Open Space Advisory Committee (OSAC)

Saratoga Springs Open Space Committee Meeting minutes December 22, 2021; 5 PM 2nd floor Conference Room and Zoom City Hall, 474 Broadway PRESENT: Tom Denny (Chair), Steve Samuell, Maureen Roberts, Ed Lindner, Jennifer Hunt Dempsey, and Dave Miller. CITY STAFF: Tina Carton, Admin. Of Parks, Open Lands, Historic Preservation/Sustainability. RECORDING OF PROCEEDINGS: The minutes are not a verbatim record of the proceedings. CALL TO ORDER: Mr. Tom Denny called the meeting to order at 5:04 PM. PUBLIC COMMENT: No public comment. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The meeting minutes from the 11/17/21 meeting were not provided or discussed. DISCUSSION OF OPEN SPACE PLAN: The committee reviewed and discussed the Open Space Vision and Priorities Map recently provided to us by the consultants, MJ Engineering. The map clearly shows areas that publicly accessible assets that are owned by different entities (i.e. NYRA, Saratoga Springs School District, etc.) but that lack permanent protection. Less visible on the map are more immediate opportunities for future acquisition or conservation. Tina also noted that the agricultural heritage areas mapped out need some adjustment as they do not totally coincide with the agricultural districts outlined on Saratoga County maps. MJ recommended that the parcels lacking permanent protection should be moved out of the main map of priority conservation opportunities and handled in a separate map with accompanying narrative. For comparison’s sake, we reviewed a map from the open space plan of Portsmouth, NH. Parcels valued as strong opportunities for conservation are clearly marked with letters that correspond to letters in an accompanying table. The table highlights \the reasons for these areas to be high priority (e.g. connectivity, recreational, etc.) and also gives descriptions of the properties, and information about ownership status, opportunities for improvement, and ranking criteria. Mr. Tom Denny then shared a map and table for Saratoga Springs, modelled on the Portsmouth approach. Areas that had been identified through the months of conservation values mapping were labelled with letters. These letters match a table that explains the rationale for these parcels in more detail. Next a lengthy discussion ensued about the pros and cons for “parcel-specific data” on the priorities map. The other option for mapping would be using a “blob map”, which has broader circles around potential conservation areas, but is much less specific about individual parcels. It was noted that, if Saratoga Springs adopts a Community Preservation Fund in the future, many of the other towns using these have been required to produce parcel-specific Community Preservation Project Plans. Ms Tina Carton showed a map in which blobs were used instead of parcel-specific precision.There was a discussion about identifying parcels for future conservation, and wondering how land owners would react. Hopefully land owners will embrace the concept of land preservation. It should be clarified in our Open Space Plan that these lands would NOT be acquired by eminent domain, but would instead require a “willing landowner.” It was mentioned that our recent open space survey had respondents outline several areas in the city for conservation, and many responses indeed were “parcel specific.” COMMUNITY PRESERVATION FUND ORDINANCE/LAW: The Committee then continued the discussion begun at the November meeting of a draft Community Preservation Fund ordinance. Mr. Ed Lindner had produced a revised draft. He looked at many towns in NY State that had community preservation funds. These funds involve monies acquired from a real estate transfer tax that can range from 0.25% up to a maximum of 2 % of the purchase price of the property. This is paid by the buyer. It was felt that the potential revenue for Saratoga Springs could be substantial, based on data from what other communities have raised from this tax and the sales from real estate in Saratoga Springs from 2020. It was discussed that establishing such a fund is mainly a political issue now, and will require informal presentation to the incoming Saratoga Springs City Council. A referendum would be required for a new real estate transfer tax to be adopted. Authorizing legislation would need to be passed by both the City Council AND the state legislature. EXECUTIVE SESSION: The committee then went into executive session to confidentially discuss an individual parcel in Saratoga Springs, and the potential future usage of this land. In January 2022, the Open Space Steering Committee will be meeting with MJ, the consultants. Tina suggested that the most productive way to move forward would be for those of us involved in developing the Open Space Plan (the OSAC, the Steering Committee, Tina) to finalize the list of priority conservation opportunities and to ask MJ to use this to create the final map. Then we can have the discussion of how best to incorporate this information into the eventual finished Open Space Plan for the city. PUBLIC COMMENT: None. The meeting was adjourned at 6:14 PM. NEXT MEETING: January 26, 2022 @ 5 PM