Natural Resources Chapter of the Master Plan - Town of Wolfeboro

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Natural Resources Chapter, Wolfeboro, NH 12.1 TOOLS TO PROTECT CRITICAL CO-OCCURRING RESOURCES The Critical Co-Occurring Resource Analysis quickly points to those areas of significant value to the Town of Wolfeboro, based on the criteria used to develop the model. Any area with a score of greater than 5 should be considered critical resources to receive long-term protection. Measures that can be used to protect these resources are: Outright purchase by the Town of Wolfeboro or other Land Protection Agency with conservation restrictions. These critical resources could become priority areas to guide the Conservation Commission in the development of a conservation land protection strategy for the Town of Wolfeboro. Purchase of a conservation easement by the Town of Wolfeboro or other Land Protection Agency and development of a management plan with the subject landowners to ensure that the critical resources on the subject parcel are properly managed and/or protected. Large lot zoning already is in place within a portion of the Pine River watershed (Agricultural District) and could be expanded to include larger parcels along Ryefield Brook and Clay Pit Brook which are located in the same general area of the Town but which are currently located in the Rural Residential District (Figure 21 – Wolfeboro Zoning Map). Develop a Critical Resources Co-Occurring Zoning Overlay District which would spell out buffers and permitted uses within these special resource areas. Riparian buffer zones for critical resources should be a minimum of 100‟ for the protection of these most sensitive resources. Land preservation opportunities along critical aquatic resources may be eligible for funding through the NHDES Aquatic Resource Mitigation Fund. These grant rounds are released once each year in March if the HUC 8 watershed has accumulated enough funds to warrant release. The NHDES website has application forms and selection criteria guidelines that can help with determining if the project is a good fit or not for the ARM Fund program. Projects that include restoration of as well as protection of the aquatic resource will score higher than those that only propose one or the other. 12.2 CONSTRAINTS TO DEVELOPMENT Another GIS analysis that can be used as a planning tool is to create an overlay of all known constraints to development and to use this analysis to develop a plan for the responsible development of areas not so constrained. Figures 22 & 23 display the results of such an analysis. On Figure 22, each of the following land constraints are displayed with their own Natural Resources Inventory, Wolfeboro, NH 61
Natural Resources Chapter, Wolfeboro, NH unique symbol for easy identification of the constraint. On Figure 23, the constraints are treated equally as one GIS layer with no differentiation between type of constraint. Constrained lands for the purpose of this analysis were considered to be the following: Steep Slopes (greater than 15%) Prime Wetlands Wetlands Shoreland District Municipal Watershed District 50‟ Riparian Buffer of all Lakes & Ponds, except Back Bay and Upper Beech Pond Conservation Lands Lands Already Developed (includes building footprints and roads) Aquifer Overlay District 12.3 CONSTRAINED LANDS The Constrained Lands Analysis Map displayed on Figure 23 highlights those areas where development should be discouraged. In general this analysis picked up most of the Critical Co- Occurring Resource Areas but in general the largest areas of land without constraints are in the northeast corner of Wolfeboro which is currently designated as the Agricultural District and the Rural Residential District. Due to the presence of large unfragmented land blocks in these areas and the concentration of NHNHB species of concern and the relatively high valued Critical Co- Occurring Resources in these areas, it seems as though the current Zoning will help to protect those areas from intense development provided that the spirit and intent of the zoning districts are upheld. Wolfeboro zoning measures currently in place are intended to encourage increased density of development close to existing services and to discourage development in those areas farther away from existing services. This strategy is sound but does mean that denser development is encouraged in the watersheds of Lake Winnipesaukee and Lake Wentworth. Most of the Lake Winnipesaukee shoreline is already developed but the Lake Wentworth shoreline and riparian buffer zone within 150‟ should continue to managed in strict adherence to the measures within the Shoreland Protection District. Natural Resources Inventory, Wolfeboro, NH 62
Page 1 and 2:
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire Natural Re
Page 3 and 4:
Natural Resources Chapter, Wolfebor
Page 5 and 6:
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18: Natural Resources Chapter, Wolfebor
Page 67: Natural Resources Chapter, Wolfebor
Page 85: Natural Resources Chapter, Wolfebor
show all

Natural Resources Chapter of the Master Plan - Town of Wolfeboro

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?