Open Space Committee discusses enhancements, new strategies

By JEFF MORRIS

The Bedford Open Space Acquisition Committee on Monday, Oct. 6, previewed a video describing the work it does. 

It was put together by interns this summer under the direction of committee member Griffin Creech. About two minutes long, the video includes portions of interviews with residents in different areas of town. OSAC plans to edit and update the video and present it to the Town Board for approval before posting to the committee’s page on the town website. It will then look at possible additional uses for the video.

The video’s essence is summed up in the opening line: “Here in Bedford, New York, preserving open space isn’t just something we do. It’s who we are.” It goes on to summarize OSAC’s mission, and draws in comments from residents about the positive impact the committee’s initiatives have had on their lives.

Chair John Needham said he thought the video could be part of “a larger refresh” to the open space committee page on the town website, and committee members discussed other possible enhancements, including the use of interactive maps. 

What is OSAC?

OSAC is an advisory board whose stated mission is to “preserve open spaces that achieve the environmental, recreational, aesthetic, and historic priorities identified by the town.” It identifies and recommends to the Town Board key parcels of land to preserve as open space. It was created under a local law in 2000, amended in 2012 and 2017, providing for the raising of funds for the purpose of acquiring property, interest or rights in real property, for the preservation of open spaces and for maintenance and improvements of preserved property. The town levies an annual amount equal to 2% of the general fund and highway fund tax levies, which goes into the Open Space Fund.

Using easements

Use of that fund was a major topic for discussion, initiated by Needham, who urged consideration of the possibility of using the Open Space Fund to support, not only the outright purchase of land parcels, but easements 

“Given the surge in the price of real estate in Bedford, which is up more than 60% since the pandemic,” said Needham, “and given the fact that our open space fund is limited to a cap amount — which is a relatively small amount of money compared to the average price of real estate in Bedford — the idea that we have been exploring is the concept of whether it might be possible to use some of the funds from the open space fund to support the efforts of local nonprofits, to drive forward on easements as opposed to acquisitions.” Needham said easements are a way to achieve permanent protection on properties that are entirely voluntary by the owners of those properties.

“Over the last 40 years, we’ve seen a very strong increase in the use of easements as a way to permanently protect land,” he said, adding that it has really eclipsed the form of acquisition that used to be the way to protect the land. 

“These easements have a lot of advantages for the town,” he said. “The properties that are protected using easements remain under the ownership of the property owner and responsibility for maintaining the property remains with the landowner.” 

He noted that the properties are not taken off of the tax rolls, and because they remain on the tax rolls, “there’s no loss of tax revenue due to the town when land is permanently protected through that method.” He said it also is an exponentially less expensive way to achieve permanent protection of property. So the question, he said, is whether or not it might be possible for the open space fund to contribute to the protection of land through easements. 

Is it legal?

Asked if there were any legal barriers to this form of open space protection, Needham said he didn’t see any, because the open space law permits the fund to be used to acquire properties or interests in properties. The actual text of the law, found in Chapter 85, Article 1, states the fund may be used “to acquire real property, and interests or rights in real property, and to improve and maintain the same for the preservation of open spaces and areas, for active and passive park and recreational uses and for surface and groundwater protection.”

“So as long as the town were to acquire an interest in the property, which could take the form of being a grantee of the easement, that would be considered acquiring an interest in the property,” Needham said. He suggested they find a test case to see where it could be done. He also pointed to the potential for public-private partnerships and grants, as was the case in acquiring the Muscoot Reservoir property earlier this year, as an example of how the town could magnify its investment beyond the relatively small amount in the open space fund.

The committee agreed to look for potential properties that could possibly be candidates for this approach, in order to further develop the concept before bringing it to the Town Board.