Open Space Commission - Minutes 02/20/02

1. What are the pluses and minuses of a regional land trust?
• Local Land Trust's advantage is its localness. Its most important task is to build trust among landowners and township citizens.
• Local Land Trust can educate, raise money, take easements, negotiate deals, and buy land outright.
• Education is most important task. Talk to landowners about alternatives to development and the advantages of "conservation development." Jake feels strongly that eased land is much more valuable than developed land. A house built adjacent to eased land gains value from the predictability of the fate of the eased land.
• Education/PR: East Vincent sends out newsletters that target both landowners and those who do not own large tracts of land.. Residents (and taxpayers!) are interested in keeping the benefits of large tracts of open land.
• East Vincent hosted a Cocktail party for large landowners to talk about alternatives. Held it at an eased property & the property owner talked about why he did it; and talked about his experience with the process.
• It is important to talk to people individually to be available; but it is important not to come on too strong. Here too, the advantage of having a local land trust is great.
• The very best use of Land Trust money is to use it for appraising land and developing a yield plan - essentially building a factual foundation of information about the property on which various scenarios of easements, conservation development, etc., can be explored.
• Jake emphasized repeatedly that every project is unique. Usually families, with all their varying needs and complexities are involved. Easements take a long time. Hard on the family, sometimes. Getting family members to agree is difficult! Often there are strong emotions involved.
  
2. Why create our own instead of using existing land trusts such as NLT, etc.?
• The fact that the land trust is a local entity, run by local residents is a real advantage. Building trust with landowners is critical! However, Jake would prefer to partner with existing land trusts such as NLT to monitor the easements, once they are in place.
  
3. Where do you get money? What are good sources of money?
• East Vincent gets money from the township, from state and county grants. Jake emphasized that often neighbors are a good source! Several will work together to buy land or easements to protect their own land.
• What is necessary is a director - someone who will take ownership, do the work, lead the charge, write the grants. Usually this person must be paid.
  
4. Can you use private money to hold land?
• We need more expert information on this. Jake recommended Bonnie Van Allen of the Willistown land trust - and we will schedule her for the April meeting. However, the short answer is yes. Because a land trust by definition is a not for profit (501C4) corporation, the trust cannot make money on land. However, some land trusts develop a related company that will buy land, ease it and resell it. East Vincent is essentially working on such a project right now.
  
5. How do you make money? Do you make money?
• A land trust is a not for profit (see above), so cannot make money. East Vincent is supported by the township, grants, and donations - - of both time and money.
  
6. Based on what you know now, what would you do differently?
• Jake is not sure how dependent for its longevity the trust is on the Township. A Land Trust must endure - it can't be subject to whims of local government.
• Jake thinks that best use of local land trust is to educate, sell, create projects. He thinks it is a good idea to partner with a bigger land trust to handle monitoring and enforcing the easements.
• East Vincent learned the importance of PR and education when it lost a referendum for a township tax increase to fund open space. The supervisors and Trust did not campaign for the issue; one landowner who was opposed did campaign against it; and the referendum failed
  
7. Important comments:
• Need one or two leaders to get the ball rolling. Pockets grow as neighbors come on board. On their township map, East Vincent painted already preserved properties green, then looked at developing corridors, expanding from existing cores, etc.
• Jake stressed that there must be a set of standards and practices to guide the Trust to select land to preserve. People get a charitable deduction for donating land value difference to trust for easement - therefore trust must be legitimate..
• Ideally would like people to donate their land in full to be preserved; but not too many will do that.
  
8. Discussion:
• How do we present case for increasing taxes to support open space? Cite the hidden costs of development, and emphasize that open space saves $$ in the long run. We may need a brochure to explain the issue.
• We (Charlestown) need to explore how to link Township government, a local land trust, and a corporation to buy property.
• - Limited partners provide the funding because they are neighbors, or believe in conserving the property. The corporation buys the property - then makes a conservation plan for the property, then sells the property. If there is a profit, it stays in the corporation to help fund next purchase, or can be donated to the Trust, which as a 501C4 corporation cannot make profits.
• Jake recommended the Land Trust Alliance (www.lta.org) for information - and he recommended Zoe Perkins, East Vincent Supervisor and an active contributor to the East Vincent Trust as a good person to answer further questions.
  

1. Approve January and February meeting minutes.
   
2. Review and discuss the marketing plan. The draft version will be sent to Open Space Commission members before our next meeting. Please review and come prepared to discuss.
   
3. Discuss definition of Open Space. (See definition we discussed at January meeting below.) Bob Jones will make some edits. The Linking Landscapes Plan from Chester County has good words on this subject in Chapter 1, Part 2. Please review and come prepared to discuss.
   Definition of Open Space in Charlestown:
   

   Open space consists of those elements in the landscape that lend Charlestown its distinct rural and as yet unspoiled character. These include farms and forest, stream valleys and ridgelines, vistas and hollows. Historic farms, villages, and ways shaped the land and gave rise to the open space qualities that are so cherished today. Low density rural settlement patterns accommodate Charlestown's population without upsetting the fragile ecological balance in the Pickering, French, and Valley Creek watersheds.
   

4. Sue will compile a list of grant sources with timelines, contacts, etc.
   
5. Andy will invite Bonnie Van Allen to address our March meeting.