Erie advisory board to recommend protections for town-owned open space

Erie’s Open Space and Trails Advisory Board will work with town staff and the town attorney to recommend which town-owned properties may warrant stronger open-space protections and what tools could provide them. Town Council would decide whether to pursue the recommendations and commit staff resources. The process emerged from an Oct. 21 joint study session with the Planning Commission, where participants made no policy change or property designation, according to the session recording.

The review is townwide and separate from the earlier Cole Creek parcel rezoning recommendation. Participants discussed starting with the town’s existing parcel inventory and potentially adapting the advisory board’s scoring system for prospective acquisitions. A town presentation also listed possible approaches: zoning changes, conservation easements, a Charter amendment or an ordinance requiring voter approval for certain town-owned properties. These were options for consideration, not adopted measures, the presentation says.

Article 11 of the town Charter requires an inventory of vacant land the town owns. It says Town Council periodically decides whether to designate land as open space after receiving recommendations from the advisory board and staff. Once designated, land cannot be sold, rezoned, redesignated or moved to another land-use category without voter approval. The Charter does not define “open space” or set criteria for which properties should receive the designation, the Charter text says.

No town properties are currently zoned Reserved Open Space, the most restrictive district discussed at the session. Town-owned open-space properties have varied zoning, including Agricultural Open Space. Reserved Open Space allows parks and open-space uses; parking lots may be allowed through special review. Participants discussed whether uses such as grazing fit the district and how the Charter’s voter-approval protection applies when the meaning and scope of “open space” remain unsettled.

Staff said the review is not currently included in the Parks and Recreation Department’s 2027 work plan. An inventory could draw on town geographic information system records, while rezoning would require more detailed surveys and exhibits. Council set no budget or schedule, and participants suggested—but did not set a date for—a future joint session with Council.