You asked if the state and towns consider the strategic value of open space land when they prepare land use plans and regulations.

SUMMARY

Different state and local agencies consider the strategic value of open space, but there appears to be no commonly accepted method for determining that value. The Office of Policy and Management considers the value of open space land when it prepares the five-year State Plan of Conservation and Development (Plan of C&D), which aims to preserve open space by steering new development to already developed areas. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) considers the characteristics of open space parcels before it provides funds to towns and nonprofit agencies that want to acquire and preserve them.

Local land use commissions consider the strategic value of open space land when they prepare land use and open space acquisition plans and zoning, subdivision, and inland wetlands regulations. They usually do this by weighing several, often competing, factors, such as the land’s environmental functions, how it contributes to the town’s quality of life, and the town’s need for new development and the property tax revenue it generates. Rapidly growing towns use different analytical tools to determine the costs and benefits of developing open space, but each tool reflects different assumptions about how development affects a town.

STATE LAND USE POLICY

State Plan of C&D

The state’s future economic growth depends on preserving open space land, according to the State Plan of C&D. “The scenic, historic, recreational, and natural areas of the state are important economic assets, are essential to the quality of life in Connecticut, and must be maintained and protected from adverse effects (Conservation and Development Policies Plan for Connecticut: 1998-2003, p. 101). For this reason, the plan proposes to “reinforce and conserve existing urban areas, to promote staged, appropriate, sustainable development, and to preserve areas of significant environmental value” (p. 113).

DEP Open Space Acquisition Grant Program

DEP considers the value of open space land when it provides grants to towns and nonprofit land conservation groups that want to acquire and preserve open space land. These entities qualify for funding if the land meets several criteria, including its value for recreation, forestry, fishing, and wildlife or natural resource conservation. DEP ranks each proposed acquisition based several factors, including the likelihood that the land will be developed if it is not acquired and preserved (CGS § 7-131d to 7-131k).

MUNICIPAL LAND USE POLICY

Local Plans of C&D

Local planning commissions determine the value of open space land when they prepare their plans of C&D. Commissions must consider the need to protect existing and potential public surface and ground water drinking supplies, which could be affected by new development. And they must recommend how much land the town needs to keep as open space or use for houses, parks and playgrounds, stores and offices, and factories and warehouses. The commissions may also recommend how the town can acquire open spaces and protect and develop greenways (CGS § 8-23).

Towns can create conservation commissions to advise the planning commission and other municipal land use commissions and agencies about open space land. In doing so, the commissions can maintain an index of all open space land and research how that land should be used (CGS § 7-131a (b)).

Land Use Regulations

Towns also consider the strategic value of open space land when they prepare zoning, subdivision, and inland wetlands regulations. Zoning regulations specify where different land uses are permitted and the extent to which land can be developed for these uses. When adopting or changing these regulations, zoning commissions must consider the local plan of C&D and how they affect farms (CGS § 8-2).

Subdivision regulations specify how developers must prepare raw land for new development, specifying where they must locate streets, sidewalks, curbs, sewers, and other infrastructure. They also specify how much land developers must keep as open space in a subdivision (CGS § 8-25).

The law recognizes the environmental value of inland wetlands and requires inland wetlands commissions to mitigate or prevent possible harm to them (CGS § 2 2a-42). These commissions must act on a proposed project before zoning and planning commissions can act on it (CGS § 8-3(g) and §8-26).

Open Space Acquisition

Besides addressing open spaces in their land use plans and regulations, towns can directly conserve open space land by acquiring the land or interests in it. They can do this if their plans of C&D designate the land as open space land and their legislative bodies approve the transaction (CGS § 7-131b).

DETERMINING STRATEGIC VALUE

Open space land has extrinsic and intrinsic value. It satisfies many human needs: farmlands produce food, lakes and forests provide places where people can recreate, and wetlands help prevent flooding and other natural hazards. Open space land also gives people the satisfaction of seeing fields, woods, and plants and animals in their natural settings. People often consider these and other factors when determining the strategic value of open space, but differ over how to measure and weigh these factors.

Rapidly growing towns use different analytical tools to assess the costs and benefits of proposed new homes, shopping malls, or other uses. Some conduct fiscal impact analyses to determine if a proposed development will generate enough tax revenue to pay for the municipal services it will require. But “care must be taken when evaluating the results of fiscal impact analyses for several reasons: the choice of methodology and assumptions greatly influence the findings; specific circumstances vary widely from community to community, and fiscal impact analyses do not address secondary or long-term impacts” (“The Economic Value of Open Space,” Landlines, September 1996).

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