Open space in Schenectady County benefits the environment, but some say it can also be a boon to the quality of life of residents.
The Schenectady County Environmental Advisory Council’s 2011 Annual Update report said population pattern and land development has varied over the past 40 years. There was a retraction of population in the City of Schenectady, but 2010 Census data revealed a population increase in the city, which SCEAC credited to a successful redevelopment of downtown. Schenectady County is the second fastest growing county in the Capital District and the ninth fastest growing in the state.
This is the fourth story in a four-part series examining the Schenectady County Environmental Advisory Council’s impact over the past four decades and looks at what still needs to be done to preserve the county’s natural resources.
First story Click here.
Second story Click here.
Third story Click here.
Using “smart growth” principles, which focuses on filling vacancies before developing open space and farmland, is how the county has tried to maintain the characteristics of the towns, said Ray Gillen, commissioner of the Schenectady County Economic Development and Planning Department and chair of Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority.
“It is much harder … to do it smartly and use existing sites, but it is the right thing to do and it conserves open space,” Gillen said. “You point to any project in the towns, the vast majority of the time it is part of the smart growth agenda.”
Recent projects Gillen pointed to as smart growth include the redevelopment of the former Capital Plaza in Rotterdam, and Target moving into the former Glenville Kmart site. Using vacant space and already developed land, Gillen said, is what the county focuses on in towns. He said there are some tools to help preserve open space, such as land zoned agricultural.
“We keep adding to the agricultural district every year,” Gillen said. “Our economic strategy is really a smart growth strategy.”
In order to encourage smart growth practices from businesses, incentives can be implemented to encourage such development.
“It is harder to redevelop the Capital Plaza in Rotterdam … to get somebody like BBL to come in there and redevelop that site is harder, and it means that sometimes we need to use our incentives,” said Gillen. “We are able to deploy the use of incentives in a very careful way to further our smart growth.”
Building out the land
SCEAC’s report indicated open space isn’t a pressing issue for the towns in the county — except for one.
“Niskayuna is approaching full build out, but the other four towns still have significant rural/agricultural space that is in danger of being lost to low density sprawl. The rural landscape of open fields, wooded areas and long vistas that gives these areas their characteristics is being slowly eroded,” the report said.
Joe Landry, supervisor of Niskayuna, said the town is probably above 90 percent for residential build out, but the town has room to grow on commercial land.
“There are currently projects, but as far as major projects there is not a lot of real estate left in Niskayuna for residential,” said Landry. “There is still quite a bit of room for commercial.”
The 1971 comprehensive plan for the town, which followed the first in 1960, noted there wasn’t a town center, according to the report. Now, the town center is focused around the Balltown Road and Nott Street intersection. Also, the older traditionally laid out section is referred to as “Old Niskayuna.” Part of the town center included the former St. James Square, which ShopRite is now redeveloping.
“ShopRite will definitely spur some more development over in that area,” said Landry. “It is turning into a little downtown center for the Town of Niskayuna.”
To also help development of the plaza, Landry said, the town is hoping to have only one owner for ShopRite Square instead of two, which would pit owners against each other. He said it fragments the redevelopment process instead of having one owner view the plaza as a whole.
Having a plan
Many towns are currently developing formal open space committees or are working on initiatives, according to Gillen, but Glenville is the only town in the county to approve an Open Space Plan.
Glenville’s plan was approved in 2008 and is planned to be reevaluated every five years, said Kevin Corcoran, town planner for Glenville. The Town Board had established a committee of over a dozen members, Corcoran said, which meet around 35 times and held at least three public hearings. Corcoran said feedback and comments were also received through emails and letters.
“We were starting to see a lot of residential subdivisions in the rural parts of town,” said Kevin Corcoran, town planner for Glenville. “Even in the eastern portion of town there was valuable natural resources and some commercial development … was starting to eat way at the fringes of areas that were worthy of conservation.”
Open space areas were mapped to help in future development projects presented to the town.
“We were able to pretty well map out nine areas where open space preservation was a priority. Those areas get special attention when sub-divisions are proposed,” said Corcoran. “There is merit to preserving natural resources.”
After the town focused on preserving open space, he said, land donations to the town started to come forward.
“We’ve had three land donations from property owners, because the town did adopt an open space plan they came forward,” he said. “Without the open space plan I don’t think we would have been approached with these offers.”
Corcoran said having an approved plan shows the town is “more than just talk” and officials can point to actual actions with results. While the plan is going to be revisited in 2013, he doesn’t foresee any major changes, because the five-year revision cycle allows for a gradual progression.
“We are still fine tuning some of the policies now and I think it is going to take a few years to find out if we have gone in the wrong direction in some areas or hit a homerun in others,” he said. “I don’t think the overriding purpose of the plan would change. … It is more of a fine tuning I would say.”
