Open-Space Plan Getting 'Big Rewrite'

Hopatcong's open-space plan will look much different next March.

Eugene Reynolds, a land conservancy specialist, said the plan would get a "big rewrite" at Thursday's Open Space Commission meeting at borough hall.

The Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions recently gave the borough's Environmental Commission a $6,500 grant, to which its open-space fund would add $7,500, giving the EC $14,000 to spend to update the 8-year-old plan.

Most municipalities update open-space plans every five years, Reynolds said.

"Towns get behind in things," he said.

Reynolds, a planning consultant for the Land Conservancy of New Jersey, which is helping the borough update the plan, presented the board with a first draft of the new open-space map and a checklist of materials Thursday night.

He also reviewed with the board the town's goals from the last time it renovated the plan, in 2002, and, with EC Chairman Jerry Scanlan, helped chart a timeline for the plan's construction.

Reynolds encouraged a Scanlan-assembled grant project team, consisting of members from each of the town's boards and commissions, to correct the first-draft map and to create its own goals list before Reynolds and the team surveys the town on Sept. 10.

The Open Space Commission will present its findings to the public at its next meeting on Oct. 19.

"Planning land use is a very important component of a community, if not the most important, because we're making decision on things that are going to be here for decades," board member Michael Francis said.

The board's goals for the open-space plan probably won't differ much from its last version.

In 2002, the plan's main objective was to provide a range of year-round recreation activities for residents. Secondary objectives included preserving and enhancing water quality; maintaining a diverse plant and animal population; and retaining the borough's scenic and rural characteristics.

Reynolds said the new plan would probably place heavy emphasis on Lake Hopatcong.

"There's the issue of ecotourism," he said. "People come to Lake Hopatcong to boat, to fish, to swim. So if we're not taking care of open space, we're endangering a natural resource and, also, an economic resource. There's an economic value in open space.

"We're talking about the green infrastructure of a municipality, which is as important as its other systems. So when we're planning for the town's housing requirements, for its education requirement…open space is a big part of that."

He added recreation programs rely on open-space plans.

"Outdoor recreation is critically dependant on open space," Reynolds said. "Quality of life is often critically dependant on one space."

The grant project group consists of Scanlan, Councilman John Young, Open Space chairman Cliff Lundin, Mayor Sylvia Petillo, a soon-to-be-named Board of Recreation member and others.

Reynolds said the age of the plan isn't its only issue. Consultant speak differs between agencies, and Reynolds said the LCNJ needed to rewrite it in its language.

"There's only so much time," he said. "There are other concerns that often take a town's attention and divert it from the open-space issue. So eight years is no abnormal. …The way we write plans now is different than we wrote them eight-10 years ago.

"It's great Hopatcong is taking the opportunity now."