Open Space Is Not A Threat To Population Growth

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The following letter appeared in local newspapers and is reprinted here with permission of the author Ruth Platner. Ruth is Chair of the Charlestown Planning Commission.

Consultants in 2016 looked at the remaining land in Charlestown available to be developed for housing and determined that, if no more land is preserved, several thousand more units of housing will be built and our year-round population will triple. Occurring mostly in northern Charlestown, that development will dramatically alter the character of our community, destroy some of Rhode Island’s most critical forests that provide wildlife habitat and clean our water and the air we breathe, will reduce our attraction for tourism, and will significantly raise tax rates.

Candidates supported by the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) have won grants and built community support for open space bonds to purchase land in partnership with government agencies and private groups, such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM), and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

As a result we have created a community characterized by protected land that provides scenic views; wildlife habitat; ground and surface water protection; and permanent public access to hiking trails, forests, ponds, open fields, ocean beaches, and the Pawcatuck River. This open space has created jobs, provided recreational opportunities, attracted tourists, lowered flood insurance rates, held down the cost of community services, and improved the quality of life.

Our opposition in this year’s election is claiming that we have too much open space, that we should acquire no more, and that land preservation is competing with development and causing residential growth to be too slow. The data do not support their claims.

In 2015 voters approved $2 million to “finance the acquisition and preservation of open space,” and so far we have preserved 150.5 acres, by using $341,250, with funding from DEM, to purchase a 27-acre property with 1,600 feet of frontage on the Pawcatuck River; $100,000 in partnership with TNC to preserve 55 acres contiguous with TNC’s Pasquiset Preserve; $75,000 to buy a 3.5-acre parcel next to Town Hall; and $500,000, with a grant from DEM, to purchase 65 acres of trails next to the Francis Carter Preserve. We also received a $400,000 Natural Heritage Grant to purchase the 100-acre Saw Mill Pond Watershed, but that purchase is currently  blocked by Councilors Carney and Klinger.

The 150.5 acres preserved could have supported about 47 house lots. In the same period, developers have been approved to subdivide 707 acres of farmland and forest into 201 new residential units. The town has issued building permits for new home construction on these and many other parcels, other vacant land continues to be developed for commercial uses, and over 400 acres are being ground up for gravel.

Development is proceeding at more than 5 times the rate of preservation, yet our political opponents see land conservation as a threat to population growth!

To continue to protect our town and develop land responsibly, vote for Susan Cooper, Peter Gardner, Ann Owen, Joshua Vallee, and David Wilkinson for Town Council, and for Walter Mahony, Carol Mossa, and Lisa St Godard for Planning Commission.

Ruth Platner

 

 

You can learn more about the author, Ruth Platner, at her profile page.


The banner image is a photo of Black Pond in the Pasquiset Preserve.