Quality of Open Space - David Billings

Greetings from the campaign trail…

One of my three campaign themes is Quality of Open Space. This is a tricky issue as we face the challenges of how we manage our future growth. So, what is Quality of Open Space? This concept is all about our ability to aggressively manage growth within the context of our current zoning laws and the PA Municipal Code. I know it is easy to make a campaign promise to stop growth or create open space. My candidacy is not about campaign promises, but bringing real solutions to the community.

So, can we just create an open space law that prohibits development? For example, the current zoning laws for the Farm Preservation district states we can place one housing unit per three acres with a cluster option. The land owner, in this case, the farmer has the right to sell his/her land or maintain their farm to earn a living. The township does not have the right to force the farm owner to keep his/her farm or zone the farm as open space. The farmers have the right to sell their land to the highest bidder.

So what can we do? The best approach is to have the township purchase the prize land that can be zoned for open space or recreational areas. The funding can be obtained by increasing the real estate transfer tax creating a direct revenue stream to support open space, obtaining grants from Northampton County Open Space Initiatives (see Express Times article “Changes in open space program” – March 22, 2007) and grants from the state Growing Greener fund. You may see some discussion around increasing the Earned Income Tax, but that is not a good path, if the ACT 1 ballot initiative gets voters approval. When ACT 1 is approved, the EIT for Forks Township will be increased, as our property taxes are decreased. Some of these concepts are being discussed at the Planning Commission Comprehensive Plan workshops.

Currently, the Planning Commission has the opportunity to change the Comprehensive Plan for the Farm Preservation district from one unit per three acres with a cluster option to one unit per five acres without the cluster option. This is a good way to reduce the density of the development while operating within the laws of the land. The best statement that I have heard to address this issue is “The devil is in the density”. It is very important to limit the density of the proposed developments while we purchase land for open space initiatives.

The challenge for Forks Township is whether we have the political will to preserve farmland and create the opportunities to purchase land for open space. The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Comprehensive Plan 2030 stated it best: “In order to cope with future growth, municipalities will need to do better planning and implementation of plans than they have done in the past.” As we have seen in Frenchtown, NJ (see Express Times article “Land preservation story shows victory is possible” – March 22, 2007) and within our own Northampton County (see Morning Call article “Northampton open wallet to save green – March 7, 2007) it is possible to create partnerships to buy and preserve farmland.

No matter what course we choose, the developers will be opposed to open space initiatives and will use our legal system as the tool to circumvent our zoning laws. As your supervisor, I will have the political will to tackle these tough issues!

If you have any ideas or comments about critical issues facing Forks Township, please share your ideas via our blog or email at billings2007@att.net.

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David Billings
billings2007@att.net