2000-06-12 Managing Growth Development and Open Space Working Group.pdf

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to traffic, noise, air and water quality, and housing costs. As citizens of the metropolitan area, we are without a broadly accepted vision for how unsustainable patterns of sprawl and waste can be transformed in favor of the building of the livable communities that people yearn for. As citizens of our town, we are faced with growth and development issues that are fundamentally regional in nature. As we respond to these issues locally, it is our challenge to be pail of the solution rather than part of the problem. As we have looked toward the future in attempting to articulate a vision and identify goals, our group has sorted through these and many other considerations to decide what things should change and what should stay the same. We have attempted to ground our vision and goals in the core values that have been repeatedly affirmed by town residents. These include preservation of the town's historic character, preservation of its open space, affordability, and the importance of social diversity in the town's population. (See the Environmental Scan for further discussion of core values.) Our vision and goals are constrained and motivated by the fact that only a limited amount of growth and new development is possible, given our current zoning regulations and our physical boundaries, without major changes to the character of the town. Because of the limited opportunities remaining for new development, we must be very diligent to make sure that the type of growth that does occur is what the town really needs. We have reached the point where only some types of growth are good and, even for that type of growth, development opportunities are very limited. Thus we need to target any additional growth toward satisfaction of long term town priorities. The following goals are our attempts to interpret the core values and long teen town priorities in terms of the physical landscape of the town. They are intended to protect, renovate, replenish, and transform the existing physical infrastructure of the town so that it serves our future needs. Goal 1: Increase Lexington's protected open space. Protection of open space is one of the town's significant accomplishments to date. This open space is an important part of the town's character and is a major aspect of what residents value and what non-residents admire about the town. The town's attitude toward open space stems in part from respect for nature in the tradition of Henry David Thoreau and a desire for a green residential community within the metropolitan area. Protected open space enhances our sense of community literally and figuratively, by providing common ground where citizens can walk and find other recreational opportunities. Many residents perceive the town's remaining undeveloped privately-owned land as open space (this land does not look any different from town-owned, protected land). According to a recent Planning Department list, there are 127 parcels totaling more than 1,200 acres which are vacant or under-developed. Although not all of this land is suitable for development and not all owners are interested in selling, the potential exists for a considerable amount of new development on this land in the coming years. Our group would like the town to protect as much of this remaining undeveloped land as possible, depending on cost, funds available, and in balance with various development goals. As it has done in the past, the town should protect open space Managing Growth-4