Open Space Preservation and Biological Sequestration

• Author: John R. Nolon
• Pages: 175-215

175

Chapter 5:

Open Space Preservation and

Biological Sequestration

I. Land Use Strategies That Preserve Open Space

A. Righting the Loss of Open Space

is chapter explains how local land use law has adva nced to protect open

space and how local open space law can be used to promote biological seques-

tration and m itigate climate change.1 In t he early years of t he 21st century,

the preser vation of open space captured the public’s imagination. e loss

of balance between conservation and development was abundantly apparent

and the need for eective action acute. Taxpayers lined up to vote in favor

of referenda authorizing their local or state governments to borrow f unds to

purchase open land or its development rights. Environmental groups formed

coalitions to support public and land trust acquisition of open space and the

adoption of laws regu lating development in a nd around open la nds. Oppo-

nents of urban sprawl targeted the loss of open space as both one of the major

adverse impacts of runaway development and reasons to control it. Today, the

loss of open space is associated with the general degradation of the quality of

community life in rural, suburban, a nd urban communities. ere a re early

and encouraging signs that open space preservation techniques will become

one of tomorrow’s strategies to mitigate climate change by promoting bio-

logical sequestration.

B. Open Space and Its Functions

“Open space” is not easily dened. It includes parks, ball elds, pastures and

meadows, scenic vist as, and fragile environmental areas, such as wet lands,

ridgelines, and habitats. Some open lands—farms or sheries, for example—

are working spaces. Others are critical to the community’s environment,

while still others are simply undeveloped. One town denes open space legis-

latively as “land lef t in its natural st ate for conservation purposes or devoted

to recreation or used for the preservation of distinctive, architectural, his-

176 Standing Ground

toric, geologic and botanical sites, not including streets, yards, parking space

or any land devoted or accessory to any permitted u se.”2

Open space has many denitions because it serves many functions. ese

range from providing recreation to protecting aesthetics or biodiversity.

Local programs that protect open space are similarly broad in scope. ey

include the condemnation of private land for park purposes, the purchase of

development rights on private property lying in critical environmental areas,

the prevention of building on side yards under zoning ordinances, cluster-

ing development on a portion of a large pa rcel, protecting steep slopes and

stream banks under subdivision regulations, or requiring special permits to

build near wetla nds or water bodies. E xisting loca l environmental laws pur-

sue an impressive array of objectives including the preservation of any num-

ber of community and regional a ssets such as green space, agricultura l land,

watersheds, habitats, biodiversity, sensitive environmental resources, riparian

lands, surface water bodies, wetlands, and ecosystem services, to name a few.

C. The Primacy of Local Power

As explained in ea rlier chapters, the role of local governments, their legisla-

tures, and administrative bodies is paramount in the movement to protect

environmental resources, including open space. As those chapters point out,

local governments in most states have been delegated primary responsibility

for determining how private land is developed and conserved. It is the legis-

lative and regulatory actions of municipalities that dictate how much of the

land is covered with impervious surfaces, how many miles of roads are built,

how many septic systems, sewer plants, and water s ystems are created, and

where buildings and improvements are located. ese decisions greatly aect

open space resources such as watersheds, water ways, and other biological

resources in areas t hat are rich in natura l resources, as well a s in areas where

remaining environmental assets are scarce.

Chapter 3 demonstrates how localities have learned to use their traditional

land use techniques—comprehensive plans, zoning, and land development

regulations—to protect environmental functions at the local level. Chapter

4 illustrates how communities have innovated to adopt resource specic laws

to protect wetlands, habitats, oodplains, ridgelines, scenic resources, and

other environmental assets. Local land use regulations of these types in addi-

tion to strategically designed land acquisition programs a nd comprehensive

smart growth strategies can protect critical landscapes a nd valued natural

resources. ese initiatives can counter the environmental degradation—

Open Space Preservation and Biological Sequestration 177

polluted runo, erosion a nd sedimentation, habitat removal, the disappear-

ance of wetlands—that comes from the improper location of buildings and

other improvements, from poorly managed site clearance a nd management,

and from environmentally insensitive construction practices. With these laws

in place, when requests for local approval of development projects are made,

local boards have the power to properly protect environmental resources

from the projects’ negative impacts.

D. Local Strategies

is chapter looks more closely at some of these techniques a nd adds others

that discretely protect open space. ese include techniques such as com-

prehensive planning, zoning, site planning, conservation subdivisions, tim-

ber-harvesting ordinances, transfer of development rights, density bonuses,

browneld redevelopment, a nd intermunicipal cooperation. Many of these

land use strategies are discussed in Chapters 3 a nd 4. ey are revisited here

to provide a complete understanding of the potential of open space protec-

tion at the local level and to illustrate how it can be brought to a larger scale.

e chapter also covers the proper arrangement of development on mul-

tiple parcels. is is part of a la rger strategy for designing a sustainable

blueprint at the community level. e designation of a reas for recreation,

conservation, and environmental protection is a critical component of smart

growth and sustainable development. Localities have learned to identify areas

appropriate for development by beginning with a scientic inventory of exist-

ing open lands and putting those lands in priority order for protection. By

identifying critical environmental areas a nd protecting them by regulations

and acquisition programs, communities can better dene where to locate the

development needed to accommodate population increases.

e sustainable development movement teaches that development and

conservation are mutually supportive. Proper land conservation increases

the quality of life, protects needed natura l resources, stabilizes property va l-

ues, and provides recreational and tourism benets. Development in priority

growth areas, for its part, takes development pressures away from critical

environmental areas, provides ta x resources for municipal ser vices, and can

provide  nancial resources for land conservation. Two examples illustrate

this point. First, under a transfer of development rights program, develop-

ment rights on critical environmental lands can be transferred to a receiv-

ing area where the community can support higher density development.

Because law in the receiving area a llows development at higher densities,