Town of Old Lyme Open Space Committee Meeting
Old Lyme Town Hall
Minutes: June 11, 2010
Chairman Diana Atwood Johnson opened the meeting at 08:35 am with OSC members Bruce Baratz, Amanda Blair, Peter Cable, Bob DePianta, Bill Dunbar, Evan Griswold, Ted Kiritsis in attendance.
On a motion by Amanda, seconded by Ted, it was voted to approve the OSC meeting minutes of May 14, 2010.
Chairman’s Report
a) Kus property
Diana noted that Art Bogen and she had again walked the Kus property.
b) Bartholomew Preserve
Diana reported that representatives of US Fish and Wildlife Service and CT Audubon Society and she had walked the Bartholomew Preserve as a follow-up action for development of a Habitat Management Plan for the preserve. This was also a follow-up to a previous walk with regard to the CT DEP New England cottontail study.
Plan of Conservation and Development
The preponderance of the meeting was devoted to a free Committee discussion of open space issues to be addressed in the 2010 update to the Old Lyme Plan of Conservation and Development.
One theme that emerged in the discussion and that was thoroughly explored was the difficulty of maintaining the desired rural character of the Town, as exemplified by large tracts of undeveloped land. It was noted that, at this stage in the Town’s development, there is a substantial difference between perceived open space and actual open space – that is, the difference between protected open land and land that could be developed. Although the Town population has been relatively stable for more than a decade, there has been considerable actual and perceived property development, arising, it can be surmised, from construction of larger houses on larger building parcels. Projections of the Town’s future demography suggest a stable but aging population; the desirability of keeping and attracting younger people as Town
residents was a Committee consensus. These considerations led the Committee to generally support the idea of improving and increasing cluster zoning, both to promote the Town’s actual open space and to allow for more affordable housing for younger buyers.
A second theme that was raised by Diana and discussed was the need for a complete and accessible GIS capability to plan, use and record status of open space in Old Lyme. Amanda noted that this capability was also needed in the Assessor’s office. It was suggested that help in obtaining this capability for the Town might be gotten through the UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research, perhaps with the help of a student intern from the university.
Diana, who took extensive notes of the discussion, planned to incorporate the Committee observations and recommendations into a response by June 25 to the Planning Commission for inputs to the 2010 POCD.
At 11:00, with discussion completed, on a motion by Peter, second by Amanda, it was voted to adjourn the meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Peter Cable
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