NEW SCOTLAND — Later this month, the town of New Scotland will present to the public its new Open Space and Natural Resources Protection Plan.

The plan, which is already online and will be the subject of a Feb. 26 town hall meeting, “serves as a strategic guide to safeguard the Town’s open spaces and natural resources while balancing environmental protection with sustainable growth.”

The plan builds on New Scotland’s 2018 comprehensive plan and last year’s cataloging of natural resources to set “forth a framework of policies, programs, and recommendations that promote conservation, climate resiliency, responsible land use planning.”

The plan identifies several threats to open spaces and natural resources in New Scotland and offers ideas for how to deal with them.

How development harms resources

The plan identifies residential, commercial, and industrial development as a significant threat to open spaces and natural resources. The plan states that these types of development are a primary driver of habitat loss, environmental degradation, and alter the town’s rural character.

It goes on to detail several specific impacts related to development:

— Habitat loss and fragmentation

The conversion of natural areas into residential, commercial, or industrial sites leads to the direct destruction of habitats, the plan states. This fragmentation isolates wildlife populations, reducing their ability to move between habitats. Development also reduces core habitat and increases edge effects, which makes remaining habitats less resilient;

— Increased impervious surfaces

Development introduces more paved surfaces, like roads and parking lots. These impervious surfaces alter the natural water cycle by preventing rainwater from soaking into the ground, which reduces groundwater recharge, increases surface runoff, and contributes to flooding and water pollution; 

— Sprawl development patterns

Unplanned extensions of infrastructure, like water and sewer lines, promote sprawl, which further fragments habitats and diminishes ecosystem functioning;

— Loss of farmland and meadow habitats

Development on former farms results in the loss of valuable agricultural land and open meadow habitats, the plan states, the loss of these habitats can impact species that rely on open areas;

— Increased traffic and pollution

Development contributes to increased traffic congestion, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy consumption;

— Increased local taxes

Residential development, in particular, can lead to an increase in local taxes needed to support the associated infrastructure and services. In contrast, open space lands require few, if any, public services;

— Threats to groundwater

Residential and commercial land uses can threaten groundwater resources through overexploitation of local aquifers, the plan claims. Leaking underground storage tanks, poorly designed septic systems, use of chemicals, landfills, and deicing salts can also negatively affect groundwater quality. High-density development that relies on wells can further strain groundwater resources;

— Fragmentation of forests

Clearing forests for development, agriculture, or other uses fragments large forested areas, which reduces core habitats. And fragmented forests are less resilient and more vulnerable to invasive species, disease, and climate change; and

— Barriers to wildlife movement

Development, including roads, driveways, stream crossings, water diversions, dams, transmission lines, and solar facilities, can create barriers that impede fish and wildlife movement or migration.

Strategies to curb harm

To address these concerns, the plan recommends a number of strategies including:

— Creation of overlay districts

The plan proposes three overlay districts: a Natural Resource Protection Overlay District, a Scenic View Overlay District, and an Agricultural Overlay District.

The Natural Resource Protection Overlay District would safeguard environmentally sensitive areas and critical natural resources. It would establish additional standards for development, including decreased density, maximum impervious surface limits, setbacks, and buffers, limited clearing requirements, and stormwater and water quality protections. It would also promote wildlife and habitat preservation, require careful road and infrastructure design, and offer incentives for conservation-friendly development.

The Scenic View Overlay District would preserve and enhance the aesthetic qualities of areas, in particular around the Helderberg Escarpment. Regulations in this district could/would include design standards, view protection, vegetation requirements, height limits, prohibition of incompatible uses, lighting controls, and careful infrastructure design.

The Agricultural Overlay District would protect agricultural lands and encourage farming activities. Regulations could include limiting non-agricultural uses, encouraging farming activities and accessory uses, reducing residential density, clustering housing, establishing setbacks and buffers, limiting building sizes, restricting tree clearing, restricting infrastructure expansion, and permitting agritourism and farm-related businesses;

— Creation of conservation subdivisions

The plan recommends updating New Scotland’s subdivision law to incorporate conservation subdivisions, which preserve significant portions of a development site as open space, protect natural features, minimize stormwater runoff, and provide wildlife a habitat; 

— Smart Growth principles

The plan also incorporates smart growth principles by recommending that development be concentrated in and around hamlets and where infrastructure currently exists, to avoid creating new roads, further fragmenting habitats, and diminishing ecosystem functioning. The plan promotes clustered development to maintain larger habitat blocks.

— Density controls

Instead of one-acre minimum lot sizes, the plan recommends controlling development by establishing housing density, measured by the number of dwelling units allowed per acre;

— Removal of intense uses from the Residential Agricultural District

The plan recommends removing intense uses, like a hotel, from the Residential Agricultural District and focusing them in hamlet areas, which have existing water and sewer infrastructure;

— Low impact development standards

The plan promotes incorporating low impact development stormwater standards — which according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, “refers to systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes that result in the infiltration, evapotranspiration or use of stormwater in order to protect water quality and associated aquatic habitat”  — for large residential and commercial developments; and

— Transfer of development rights:

The plan suggests considering the use of transfer-of-development-rights zoning to protect open spaces while allowing landowners to maintain financial compensation.

Abandonment of farm fields

The plan identifies the abandonment or conversion of farm fields as a significant threat to open spaces and natural resources. 

Threats identified by the plan include:

— Natural succession

This ecological process leads to the transition of abandoned agricultural fields into shrublands and eventually forests. This change results in the loss of open meadow habitats that are important for certain wildlife species;

— Loss of meadow habitats

These habitats are important for maintaining biodiversity and supporting a range of ecological functions, and the shift from open fields to shrublands and forests reduces the availability of the meadow habitats that are critical for a variety of species including butterflies, bees, breeding birds, and foxes, among others; 

— Overgrowth and invasive species

Without active management, abandoned meadows can become overgrown with invasive plant species or woody vegetation. This overgrowth reduces plant diversity and alters the habitat structure, making it less suitable for native species; 

— Impact on scenic beauty

The plan claims that converting open farm fields to shrublands and forests can affect the scenic beauty of the landscape, which contributes to the rural character of New Scotland; the loss of these open spaces can detract from the area’s aesthetic appeal. 

The plan suggests several strategies to address abandonment and conversion of farmland, including:

— Maintaining and enhancing meadow habitats

The plan emphasizes the importance of maintaining and enhancing meadow habitats and agricultural lands as they provide open areas for wildlife and serve as stepping stones for animal movement;

— Agricultural Overlay District

This overlay includes zoning tools like: limiting non-agricultural uses; permitting and encouraging farming operations, including crop production, livestock raising, and specialty farming; allowing accessory uses that support agriculture, such as farm stands and agritourism; reducing residential density in the overlay district; establishing agricultural buffers and setbacks between agricultural and non-agricultural uses; limiting building sizes and tree clearing to protect farmland; and restricting the expansion of public utilities to discourage urban sprawl in these areas; and

— Incentives for preservation

The plan recommends evaluating and implementing incentives for the preservation of open spaces and natural resources, including: conservation easements with tax benefits, transfer of development rights, density bonuses, and reduced property taxes for landowners who keep their land in farming;

Pollution

The plan names pollution as a significant threat to the town's open spaces and natural resources, identifying the sources and their impact. 

Sources of pollution:

— Runoff

Rain runoff from roads, parking lots, and other developed areas is a primary source of pollution in town, carrying pollutants like pesticides, herbicides, and heavy metals from lawns and gardens into habitats and waterways. The plan also notes separately that agricultural runoff from chemicals can also contribute to pollution; 

— Septic systems

Poorly designed or maintained septic systems can leak contaminants into the soil and groundwater; and 

— Deicing salts

The use of deicing road salts can also negatively affect groundwater; 

The impact of pollution includes:

— Degradation of water quality

Pollutants from runoff, septic systems, and other sources can degrade water quality, making it unsafe for human consumption and harmful to aquatic life;

— Soil contamination

Pollution can contaminate soils, affecting their health and productivity, harming plant and animal communities dependent on them; and

— Impacts on plant and animal communities

Pollution can disrupt the balance of ecosystems, harm plant growth, and negatively impact animal health and survival.

To address the challenges, the plan proposes strategies such as:

— Low-impact development standards

The plan recommends incorporating stormwater standards and practices like rain gardens, permeable pavement, and bioswales for large residential and commercial developments;

— Stormwater management

The recommendation is made for mandating on-site retention and infiltration of stormwater to mimic natural hydrology and prevent pollutants from entering waterways; 

— Stream buffers

The plan recommends extending to all locations in the town the existing 75-foot stream buffer requirement, establishing a no-build, no-disturbance buffer on each side of all streams and their associated wetlands;

— Groundwater protection

It’s recommended that New Scotland conduct a town-wide groundwater study to identify critical groundwater sources and inform zoning decisions to minimize contamination. The plan calls for careful development around groundwater recharge areas and sensitive karst locations through the use of setbacks, buffers, and limitations on high water users and uses with high pollution risks; and 

— Pollution reduction practices

The plan promotes conservation practices such as the use of water-efficient appliances, rainwater harvesting for irrigation, and the use of cover crops to filter pollutants.