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Metropolitan Area Planning Council planners present draft open-space plan to Essex; residents press for resiliency and park repairs
Summary
Planners presented a draft 10-year Open Space and Recreation Plan that updates Essex's land inventory, summarizes nearly 400 survey responses and proposes five goals on conservation, recreation, outreach, governance, and inventory maintenance; residents urged stronger links to watershed resiliency and repairs at Memorial Park. The team will post materials online and aims to submit the draft to the state by the end of June.
Planners leading Essex's Open Space and Recreation Plan (OSRP) update laid out a draft that inventories conservation and recreation lands, summarizes public input and recommends five goals to guide the town's next decade of green-space management.
John Cruz, senior housing and land use planner at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, said the OSRP is a 10-year strategic document that helps the town prioritize projects and remain eligible for certain state grants. "This is the community's plan. This is the community's vision for what needs to happen in order to keep all these open spaces and recreation spaces here in good shape," Cruz said.
The presentation summarized nearly a year of data work and outreach: environmental analyses, an updated open-space inventory and almost 400 usable survey responses gathered online and at in-person events such as ClamFest. Planners said some additions in the inventory were new acquisitions while others were data corrections; they pointed to examples such as Cogwell's grant and newly recorded municipal parcels.
Planners grouped draft recommendations under five goals: A) protect, preserve and enhance conservation areas and scenic open spaces; B) improve and expand recreational opportunities and access; C) expand public education and awareness; D) strengthen town capacity and governance for open-space preservation; and E) update and maintain the open-space inventory. Each goal includes specific strategies and proposed actions, and the project team asked attendees to prioritize strategies using Zoom polls.
Key findings and priorities from the presentation included strong community support for environmental protection and biodiversity, widespread concern that some facilities need reinvestment (tennis courts and playgrounds were repeatedly cited), interest in improved water access (Chebacco Lake and riverfront areas), and demand for better bicycle and trail connections. Planners noted existing partnerships with local nonprofits (for example, Manchester Essex Conservation Trust and Essex County Greenbelt) and with the Manchester-Essex School District on athletic-field needs.
Several residents offered public comment. Dave Lash of the Tobacco Lake and Watershed Association urged that the OSRP explicitly connect open-space decisions with wetlands protection, watershed management and climate resiliency. "How does open space relate to wetlands protection, watershed management and climate resiliency?" Lash asked, arguing those links should be elevated in the plan. Planners responded that the town is preparing a separate MVP 2.0 resiliency plan and said they would add narrative cross-references to ensure coordination.
Mike Strowman, who said he has followed local input around Memorial Park, asked planners to emphasize accessibility and to consider restoring an abandoned tennis court at Memorial Park. He offered to share results from a separate informal survey of 67 respondents; planners said they would review any submitted materials for possible inclusion.
Presenters closed by saying the meeting recording, slides and poll results will be posted on the project website within days and that a standalone survey link will be available for those who could not attend. The team plans to solicit written public comment on the draft in early June, make revisions and submit the OSRP to the state for review by the end of June, subject to the normal state review process.
No formal votes were taken at the meeting. The project team encouraged continued public input by email and public comment forms on the project website.
