Watershed Management for Potable Water Supply Assessing the New York City Strategy (2000) / Chapter Skim
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7 Land Acquisition and Land Use Planning
7 Land Acquisition and Land Use Planning
Pages 279-313
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From page 279... ...
the Land Acquisition Program and (2) the Watershed Protection and Partnership Programs.
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From page 280... ...
The Land Acquisition Program allows New York City to acquire land through selective outright purchase or through the use of conservation easements. A conservation easement is a covenant that limits or restricts development, management, or use of property, protects important natural features of property, and provides the landowner with certain retained rights (NYC DEP, 1997~.
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From page 281... ...
Source: NYC DEP (1997)
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From page 282... ...
Courtesy of the NYC DEP.
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From page 283... ...
1B Subbasins within 60-day travel time to the 5 61,750 distribution system that are not near intakes (1A and 1B combined) 2 Subbasins within terminal reservoir basins that 10 42,300 are not within priority areas 1A and 1B 3 Subbasins with identified water quality problems 10 96,000 that are not in priority areas 1A, 1B, and 2 4 All remaining Subbasins in nonterminal reservoir 10 155,000 basins aSee Chapter 11 for a thorough discussion of the 60-day travel-time delineation.
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From page 284... ...
Meeting Filtration Avoidance Determination Milestones The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP) has achieved success in the Land Acquisition Program to date.
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From page 285... ...
LAND ACQUISITIONAND LAND USE PLANNING 285 FIGURE 7-2 Towns and villages exempt from the Land Acquisition Program. Courtesy of the NYC DEP.
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From page 286... ...
The City has committed $10 million out of the $250 million Catskill/Delaware Land Acquisition Program for watershed agricultural easements and $10 million for forested lands on farms. The easements are to be held in perpetuity by the Watershed Agricultural Council.
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From page 287... ...
A land trust may be able to act quickly to acquire a key parcel of land and hold it until a governmental agency has the funds on hand to buy it from the land trust, or the land trust may hold the deed or conservation easement in perpetuity. However, nonprofit land trusts would not pay taxes on the land unless special agreements were made with local government.
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From page 288... ...
Tax Considerations Because real property taxes are the principal source of revenue for towns, villages, and school districts in New York State, local governments are very concerned about the amount of property removed from the tax rolls when it is purchased by a nonprofit organization or municipality. Real property tax receipts account for about half the revenues of these governmental units and about a
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From page 289... ...
Although land use modeling in the Catskill/Delaware watershed has been conducted as part of the Total Maximum Daily Load Program, this information does not appear to have influenced the prioritization of lands for the Land Acquisition Program. Thus, there is no way of knowing whether the current prioritization scheme will capture the areas contributing the most pollution.
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From page 290... ...
Although the national organization Trust for Public Land can acquire land within the watershed, the formation of local land trusts or adjuncts to the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) could enhance the ability to purchase and protect critical watershed lands.
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From page 291... ...
Catskill Fund $59.7 million for the Future Stormwater Fund $31.7 million Establish a program supporting environmentally sensitive economic development projects in the watershed. Design, construct, implement, and maintain new stormwater measures identified in stormwater pollution prevention plans (SPPPs)
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From page 292... ...
The purpose of the Croton Plan is to identify significant sources of pollution in the Croton watershed and recommend measures to be taken by watershed municipalities, the counties, and NYC DEP to improve water quality. Recommended measures should protect the character and special needs of the communities within the Croton watershed.
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From page 293... ...
Although there are differences between planning for the Croton and West-of-Hudson watersheds, partly because of a higher population in the Croton watershed, it is possible that planning efforts in the Croton may be relevant to the smaller and more varied planning efforts required for the Catskill/Delaware watershed. The goal of both efforts is the same: to preserve and improve water quality while providing for environmentally sound development.
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From page 294... ...
A little more than a third of the towns have comprehensive plans in place, while most have subdivision regulations, about the same proportion as for Westof-Hudson towns. Subdivision regulations are important in determining the placement of residences and for providing adequate roadways.
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From page 295... ...
Sewer extension projects are being selected by NYC DEP in consultation with the CWC and the five affected localities: Grahamsville, Margaretville, Grand Gorge, Pine Hill, and Tannersville. As with the new sewage treatment infrastructure program, one of the conditions of the sewer extension program is that localities adopt and maintain a comprehensive plan, subdivision regulations, and appropriate land use laws and ordinances to ensure that future growth will not exceed the capacity of sewerage systems to which they are connected.
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From page 296... ...
296 WATERSHED MANAGEMENT FOR NEW YORK CITY TABLE 7-4 Planning and Zoning Tools in West-of-Hudson Communities CountyPopulation (1990) Comprehensive PlanZoning Subdivisic Delaware County ,, Town of Andes1,291yesno Town of Bovina550nono Town of Colchester1,928yesno Town of Delhi5,015yesyes Town of Deposit1,824nono Town of Franklin2,471nono Town of Hamden1,144nono Town of Harpersfield1,450nono Town of Kortright1,410yesno Town of Masonville1,352nono Town of Meredith1,513yesno Town of Roxbury2,388nono Town of Sidney6,667yesyes Town of Stamford2,047noyes Town of Tompkins994nono Town of Walton5,953noyes Total37,99738% yes25% yes Schoharie County Town of Broome926nono Town of Conesville684nono Town of Gilboa1,207nono Town of Jefferson1,190nono Total4,0070% yes0% yes Greene County Town of Ashland803nono Town of Halcott189yesno Town of Hunter2,116yesno Town of Jewett933yesyes Town of Lexington835noyes Town of Prattsville774yesno Town of Windham1,682yesno Total7,33271% yes29% yes Sullivan County Town of Fallsburgh11,445noyes Town of Liberty9,825yesyes Town of Neversink2,951yesyes Total24,22166% yes100% yes Ulster County Town of Hardenburgh204nono Town of Hurley6,741noyes Town of Kingston864nono Town of Olive4,086noyes Town of Rochester5,679yesyes Town of Shandaken3,013noyes Town of Wawarsing12,348yesyes Town of Woodstock6,290yesyes Total39,74744% yes77% yes Source: Updated from the New York State Commission on Rural Resources (1994)
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From page 297... ...
LAND ACQUISITIONAND LAND USE PLANNING 297 Zoning Subdivision Regulations Site Plan Review Planning Board no no no yes no no no no no no no no yes yes no yes 25% yes no no no no 0% yes no no no yes yes no no 29% yes yes yes yes 100% yes no yes no yes yes yes yes yes 77% yes yes yes yes yes no no yes yes yes no yes yes yes yes yes yes 81% yes yes yes yes yes 100% yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes 100% yes yes yes yes 100% yes yes yes no yes yes yes yes yes 89% yes yes no yes no yes no yes no no no yes no no yes no yes 44% yes yes yes no no 50% no no yes yes yes yes no yes 71% yes yes yes yes 100% yes no no yes yes yes yes yes yes 78% yes yes yes yes yes no no yes yes yes no yes yes yes yes yes yes 81 %yes yes yes yes no 75% yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes 100% yes yes yes yes 100% yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes 100% yes
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From page 298... ...
(N=22) Priority West-of-Hudson Mechanism -number- Towns Towns Comprehensive Plan 4 3 7 32 42 Subdivision Regulations 6 13 19 86 87 Site Plan Review 4 8 12 54 57 Planning Board 6 13 19 86 95 Zoning Regulations 1 4 5 23 40 Source: New York State Legislative Commission on Rural Resources (1994)
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From page 299... ...
. Unlike the two previous planning efforts described above, comprehensive planning required under the phosphorus offset pilot program is to take place at the county level rather than the town, village, or hamlet level.
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From page 300... ...
The first phase of the Economic Development Study is a baseline economic analysis and community assessment that describes the status of and barriers to economic development in the watershed (HR&A, 1998a)
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Rather, it must be a self-sustaining capital institution, providing a diverse range of financial products. The study suggests that the Catskill Fund for the Future should fund four areas to develop a strong and environmentally sensitive economy: 1.
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From page 302... ...
In addition to CWC programs, the New York State Department of State (NYS DOS) operates a $500,000 Master Planning and Zoning Awards Program to assist towns and villages in the development of environmentally sound master plans, zoning laws and standards, and capital investment plans among other activities (CWC, 1999~.
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From page 305... ...
The CWC and NYS DOS also cooperate with a network of New York State and federal agencies to provide specialized regulatory and compliance-related information to watershed residents, villages, and towns. Analysis of Planning Efforts Assessing the quality of comprehensive plans and various planning efforts can be a substantial challenge.
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From page 306... ...
DEP' s estimates of the future water quality of each basin...may be considered so that priority may be given to these measures which will achieve the greatest relative benefit to the basin." This footnote is a clear affirmation that the real emphasis of the Putnam County Croton Plan is on meeting community needs however they may be defined, with water quality impacts as a constraining factor. Such an approach may be the only politically feasible one, but it makes achieving reservoir quality objectives more problematicparticularly given the distribution of responsibilities in the Putnam County Scope of Work.
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From page 307... ...
Fortunately, with the slow rate of growth projected by the economic development study, communities should have time to develop their plans. There are three important issues in West-ofHudson planning considered below: fragmentation of planning efforts, citizen participation, and plan implementation.
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From page 308... ...
Watershed stewardship is better served by convincing people to adopt new ways of behaving that will sustain high water quality than it is by involving citizens for short, sporadic exercises. Simply put, current planning efforts in the Catskill/Delaware region, as outlined in the MOA, do not require a level of citizen participation sufficient to overcome these forces.
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From page 309... ...
have reported widespread violations of the mitigation requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act. In the Catskill/ Delaware watershed, where New York City is depending on the implementation of comprehensive plans and watershed regulations, ensuring compliance will be a challenge.
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From page 310... ...
The CWC should foster involvement by local communities in planning efforts undertaken by consultants. The CWC and the NYS DOS should continue to offer citizen planning boards technical assistance in determining the long-term impact of proposed plans.
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From page 311... ...
, types and sizes of new development, and awareness levels of watershed citizens with regard to the MOA and watershed management. In particular, the latter metric could help direct educational resources to less-well-informed watershed residents, thereby increasing public participation in the Watershed Partnership and Protection Programs.
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From page 312... ...
Shokan, NY: NYC DEP. New York State Legislative Commission on Rural Resources.
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From page 313... ...
373 Westcbester County 1998~. The Canton H=.
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