Colorado Sprawl Action
Center's
Growth Management Toolkit
Table of Contents | Introduction | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
Open
Space Protection and Funding:
Problem | Solution | Applications
| Internet Resources
Problem
The loss of Colorado’s open spaces and rural landscapes is one of the most visible impacts of sprawling development. Such a loss impacts both our natural world and our social one. Open spaces are important for wildlife habitat, just as farm and ranch lands are vital to the state’s agricultural families and economy, and rural landscapes and greenbelts serve as scenic backdrops and community buffers. All of these are key ingredients in building community-identity and a local sense of place.
As our developed areas continue to expand outward, pressures mount on local farmers, ranchers, and rural land owners to sell their property for development. Developers can often afford to spend millions to purchase these lands for development projects. On the other hand, the local governments that would like to see these valuable lands preserved for future generations have difficulty finding competing financial resources with which to buy them. This is especially true of the most endangered lands; those under the most development pressure often command the highest prices.
| "Sprawl eats up our open spaces. It creates traffic jams that boggle the mind and pollute the air. Sprawl can make one feel downright claustrophobic about our future." Former New Jersey Governor, Christine Todd Whitman. |  |
Solution
There are a variety of open space preservation techniques available to local governments and a number of agencies and private entities can assist them with open space funding to preserve buffer zones, significant vistas, wildlife corridors, recreational lands, and agricultural lands. Private entities, such as land trusts, also operate independently of local governments to protect these lands.
Often the simplest and least controversial way to preserve land as open space is to buy it, although purchasing fee title to lands can be expensive.
Another alternative is to purchase the development rights to the property, leaving the property itself in the hands of the original owner or a subsequent purchaser while preventing development of the property. This practice can lead to a win-win situation for municipalities that don’t want to see neighboring farms, orchards, and ranches disappear. It can also benefit farmers, growers, and ranchers who want to keep working their land, but are feeling pressure to develop it for financial reasons. For portions of their land not being actively used for agriculture, selling the development rights can also ensure that agricultural landowners will not be taxed at the land’s speculative development value, which can be considerably higher.
Similar to purchasing development rights, governments can also negotiate conservation easements with landowners. Conservation easements are contractual agreements under which the landowner agrees not to develop the land in exchange for compensation. The property itself does not change hands, but the community is assured it will remain undeveloped and can also negotiate with the landowner for access to some or all of the lands.
Funds for all of these solutions can be raised through a simple sales or property tax. These local taxes are gaining in popularity in Colorado, with dozens having been established by local governments around the state. Other funds for land acquisition can be obtained through cooperative purchasing agreements with other neighboring government agencies, through the use of state funds like the Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) fund or with the brokerage and assistance of conservation-minded non-profit private entities like the Trust for Public Lands or The Nature Conservancy.
Applications
Local:
As with many things, the best first step for a local government concerned
about vanishing open space is to come up with a plan. The community should
integrate meaningful feedback from citizens, conservationists, and landowners
to create a vision regarding the open spaces your community cares about and
would like to see preserved. Parcels may be prioritized based on the level
of development pressure they are under or their importance to the community.
Communities may place an open space tax referendum on the ballot to ensure
that funding for preservation will be available or create annexation and development
codes that mandate a percentage of land be preserved as open space (or a cash
equivalent be paid to the community) as a condition of approval. Smart planning
for the long-term health of a community will not only preserve buffer zones
but will integrate green spaces throughout newly developed areas to ensure
they remain desirable places to live. Local governments in many areas have
found that setting aside a bit of the land in a new development may raise
the value of the remaining lands – which can be economically beneficial to
landowners and the community as long as adequate considerations are given
to affordable housing (see our “Affordable Housing Solutions” fact sheet).
In general, properties in proximity to open space often increase in value.
Communities may want to
contact neighboring governments to explain their plan and ask for cooperation
and assistance where mutual interests exist. Agreements like those between
the city of Erie and the city of Superior, for instance, have preserved a
significant amount of open space. The agreement designated lands for annexation
and lands for rural preservation which enabled Boulder County to purchase
a great deal of open space with both towns’ blessings.
State:
On the state level, the funding of programs like Great Outdoors Colorado should
be maintained and increased for lands acquisition and protection. Tax incentives
could also be devised and implemented to favor land preservation over land
development, and to encourage cooperative solutions like the purchase or transfer
of development rights and conservation easement agreements.
One benefit of conservation
easements and the purchase or transfer of development rights is that they
can create a system whereby farmers and other rural landowners benefit economically
from growth pressures exerted by urban areas.
 |
Across Colorado valuable open spaces and agricultural lands stand unprotected in the face of development pressures. |
Internet Resources
www.lta.org/regionallta/southwest.htm
Land Trust Alliance Southwest Program (Grand Junction, CO)
www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/colorado/
The Nature Conservancy, Colorado Chapter (6 locations in Colorado)
www.tpl.org
Trust for Public Land
www.farmland.org
American Farmland Trust: Rocky Mountain Region (Palisade, CO)
www.possibility.com/landtrust/
General land trust information
www.sprawl-busters.com
Sprawl Busters
Table of Contents | Introduction | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
