Open Space Commission - Minutes 06/05/01

1. Send your "Vision of Open Space in Charlestown" to suestaas@aol.com (Sue Staas)
2. Send a list of your short term goals and long term goals for the Commission to Sue - including action steps and suggested timeline for achieving those goals
3. Send Sue a list of resources - ie people (names, phone, email), organizations, websites, publications, that will be useful to us as we do our work.
   

1. To assist the Supervisors by recommendations, in decisions regarding open space planning and acquisition;
2. To actively educate the residents and property owners of Charlestown to the benefits of open space preservation;
3. To identify and provide assistance to landowners in the Township who wish to pursue conservation objectives in their long and short term plans;
4. To establish an inventory of properties which are available for open space preservation through the purchase of development rights, donation, outright purchase or other means;
5. To identify, review, evaluate and rate the relative desirability of properties and property interests for potential acquisition by the Township; to establish the price the Township will pay for particular parcels and property interests; and submit recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for its consideration to acquire such interests in the identified real properties.
6. To serve as liaison with conservation and historic preservation organizations and promote the services they offer, such as the French and Pickering Trust, Natural Lands Trust, Brandywine Conservancy and others;
7. To work with the Parks and Recreation Department to better manage and improve existing open space areas and trails.
   

• John explained the origins, organization, goals, methods and achievements of East Bradford's Open Space Commission.
• He began with some interesting statistics: Farm & Open Space saves taxpayers money: Residential use costs 1.12 times tax revenue; farm and open space costs .04 times tax revenue. In our area we get about 45" of rain each year. In an open space meadow, 15" of that rain is directly recharged into ground water, 10" is lost to runoff, the rest "transpires" (evaporates? Used by vegetation and trees?).
• East Bradford's Commission was founded in 10/98 and was funded initially by a 1/8 of 1% earned income tax which passed an open referendum with a 78% majority. The Board of Supervisors held two public hearings prior to the referendum. In 2000, a referendum to increase the earned income tax to 1/4 of 1% passed with a 68% majority.
• The Goal of EB's OS Commission is to select space in the township to keep open, and to leverage township money through through grants and fund-matching programs to acquire easements (essentially purchase development rights) on the selected properties. The township avoids outright purchase of land on the premise that it is expensive to buy and to maintain.
  
• The Commission's focus is on the preservation of the Brandywine watershed, which is an essential source of drinking water in Chester County and Northern Delaware. To Mr. Johnson, "open space is land that preserves and promotes ground water recharge."
• Funding sources include: Outright grants, County Farm Preservation funds, Growing Greener Program, Heritage Program, Parks & Recreation Funds and others.
• Mr. Johnson reiterated that communication and developing trust with landowners is critically important. The predicate for conservation efforts is an owner who is willing to consider conservation and easements. The biggest challenge is getting landowners to realize that there are other ways to maximize their return on their land than to sell to a developer. In 2001, the Commission sent a with a booklet, Conservation Options: A Landowner's Guide, by the Land Trust Alliance of Washington DC letter to every landowner owning over 10 acres. Although they have received no response to date, Mr. Johnson is confident that with this book as a resource, some landowners will eventually respond. The OS Commission will continue to stay in touch - constant communication with landowners is critical. Kevin Kuhn made the observation that today, Charlestown's large landowners are besieged with overtures from developers.
• Preserving open space while maximizing benefit to landowners is a complex subject. To assist in the process, the East Bradford Commission hires expert advice such as Andy Johnson, of Conservation Advisors in Chadds Ford to advocate for and to work with the landowner. The role of a Conservation Advisor is to act in the best interest of the landowner to work out a conservation plan that maximizes benefit for landowners and for heirs.
• In summary, the East Bradford Commission feels it is essential that the landowner work with knowledgeable advisors who are hired and committed to working in the landowner's best interest. It is the policy of the Commission to pay for these advisors.
• The East Bradford Commission budgets money to pay for property appraisals; to hire advisers and lawyers to work for the landowner; to purchase easements; to buy development rights; to put up matching funds for grants. East Bradford Board of Supervisors approves Commissions recommendations and expenditures.
• The Commission works with conservancies such as the Natural Land Trust and Brandywine Conservancy to monitor the easements, once they are acquired. Conservancies are paid for their services by the Township or by endowments on the property that is eased.
• An aid to the process of acquiring open space for the township is Article IV of Municipalities Planning Code (MPC), which allows a township to put desirable property on the Official Township Map. According to the MPC, when a development proposal is submitted for a particular property designated on the Official Township Map, from that date the township has one year to buy the land a fair market value. According to the solicitor for East Bradford Twp (Ross Unruh), the township can also use the one year period to acquire an easement for
• deed restriction for fair market value, instead of purchasing the land outright. The year can be used to educate the landowner on alternate conservation-oriented development options. Kevin Kuhn observed that Charlestown Township is considering the use of an Official Township Map.
• At the conclusion of his very informative talk, John Johnson agreed to continue to be a resource to the committee. Kevin stated that the township will buy the Commission copies of the Land Trust Alliance Handbook. A copy of East Bradford's manual is also available.
  

• A method for determining where open space should be preserved is necessary and is the driving force behind creating the new comprehensive plan. Without a plan, the pressure for increased residential use will be irresistible.
• The Planning Commission looked at the township in terms of its natural attributes, land use, historical and cultural attributes, and infrastructure - primarily traffic and septic.
• They have looked at current open space disposition - land owned by township, land under easement, land owned by conservation organizations, private organizations such as PRD's, and by individuals. Looked at trails in the township such as old horse trails, hedgerows, woodlands, power lines, and official trails such as PRD's, the Horseshoe Trail, etc. Ed showed map of open space in township as it exists today.
• Bob Jones requested maps with overlays to show various dispositions under comprehensive plan, number the large properties to have a key of who owns what, include overlay of streams & trails. After some discussion it was concluded that Ed will provide 11" x 17" maps of current use, open space, which includes streets, streams, trails, and will indicate properties of 25 acres or more for which there are no known plans, easements, etc. These maps will be mailed to Commission Members before the next meeting.
• The Commission members commented on a possible focus for conserving open space to be trails and watersheds in the township. In his talk, John Johnson noted that the Brandywine Conservancy is developing a computer program that will recommend where open space areas should be in a given township.