Town of East Fishkill

Open Space Preservation Committee

Public Workshop

January 11, 2010

7:00 pm

AGENDA

1. Introductions
   1. John Hickman, Town Supervisor
2. Background: East Fishkill Open Space Preservation Committee
   1. Malcolm Mills, Committee Member
3. Open Space Presentation:
   1. John Feingold, Senior Vice President, AKRF, Inc.
   2. Michelle Robbins, Town Planner, AKRF, Inc.
4. What and Why?
5. Inventory Process & Maps
6. Open Space Survey
7. 5. Hands-on Workshop: Identify Important Open Space Resources
8. 6. Wrap-up & Next Steps
   1. John Hickman, Town Supervisor

Communities pay a high price for unplanned growth that can lead to:

• Traffic congestion
• Air pollution
• Water pollution
• Loss of open space
• Demand for costly public services

Relationships among residential and commercial growth, agricultural land use, conservation are critical in understanding a town’s “bottom line”.

Cost of Providing Services to Communities

Three assumptions are frequently made in situations where rural or suburban communities face the possibility of expansion due to population growth.

• Open Lands, including working farms and forests, are an interim use of the land that should be developed to its maximum potential (“best” use).
• Agricultural lands get unfair tax breaks when assessed at its current use value for farming as opposed to its potential value for residential or commercial development.
• Residential development will lower property taxes by increasing the tax base

While it is undeniably true that an acre of land with new houses generate more gross revenue than an acre of pasture it does not provide the full picture of the financial impact of the development on the community’s fiscal health.

Since the mid 1980s Cost of Community Services studies (COCS) show agricultural and open spaces generate more “Net” public revenue than their developed counterparts due to the lower cost necessary to support these categories of land use.

The chart below represents the findings of the Farmland Information Center (August 2004) relating to the median cost, per dollar of revenue raised to revenue required to provide services to different land uses. This study shows that commercial, industrial, working and open space land cost communities substantially less to support than residentially used land.

Median COCS Results

C&I = Commercial and Industrial land use

W&OS = Working and Open Space land use

Res = Residential land use

COCS studies have been done in Dutchess County New York addressing the issue of revenue to expenditure ratios in US Dollars. Here is information representing the findings of the study conducted by the American Farmland Information Center. This study once again points to the concept that residential development is the most costly form of development for a community to support.

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN FOR OUR COMMUNITY?

As communities approach critical junctures in planning that include the preservation of open spaces, Cost of Community Services Studies may provide an inexpensive methodology to evaluate the relationship of working and open lands and their contribution to the community’s quality of life. Fiscal impact studies generally show that residential development is a net financial loss for communities.

Community expansion and development should look to balance residential, commercial, and industrial development as well as implement strategies to promote open space preservation to balance local budgets and promote the fiscal health of the community.

What can be done?

• Conduct fiscal analysis – COCS
• Find out what is left – open space evaluation
• Encourage open space protection by developing open space preservation initiatives
• Make efforts known to the community and landowners
• Initiate educational programs for landowners – cooperative extension, land conservancy, etc.
• Identify landowners who need help now
• Initiate voluntary land protection programs
• Identify significant and consistent funding sources

References:
Cost of Community Services Studies, Farmland Information Center, August 2004

Auger, Philip A., Does Open Space Pay, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, 1996

The Town of East Fishkill is in the process of preparing an Open Space Preservation Plan and needs your support! Please tell the East Fishkill Open Space Committee what you think about open space and environmental issues in the Town.

The Open Space Preservation Plan will address various quality of life issues related to open space preservation including scenic views, water quality, farmland protection, wetlands, and the Town’s overall quality of life.

CSA’s are catching on big in the Hudson Valley. There are five Community Supported Agriculture farms already in Dutchess County and five in Ulster County. As of 2007 there were almost 2000 CSA’s across our country. There are two farms in the Town of East Fishkill considering establishing similar operations to provide members weekly freshly picked chemical free produce from late spring on into the fall.

CSA farms are run in a variety of ways, generally with members paying for a “share” and then going to the farm once a week to pick up their share of freshly picked produce. Some CSA’s offer “working shares” whereby the member gets a reduced member fee in exchange for a certain amount of work hours on the farm. Members are generally encouraged to visit the farm and get to know the farmer. Most CSA’s provide a vast variety of vegetables varying as the season moves along. Some also offer flowers, berries, fruits, and eggs if these items are a part of their production.