Gardner MA Open Space and Recreation Plan Public Meeting June 1, 2023
Complete Plan in pdf format, CLICK HERE. Listen to the meeting on any device. CLICK PLAY
The Meeting: This specific meeting concerns updating the initial 1986 Open Space Recreation Plan for the City of Gardner which has had various updates in 1994, 2000, 2006 and 2015. This is the plan dated April 2023 for which eventual City Council approval will be sought. The City of Gardner uses the Tighe & Bond firm for this plan as well as plans for Monument Park, the Park Street Park, Maki Park. Etc. This specific meeting involved a presentation by Arica McCarthy, a planner with Tighe & Bond. The first part is her presentation followed by questions and answers and comments from the public. Link to video
Interactive Map: Current Parks, Open Space, and Trails, CLICK HERE.
Conservation page, City of Gardner website, CLICK HERE.
Background: Gardner Massachusetts periodically updates its open space and recreation plans based on input from citizens. Important facts to note: The Gardner City Council is the approving authority for the plan and no property is considered “permanent open space” unless and until the actual property deed has a mandatory conservation provision on it. Therefore, the parcels Mayor Nicholson proposed to be changed from residential to commercial are not currently open space, even though they might be used as such simply because they are not used for anything specific at the moment. And lastly, any Zoning change would have to be approved by the City Council. Also, any proposed building must go through the permitting process which involves the Building Department and perhaps the Conservation Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Persons having any questions regarding the status of specific parcels are suggested to inquire via the Building Department. The Department of Economic Development and Planning can answer questions regarding businesses and industry who wish to locate in Gardner.
CPA: Gardner can participate in the Community Preservation Act by raising money through a surcharge of up to 3 % of the real estate tax levy and using the funds for open space protection, recreation, historic preservation, and the provision of affordable housing. When it does so, there is a significant matching fund from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue which can be used to purchase land to protect existing and future water supply areas, purchase land for active and passive recreational uses, and park equipment and other capital improvements.
The Committee’s work: Members of the OSRP Committee include David Orwig, Norman Beauregard, Trevor Beauregard, Rob Oliva, Steve Cormier, Sophie Dorow, Anna Wilkins, Ron Cormier, and Steve Rockwood, plus Gordon Leedy and Arica McCarthy from Tighe & Bond. Meetings this time around were held beginning in April 2022 with an initial 4 committee meetings on different dates, a public meeting in August 2022, 4 committee meetings between December 2022 and March 2023, and this meeting with the Planning Board, City Council, Conservation Commission and Public Hearing on June 1, 2023.
Survey: As part of the process, a resident survey was conducted asking people to select the top 3 recreation facility improvements “you feel are needed in Gardner” — The Top 10 items were:#1: Additional/Improved City Sidewalks – 104, #2: Additional/Improved Children’s… – 90, #3: Additional natural conservation – 85, #4: Improvements to Greenwood Pool – 79, #5, Additional neighborhood parks: – 69, #6: Access to Camp Collier/Lake Wampanoag – 63, #7: Improvements to Dunn Pond – 42, #8 Additional bike paths – 42, #9: Better access to Otter River – 34, and #10: Mountain biking trails – 22.