Open Space Planning

Regional Open Space Planning

SCCOG is currently preparing a regional open space inventory and plan which seeks to coordinate conservation efforts across the region and produce three primary outcomes:

  • A Comprehensive Open Space Inventory that will provide an up-to-date accounting of all protected and publicly accessible lands in the region, making the information easy to access and easy to maintain.
  • An Open Space Data Hub that will help stakeholders make informed decisions about lands to prioritize for protection.
  • Municipal action plans to align local priorities with regional and state goals for open space.

Vital to these efforts is the participation of the community. A public survey was distributed in 2023 that asked how residents use, or would like to use, open space in the region. In addition, SCCOG hosted a series of public workshops in February 2023. A recording of the virtual workshop held February 14th is available here: Workshop recording.

 

Why produce a regional open space plan?

SCCOG serves 22 cities, towns, and boroughs. Each of those has its own departments doing work around open space; conservation commissions, parks & rec departments, wetland commissions, etc. In addition to that, the region boasts 14 Land Trusts and over 30 non-profits that engage in some form of conservation or recreation work here. The region’s institutions of higher learning have their own departments and student groups dedicated to environmental work, and then of course there are state and federal entities with their own interests in the region. Despite significant efforts made to protect open space resources by these various stakeholders, the region lacks a unifying vision of how to connect and leverage that energy at the regional level. Work tends to focus on a particular jurisdiction, project area or on a specific issue, and is often driven by opportunistic considerations rather than a carefully constructed set of regional priorities. This silos efforts and funding, hampering the ability to maximize scarce dollars, achieve multiple benefits for people and the environment, and attract additional funding. Environmental systems don’t end at municipal boundaries, nor do the risks of failure to plan for conservation or the benefits brought by a well-planned and connected open space system. 

Ongoing Open Space Plan Implementation at SCCOG 

The Regional Open Space Plan recommends detailed action items that create a framework for the region’s collective progression and growth. Over the next 10 years, SCCOG staff will work toward supporting member municipalities in 

  • Bettering our analysis and understanding of open space accessibility and equity 

  • Integrating open space and transportation planning 

  • Evaluating where open space networks can act as nature based solutions that support climate resilience and stormwater management, especially in the areas of flooding, extreme heat mitigation, and low impact development 

  • Creating additional tools for clarifying contexts where development, rather than open space, is the highest and best use of land  

  • Exploring the role of preserved working lands (farms and forests) to the region’s ecological stability and food security 

  • Maintaining SCCOG-based resources quantifying and delineating the open space network over time, such as our mapped inventory of open space 

  • Pursuing grant funding for greater open space data collection