Lansing Open Space Conservation Plan

Open space can hold a variety of meanings. Often what comes to mind includes ecological resources such as wildlife habitat, wetlands, forests, and grasslands; hydrological resources such as stream corridors and the Cayuga Lake shore, and scenic vistas and places where people can observe these features.

Most of these resources have been documented within the Town’s existing Natural Resources Inventory, but open space also includes farmland, undeveloped areas of residential lots, and recreational facilities. Most of the open spaces in Lansing are privately owned, but some are owned by public entities or organizations such as the Finger Lakes Land Trust and are available for public access.

While recreational activity can be an added benefit of open space conservation, this was not a focus of this Plan. For more information regarding parks and recreational facilities, please refer to the Town of Lansing’s  Parks, Recreation, and Trails Master Plan .

The benefits of conservation efforts are numerous, and include but are not limited to: economic benefits, environmental benefits, and social benefits.

The economic impacts of open space conservation include both direct monetary benefits to individuals or governments, as well as indirect impacts such as avoided costs or appreciation of assets. These benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Property Values:  Studies  have shown that homeowners are willing to pay more to live in proximity to open space, particularly when adjacent lands cannot be developed, resulting in higher sale values and thus higher property tax revenues.
• Job Creation / Retention: Open space can create a variety of employment opportunities, which includes the maintenance of farming as a viable industry in the Town, which is currently a significant component of the Town’s economic base. Open space supports tourism and outdoor recreation, which can spur additional investment in supportive businesses such as rental shops, restaurants and drinking establishments; as well as park and conservation staff employment opportunities.
• Reduced Community Service Costs: Another significant benefit is the reduced cost of providing public services required for open space when compared to other land uses. Several fiscal impact  studies  have shown that residential development often results in a net fiscal loss for communities, when comparing the tax revenue raised versus the cost of providing public services. The graphic below shows the median cost to provide public services for each dollar of revenue raised, as shown by Cost of Community Services (COCS) Studies performed by the American Farmland Trust.

There are numerous environmental benefits of open space conservation efforts, ranging from localized microclimate benefits to working towards long-range sustainability and resiliency goals.

• Air Quality Improvements:  Research  shows that trees and other vegetation can reduce particular pollution by absorbing and filtering particulate matter (EPA, 2023). Additionally, vegetation can reduce air temperatures and reduce ground level ozone or smog.
• Climate Resiliency: Climate change will continue to have adverse impacts to communities across the globe, and in Upstate New York this often presents itself as severe weather events and increased precipitation. The conservation of crucial ecosystems that are designed to retain stormwater (such as wetlands), as well as the protection of sensitive landscapes, particularly those subject to erosion, will reduce the risk of flooding impacts to property.
• Water Quality: Vegetated stream corridors and forest lands help to slow water down as it moves through the watershed, which allows it to be filtered. This helps to remove any particulate matter or pollution that has been collected as stormwater moves over impervious surfaces or agricultural land - thus protecting the water quality of the Town and the region as a whole.
• Wildlife Habitat: Open spaces provide crucial habitat for all native wildlife populations, and supports biodiversity which has significant impacts on the long-term sustainability of the local ecosystem.
• Reduced Emissions: By designating land as open space, the greenhouse gas emissions of the materials, construction, and operation of new development in the Town are avoided.

Social benefits include benefits for both residents of Lansing as well as the broader regional population. It should also be noted that many of these social benefits have implied financial benefits, as discussed in the examples below:

• Public Health Improvements: There is a wide body of  research  that suggest that access to open space can improve public health metrics, both physical and mental. This is due to a variety of factors, including but not limited to increased opportunity for physical activity, air quality improvements, increased shade during warmer months, and stress reduction. As suggested above, improved overall community health can result in reduced healthcare spending on both the individual and collective level.
• Quality of Life Benefits: One of the strongest messages received during the public input process of this Plan was how important the Town’s open spaces were to the character and quality of life in the Town. People are drawn to live and stay in the community due to the breathtaking scenery and opportunities for outdoor recreation. Open space conservation will help to maintain this appeal for both new and existing residents, which also helps to maintain property values in the Town.
• Increased Social Cohesion: The Town’s open spaces not only create a sense of shared identity and pride in the community, but also can help foster improved social cohesion in those areas that are dedicated for public access. Parks and nature preserves support opportunities for neighbors to gather and interact, both formally and informally. Public access also allows for increased equitable access to natural resources.

Public engagement occurred throughout this planning process and played an important role in identifying community needs, values, and potential conservation opportunities. The public outreach efforts helped to ensure that the Plan reflects the Town’s values and vision for future conservation efforts by engaging community members in an inviting atmosphere that encourages input from all residents.

To maximize community involvement, the project team, including the Conservation Advisory Council (CAC), the consultant team, and town staff, developed and implemented a flexible Communications & Outreach Strategy (COS) that identified key players, desired outcomes, timing, and methods for public engagement. The major components of the strategies employed are summarized in the graphic to the right. A full summary of the COS and public engagement results is available in the  Additional Resources  section of this page.

In order to better understand community values and opinions regarding Lansing’s open space areas and to identify priority locations for conservation efforts, the Town’s Conservation Advisory Council created a brief community survey. Presented below are a summary of the responses received - for more detailed information, the full survey summary is available in the  Additional Resources  section of this page.

The Open Space Index (OSI) provides a systematic rating of land across the Town based on various natural features and other open space characteristics. The OSI enables the Town to be strategic in its allocation of funds and efforts by providing a tool to both proactively identify parcels and resources that meet the goals of the open space program; and to analyze the merits of individual projects and opportunities as they present themselves.

The following steps were utilized to create the OSI, which are summarized below:

1. Establish Ranking Criteria
2. Identify parcels to be evaluated
3. Analyze data for each parcel and assign scoring
4. Compile results

This analysis identifies 18%, or 22 parcels as low priority parcels, meaning they had the lowest scores comparatively. The analysis ranked 41%, or 49 parcels as medium-low priority, 26% or 31 parcels as medium-high priority, and 14% or 17 parcels as high priority.

Several of the high ranking parcels are currently protected through the Finger Lakes Land Trust, including the Bell Station Property and the Cayuga Cliffs property. This helps to validate the ranking process, as these have already been identified as high priority areas for conservation by local conservation experts and residents alike.

The map below shows a comparison between the priority ranking results and the results of the crowdsourcing mapping performed as a part of the community survey. As shown below, there is significant overlap between where community members identified important locations for conservation, and which areas of the Town were ranked highest as a part of the OSI.

Various strategies can be used for accomplishing the Vision and Goals of this Plan. The implementation options presented should be viewed as a toolkit of potential actions the Town or its partners may undertake as opportunities arise. The types of strategies include the following:

• Potential Amendments to Development Regulations - Zoning or other local land use regulation tools
• Land Conservation - Direct land acquisition or conservation techniques
• Other - Various actions that do not fall into the first two categories

Each of the strategies include a brief description, a generalized cost estimate, potential partners, and an estimated timeframe. Timeframes are meant to describe the estimated time an action will take to complete, not how soon the action item should be accomplished. The generalized cost estimates, based on order of magnitude, use the symbols below to reflect the following estimated cost ranges:

• $: Under $50,000
• $$: Between $50,000 and $100,000
• $$$: Over $100,000
• N/A: No Cost

For the potential partners identified, the project team highlighted entities that are identified as a potential lead agency in bold text.