, and include that as an appendix to the NRI. The OSAC agreed with this approach. We talked about viewsheds and ridgelines as two important features. The discussion of ridgeline viewsheds turned to some specifics of the Kaydeross Ave East proposal and the committee decided that we should draft a follow-up letter to the Planning Board, presenting our evolving views on the importance of protecting forested ridgeline viewsheds as critical to the “rural character” of the Greenbelt. The group feels that a scoring system might be useful to numerically highlight what is truly important to a community. The Bethlehem model was discussed as a possible option. Tina just received and posted a new set of map revisions from Labella that we will review at our June meeting. We agreed that the Narrative Outline (Table of Contents) was taking shape as a solid plan for the NRI. LaBella will draft most of the NRI narrative, but several sections will be drafted by Tina Carton or by members of the OSAC. Tina will draft the introduction to the document. Tina and Zuzia will work together on the mineral spring section, which should include not only maps, but also narrative of the chemical composition of all the different springs and important historical facts. The Friends of the State Park have shared their recent lab analysis of the chemistry of the springs. Tom will draft the sections relating to tree canopy and heritage trees in Saratoga Springs. This will include narrative discussing the percentage of the city covered in the tree canopy (as well as 3|Page  SARATOGA SPRINGS OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES MAY 29, 2019 5:00 P.M. SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS percentage of permeable and impermeable surfaces) and mapping and narrative about some of the most valuable heritage trees. There were no closing public comments. ADJOURN There being no further business, Tom Denny adjourned the meeting at 6:425 p.m. (Holmes, Kwasniewski). NEXT MEETING: JUNE 26, 2019 5PM, RECREATION CENTER / CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 4|Page