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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLAPC Amendment - Open Space Committee November 20222023-xxx AMENDING CHAPTER 241, ARTICLE 44.5 LAND ACQUISITION AND PRESERVATION COMMITTEE ORDERED: That Code of the Town of Barnstable, General Ordinances, Chapter 241, Article 44.5 be amended by changing the title of the Land Acquisition and Preservation Committee to OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE and by substituting the following text for the existing text. A. TERM OF OFFICE There shall be an Open Space Committee consisting of nine members, appointed by the Town Council, selected to be as geographically diverse in representation as possible, to serve for terms of three years, arranged so that the terms are staggered. B. AUTHORITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 1. The Open Space Committee shall be responsible for keeping the Open Space and Recreation Plan and the Open Space Section of the Local Comprehensive Plan updated and current. 2. The Open Space Committee shall review conservation restrictions before presentation to the Town Council for approval. 3. The Open Space Committee shall recommend or refer parcels of land available for purchase or protection (for example, water supply or habitat) to the Town Manager, Town Council, and the Community Preservation Committee. 4. The Open Space Committee, in conjunction with the Town Manager and Town Council, shall recommend non-CPA funding for purchase and/or protection of land. 5. The Open Space Committee shall assist Town departments in the management of land acquired under the Land Bank Act, specifically the Santuit Preserve; a member of the Open Space Committee serving as the Town’s citizen representative on the Santuit Preserve Management Committee. 6. The Open Space Committee shall be responsible for implementing and promoting the approved Cape Cod Pathways Plan within the Town of Barnstable; including but not limited to creating and maintaining a Walking Library accessible to the public online that details the various walks throughout the Town. 7. The Open Space Committee shall educate the public about open space issues through speakers at monthly meetings. 8. An appointed member of Open Space Committee shall serve on the Community Preservation Committee as an At-Large member. SPONSORS: Councilor Jessica Rapp Grassetti, Precinct 7 and Councilor Kris Clark, Precinct 11 RATIONALE: Prior to the pandemic, the Land Acquisition and Preservation Committee worked with the then liaison Councilor Jessica Rapp Grassetti to reconsider its charge to better reflect its mission as originally envisioned by the Town Council at the Committee’s inception. Upon consideration, the Committee recommends to the Town Council that the name of the Committee, now known as the Land Acquisition & Preservation Committee, be changed to OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE, to more accurately reflect its mission and that, additionally, some revisions be made to its charge to more accurately reflect its function. The Committee’s origins are in the Town’s previous Open Space Committee, which recommended to the Town Council and Town Manager acquisition of land and appropriation of Land Bank funds. When the Land Bank was replaced by the Community Preservation Act (CPA), the Town Council created the Land Acquisition and Preservation Committee to represent the Town’s Open Space interests. A majority of towns on the Cape include an Open Space representative on their Community Preservation Committee. While at the present time, in Barnstable, the housing prong of the CPA is represented by a Housing Committee member, the Recreation prong by a Recreation Commission member and the Historic Preservation prong by a Historic Commission member, there is no representative of the Open Space prong. While the Conservation Commission representative is meant to be the Open Space representative, in actuality, the Conservation Commission is primarily focused on regulation and enforcement, rather than land acquisition, maintenance and preservation. Therefore, the Conservation Commission member, by the Commission’s own admission, does not truly represent open space interests in the manner anticipated by the intent of CPA, as conversely a representative of the Open Space Committee would.