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Date: 2/10/2021
EASTHAMPTON – On Jan 27, the Planning Department hosted its second and final virtual meeting on the Easthampton Open Space and Recreation Plan (OSRP).
An OSRP is an assessment of local development and growth patterns relative to open space, natural resources, cultural and historic resources, and recreational facilities.
To remain eligible for funding, cities have to update their plan every seven years.
“We had a really great process, we had tremendous response via the survey, and we had a really great steering committee,” said City Planner Jeffrey Bagg.
The steering committee consisted of City Councilor Salem Derby, Wendy Hammerle from the Manhan Rail Trail Committee, Marty Klein from the Pascomuck Conservation Trust, Parks and Recreation Director John Mason, Jay Ryan from the Conservation Commission and CPA Committee, Brenda Salyer who served on the Planning Board until January, Mary Lou Splain a resident, and Gerrit Stover Land a Conservation Advisor.
City staff included Bagg and Conservation Agent Cassie Tragert, and Emily Slotnick from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) was a consultant.
“The city of Easthampton hired us to help with the update of their OSRP. These plans are really important because they serve as guiding documents. As Jeff said, in many communities where there are no guiding documents, many communities do not have master plans so the OSRP often serves that void,” she said.
Slotnick shared that it was a pleasure to work with residents who were dedicated and brought a wealth of knowledge about the community and about the needs of other residents.
Slotnick presented the survey responses that they received from a survey that was open from Oct. 14 to Nov. 15, 2020. It received 619 responses.
“Roughly under 4 percent of the resident population or 8.5 percent of all households in Easthampton responded and that is huge. I do these plans all over the region and it is rare to get such strong participation,” said Slotnick.
From their finding, she thinks next time around they could benefit from hearing from more young people and more from Precincts 1 and 5.
The sites that people most visited were Nashawannuck Pond Promenade, Mount Tom Reservation, and Manhan Rail Trail.
The survey also concluded that the land around Mount Tom, Park Hill, and the Manhan River is rated as the highest priority for protection. Slotnick said these responses support the same four priority areas from their 2013 plan.
There are five goals with actions associated with them.
Goal one addressed existing recreational facilities and opportunities for improvement to meet the needs of residents:
• Create a master plan for Nonotuck Park.
• Evaluate opportunities for new recreation amenities such as an outdoor fitness area, skate park, disc golf, and more ADA accessible picnic tables.
• Continue expanding access to and from the Manhan Rail Trail to connect neighborhoods, parks, and the new school. Explore options to bridge gaps in connections due to water resources and to upgrade Rail Trail street crossings.
• Implement upgrades to playgrounds throughout the city including at Pleasant Green and the pocket park at Parsons Street and Federal Street. Prioritize improvements in the Maple and Ferry Street neighborhoods.
• Develop wayfinding materials to guide residents and visitors around Easthampton, highlighting key open space and recreational areas. Waypoints could include parks and Rail Trail access, arts, and cultural installations, facilities, and more.
• Improve parking capacity and implement traffic calming measures where needed at city recreational facilities and conservation areas.
• Create maintenance line items in the annual capital budget for all new and existing park facilities and conservation areas and trails.
Secure funding to complete planned improvement to Nonotuck Park Pool.
• Seek funding for the design and construction of sidewalks to improve the pedestrian experience and walkability. Prioritize access and connections to open spaces and recreation facilities, making ADA improvements, and implement Complete Streets.
• Design and construct informational kiosks at all conservation areas in the city.
• Improve and expand on-road bike infrastructure and provide more bike parking.
Goal two was in regards to recreational facilities and opportunities for expansion to accommodate the needs of residents:
• Complete design and construction of a boardwalk extension for the Nashawannuck Pond Promenade.
• Continue to explore the feasibility of creating a dog park, including identification of possible locations, and creation of rules and regulations.
• Identify locations, acquire sites if necessary, and construct new pocket parks in the neighborhoods lacking access to green space.
• Design and build “best practices” mountain biking trail network at the Boruchowski parcel and around Nonotuck Park.
• Identify locations and improve access to cross-country ski trails, including arranging to groom on existing suitable routes and marking cross country skiing as an allowed activity on signage and maps.
• Evaluate sidewalk needs to improve upon existing data and create a map showing the greatest areas of sidewalk need, showing population density and areas to connect with open space and recreation areas.
• Conduct enhanced outreach in accordance with the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) Public Participation in Environmental Justice (EJ) Communities Guidance to support underrepresented residents’ participation in and access to recreational opportunities and conservation lands.
Goal three addressed that agriculture is preserved and promoted as an important aspect of community character.
• Explore opportunities for a new community garden in an accessible location.
• Create new educational and promotional materials to ensure residents and visitors know about local farms and how to visit them. Including smaller farms, farm stands, farmers markets, community gardens, etc.
• Determine viability for food production on city-owned land on Park Hill Road such as Echodale Orchard.
• Work with landowners to expand farming and protection of farmland through fee acquisition and or donations of agricultural preservation or conservation restrictions.
Goal four focused on that land of natural resource, scenic, and recreation value are protected and well stewarded and are connected with each other and with neighborhoods.
• Promote public access to conservation lands with improved signage, maps, and educational outreach, and acquire new easements to expand parking areas and access points (parking at Guistina and Boruchowski parcel Conservation Areas, etc.).
• City and land trust partners work collaboratively to develop and support a corps of paid and volunteer land stewards for conservation land maintenance. Building this capacity could include, offer conservation restriction monitoring volunteer training or contracting out for conservation restriction monitoring, fund a full-time conservation agent, and trial or stewardship, recruit more land stewards of color.
• Review and amend the zoning ordinances such as Transfer of Development Rights, Open Space Residential Development (OSRD), solar bylaw with the goal of balancing future development and resource protection.
• Promote greater utilization of chapter 40R Smart Growth Overlay District Ordinance.
• Work with conservation partners and landowners to identify land protection opportunities within the core priority protection areas, and seek funding to implement protection.
• Adopt the Ridgeline Protection Ordinance to protect the steep slopes of Mount Tom from erosion and disturbance of rare, threatened, and endangered species.
• Develop a plan for implementing management of invasive plants in important habitat areas, including conservation lands and along the Manhan River.
• Create a city tree program that will conduct a public shade tree inventory and provide free street trees to residents, and develop a volunteer tree steward crops.
Goal five addressed that groundwater and surface water are protected as clean and abundant resources:
• Develop a local Wellhead Protection Plan for the municipal wells.
• Establish an Easthampton Aquifer Protection Committee to support and direct efforts for drinking water protection.
• Draft and adopt a local Wetlands Ordinance based on the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commission’s sample Ordinance to increase protection of isolated wetlands and climate-sensitive and resilient wetlands.
• Expand education and outreach to private well owners, schools, and the general public about the Barnes Aquifer including Best Management Practices to prevent pollution and protect supply.
• Maintain sediment control measures to Nashawannuck Pond and other surface waters and monitor for new erosion issues.
• Evaluate winter snow storage and management practices including opportunities to reduce the use of harmful de-icing agents and consider alternative snow storage locations away from the Manhan River and Barnes Aquifer.
• Work with landowners to protect open space over the Barnes Aquifer through fee acquisitions, Conservation Restrictions, Agricultural Protection Restrictions, and or donations.
• Improve enforcement of local regulations protecting and conserving groundwater and surface water including outside water use bans, deed restrictions, and constraints on pesticide use.
• Review and revise as necessary local regulations to increase their ability to protect groundwater and surface water
Slotnick then shared the timeline of where they are in the process.
In the fall of 2020, information was gathered and contents were updated and they collected feedback via public surveys. On Nov. 5, 2020 ,there was a public visioning session. In December they revised draft goals and objectives as well as updated the draft plan and seven-year action plan. On Jan. 27 they hosted a public meeting. In February and March, they will submit the draft to committees such as the City Council and it will then be revised and submit it to the Division of Conservation Services for approval.
Comments, questions, or input on the draft plan can be submitted to Easthampton Planning Department at 529-1406 or planning@easthamptonma.gov. The recording and documents can be found at https://easthamptonma.gov/9-content/541-osrp.html.
At its Feb. 3 meeting, the City Council agreed to support the OSRP, which the city intends to present to the state by the end of February.
City Planner Jeffrey Bagg said unlike the upcoming Housing Production Plan, a letter of support from the council was not required. However, he stated it was important for the state to see unified support from the Planning Board, Manhan Rail Trail Committee and the City Council as the commonwealth would be considering financial requests and other aspects directly from the plan.
“Nothing happens automatically, but it shows the community supports the plan,” Bagg said of the importance of letters of support.
Rist asked for clarification on whether the OSRP would help with grant applications to which Bagg said there were some programs that did require an updated plan.
“It’s one of the documents that is really going to help us look to the future,” he said.