Open Space Residential Development Workshop Video Online

 For those of you in Harvard who were not able to attend the OSRD workshop last Thursday featuring Randall Arendt, a vedeo of much of the event can be found online at Harvard Cable TV here. I want to express my appreciation to Mass Audubon and the Mass Smart Growth Alliance for co-sponsoring the workshop. Without the assistance of Heidi Ricci and her staff and Larry Fields, it would not have gone so well.

I was also very impressed with Matthew Flokos article in the Harvard Press about the event and given that, I see no need to summarize the festivities here. But I do want to follow up with a few points for how we move forward with these amendments locally.

First, the issue of making the Open Space Residential Development (OSRD) a by-right or as-of-right method, meaning that it would not require a special permit as it does now, I have heard some public support for this. The reasoning used thus far for keeping it a special permit is that as tough and scrutinizing as Town Meeting is, making a development option simpler, more predictable, and easier to accomplish might be too much for residents to allow initially.

Maybe as experience with the amendments have proven successful over time, the Board could consider relaxing the bylaw to allow by-right. On the other hand, if we are proposing the OSRD  as a better alternative to the very flawed conventional development option, then why should we fear it by-right?

The next logical step is to actually make conventional subdivisions the special permit option or disallow it altogether if OSRD is density neutral meaning that OSRD will not result in a regulatory taking.

Thinking about the bylaw as one of the most effective ways to identify valuable open space and protect it in perpetuity is, I think, the preferred way to highlight the potential value. One of the most important elements of the bylaw is that pre-application identification of those features of the lot that are worthy of protection...and also how they might fit into the overall open space network in Harvard and the region. In more than a few cases, open space identified and protected as part of an OSRD will be adjacent to other important open space parcels, maybe conservation land, maybe just a conservation easement or restriction, but in any case, the opportunities for connectivity may lead to more effective wildlife corridors, wetlands protection, passive recreational opportunities, carbon sequestration, etc.

The Planning Board will continue to fine tune the draft bylaw, making sure that it is the best it can be, and will then hold a series of meetings that could be focus groups or local workshops, all before opening the public hearings, so that we are certain to conduct the comprehensive level of outreach that the Town of Harvard expects. But if you have any comments or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at:

cryan@harvard.ma.us