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MAPC maps Rockland’s flood risk, aquifers and open-space protections; community feedback requested
Summary
MAPC’s OSRP mapping highlighted recent growth in environmental-justice block groups, localized flood risk near ponds and brooks, aquifers near Market Street, and limited protections for several local parks; staff asked residents to flag mapping errors and to help refine the inventory.
Avanti, MAPC’s open-space and recreation lead, presented the OSRP mapping required by the state and walked residents through environmental-justice updates, soil and floodplain maps, aquifer locations, and levels of land protection.
MAPC showed that the town’s environmental-justice footprint increased between the 2010 and 2020 census layers used for the OSRP, adding several block groups since the last plan. Avanti said the Nature Conservancy’s resilient-and-connected network identified Beach Hill Swamp as the local area with relatively high resilience for biodiversity under climate change scenarios.
The maps also called out soil types that affect development feasibility — sand-and-gravel areas that are easier to develop but require groundwater management and till/bedrock areas where development costs are higher — and highlighted flood-risk zones associated with French Stream, Cushing Brook and other waterways. Avanti noted aquifers near Market Street that serve groundwater resources used by neighboring towns.
MAPC categorized open-space protection levels, showing some parcels protected in perpetuity but many others with limited or no protection. The presentation identified limited-protection sites such as Maplewood Cemetery and playgrounds at Memorial Park and R. Stewart Etson Elementary School, and flagged Harmon Golf and Fitness Center as a large area with no permanent protection. Staff repeatedly invited residents to flag mapping errors; during Q&A Mary Parsons asked MAPC to check the French Stream labeling and the mapping of Studley Pond (also called Reed’s Pond), which MAPC said it would correct as part of the public-input process.
MAPC emphasized that these maps are draft and that community input will help refine scenic-site designations, specific inventory entries, and the OSRP’s 10-year action agenda. The team committed to updating layers where state data mislabels features and to using the online open house and follow-up interviews to verify locally important sites.
Next steps: MAPC will publish an online open house and accept corrections and nominations for conservation and recreation inventory items, then fold community corrections into the OSRP inventory and the 10-year action plan.
