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PONC report urges council to consider individual property resolutions; department to increase owner outreach
Summary
Ben Shapiro presented the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission annual report and said multiple properties (seven areas identified) are nominated for potential acquisition; the Department of Finance will strengthen outreach to property owners and the commission asked council to consider individual resolutions.
Ben Shapiro, program manager for the PONC team in the Department of Finance, briefed the committee on the PONC annual report and nominations, stressing the commission’s volunteer work and its ranked recommendations. “We did add one question asking nominators if the owner of the property was in agreement or aware of this nomination,” Shapiro said, explaining the change was added to avoid surprising owners and to provide the county greater certainty when properties move forward for acquisition.
Shapiro said the nomination cycle produced multiple candidate areas—he referenced seven prioritized areas in the report—and said the Department of Finance intends to participate more directly in site visits during future cycles so staff can build relationships with property owners and understand acquisition feasibility before council considers resolutions. “That’s where we want to go, and I would say historically the department has participated in some site visits,” he said, adding that the department is still determining how many of the current nominations have willing owners.
Council members praised the commission’s time‑intensive site visits and asked about property‑owner engagement and funding priorities; Shapiro said the commission primarily handled engagement during the nomination cycle, and department participation will increase going forward.
The committee voted to close the file on communication 757.
