evaluation criteria

Criteria for Evaluating
Land Protection Projects

RICHMOND LAND TRUST

The Richmond Land Trust is organized to "help preserve important lands in the Town of Richmond and to provide guidance for planned development which will be in harmony with the traditional, rural and scenic character of the Town." Generally, protecting important lands and scenic values in Richmond means maintaining the hay meadows, pasture lands and undeveloped, natural lands that are located throughout the Town.

Because the Trust has been granted appropriate federal tax status, tax incentives are available to many people who protect open land. At the same time, we also have a legal and ethical obligation to be sure that our land protection programs result in real public benefits, and that the land protection obligations which the Trust assumes in perpetuity can be carried out and will not be unduly difficult to enforce. Therefore, we evaluate every potential project with great care.

A. Considerations that contribute to significant public benefit.

Conditions that tend to establish the significant public benefit of protecting a property are identified below. Sometimes one factor alone is adequate, sometimes a combination is considered. Each proposal is evaluated on its own merits after careful investigation of the property and its resources.

1. The property is in active farming or other agricultural use.

2. Much of the property is visible from public roads or public areas.

3. Much of the property remains in relatively natural, undisturbed condition.

4. The property includes or buffers important wildlife habitat.

5. The property contains exemplary ecosystems or natural features.

6. The property shares a boundary with, is in close proximity to or provides access to other properties previously preserved or that are likely to be preserved in the foreseeable future.

7. The property is situated such that its development would obstruct or diminish scenic views or would interfere with views across already protected open space.

8. The property is of sufficient size that its conservation resources are likely to remain intact, even if adjacent properties are developed.

9. The property is valuable to Richmond as open space due to its proximity to developing areas or its prominent position in how residents perceive our community.

B. Considerations that may preclude Land Trust involvement.

The following circumstances may lead to the Board's decision not to pursue a proposed project. Such a decision is not a criticism of the proposal, since the Land Trust believes that almost all open space in Richmond is valuable. Rather, it reflects the Board's conclusion that the proposal does not fall within the specific purposes of the Richmond Land Trust or does not provide sufficient public benefit.

1. The property's values are primarily scenic, but the property cannot be readily viewed by the general public.

2. The property is small, and there is little likelihood of adjacent properties being protected.

3. Adjacent properties are being developed in a way that is likely to significantly diminish the conservation values of the property in question.

4. The landowner insists on provisions in a conservation easement that the Trust believes would seriously diminish the property's primary conservation values.

5. There is reason to believe that the easement would be unusually difficult to enforce due to multiple or fractured ownerships, unusual provisions, irregular configuration, excessive enforcement costs, etc.

6. The proposed open space is part of a development proposal which, overall, is likely to have significant adverse impacts on conservation resources and which the Trust cannot therefore endorse.

7. A hazardous waste survey has been conducted and a determination made that a significant problem exists.

Amendments:

Amended 2/20/99 to add item B.7.

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