Goshen - Developer, politician, or community activist, few could dispute the vision behind Orange County's first ever Open Space Plan.
The document, which will be rolled out for public comment tonight, urges the fast-growing county to consider its open space resource as an essential element of infrastructure, like roads, sewers or water systems.
It, for the first time, catalogs and quantifies the 136,151 acres of parks, reservoir lands and nature preserves that already make up 26 percent of the county's total area. And it sets the stage for County Executive Edward Diana's plans to preserve some 20,000 acres more. But, as written comments have trickled in over the past three weeks, the plan's architect, Orange County Planning Commissioner David Church, has noticed a few themes develop in the dialogue:
Various special-interest groups want to see the preservation of specific sites outlined in the plan, Church said. For instance, local archeologists would like to see the county move to protect the historically significant caves at Dutchess Quarry in Goshen.
Open space organizations argue the public is willing to spend more than the initial $2 million Diana has proposed spending on matching funds to help communities purchase key plots of open space.
Some developers and members of the business and real estate communities are fearful activists will use the principals outlined in the plan to bolster extreme "no-growth" agendas. Legislator Spencer McLaughlin, R-Monroe, who chairs the committee that must approve the plan, said he's going to argue for the strongest commitment possible to its objectives. But he admitted that a conflict between the pro-growth and less-growth factions may be inevitable.
"Ultimately, what the Opens Space Plan recommends is the antithesis of interests of a developer," McLaughlin said. "What the developers have to put up with is that open space people have never had the finances to compete with them- Now they will. It'll be a competitive market."
In the end, public comment will help determine the scope of the plan and may influence the Legislature's commitment to funding the potentially costly endeavor in a time of shaky county budgets. Legislature Chairman Alan Seidman, R-Salisbury Mills, for example, called the plan "well-intentioned," but he says the plan's recommended budget - which would require spending above and beyond the $2 million in matching funds - deserves closer scrutiny.
"We're going to spend the money," Seidman said. "We should make sure that it's all working toward our end goal."
The Orange County Open Space Plan will be presented for public hearing 7 p.m. tonight and again at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Legislative Chambers in the Orange County Government Center.