How can a city be progressive AND regressive? Give it 34 years! In 1969, the city of Schenectady's city council felt there was a "great shortage of vacant land in the city of Schenectady available for municipal purposes." It then unanimously passed an ordinance (#15232) stating there was a growing need to "... set aside a sizeable plot of land to be utilized for public purposes." Today, the city fathers feel there is no shortage, or a sudden quantity of new public vacant land has turned up somewhere in the city?
This public reserve is located in Schenectady's Woodlawn area, off the King's Highway (Albany Street), on the Albany-Schenectady county border and part of the rich ecologically diverse Pine Bush section that stretched between the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys for thousands of years, and even existed in Troy up to colonial times. It is the home of many rare and endangered species including the federally protected Karner Blue Butterfly.
Ironically, this decision is occurring at a time when the suburban capitals of Malta, Clifton Park, and Saratoga County, after realizing that they are running out of open space, are scrambling to buy up what is left of their remaining open space - for millions of dollars.
In a blatantly stupid move, the city of Schenectady is planning on giving away this 34-year-old, 130-acre reserve to a "preferred" developer to blanket with 200 single family houses. Their attitude is sell off public land to make up for their financial shortfall, not to mention vision, and is not only shortsighted but also criminal - and I mean that literally.
They should read their own ordinance. It states, "The plots of land now owned by the City of Schenectady in the above described area of Woodlawn shall not be sold, but shall be retained by the municipality for public purposes and further that any additional plots acquired by it in this area shall be treated in the same manner and shall be held for public purposes." Sounds pretty clear to me that not only would they be breaking their own law, but there is also the matter of the State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA to deal with today. At a minimum, the city would have to conduct a complete environmental review of this project, and if they don't, I will bet money that some unhappy neighbors will be filing an article 78 legal proceeding against them - and it's a slam-dunk.
Moreover, I took a tour of the site on Saturday with a group of interested people. We found a number of typical Pine Bush plants including flowering wild blue lupine, and what appeared to be a male Karner Blue butterfly (it didn't land long enough but had all the behavioral traits), and its adult nectar source, New Jersey Tea. If there is indeed a Karner Blue population there, I think the Feds will have a say about the project. Did I mention that most of the site is declared wetlands by DEC, and there are a couple of lakes, and a detention pond on the site?
The city claims the development will generate $1 million in new tax revenue! If you think housing developments reduce taxes, I have some land in the Atlantic I'll sell you. There have been enough studies over the years that show that residential developments COST a community, not reduce taxes, especially when you add fire and police protection, and other services (Let's not even talk about the issue of schools and school taxes). Two hundred single-family homes, averaging in price between 125-175k, will not increase the city's coffers, no matter what they say. Let me illustrate, In Wake County, North Carolina, a recent study showed that for every dollar in property taxes and other revenues collected from residential sources, the County spent $1.54 providing services to those properties. In nearby Williamstown Mass, for every dollar generated from residential land uses, the community spends $1.11 on providing services. There are many other examples of this type of analysis.
It seems to me that the only smart thing to do here is declare the reserve part of the larger Pine Bush preserve, manage it as such, and finally become part of the movement to preserve this ecologically fragile area. This is a no brainer for Schenectady. The city already owns it as a "reserve," and I'm sure the Pine Bush Commission or Nature Conservancy would accept management duties. I would think that Mayor Al would like everyone to believe that his legacy as Mayor of this 342 old historic city will be remembered as a time when he showed progressive leadership. I hope he proves me right. After all, the Al Jurczynski Pine Bush Reserve doesn't sound half bad.