Open Space And Recreation Plan - Cms2.revize

SECTION II - Introduction A. Statement of Purpose The purpose of this updated Easton Open Space and Recreation Plan is to evaluate the town’s present open space holdings, to examine its resources, and to establish a long term vision for the town and then to establish goals and objectives and to recommend an action program in order to preserve the best of the town’s spaces, to retain significant landscape or recreational resources, and to facilitate a continuing process involving municipal, regional, and non-profit organizations and private individuals. More broadly the purpose is to build on the town’s progress directed by the 2001 Easton Open Space and Recreation Plan and to maximize the town’s eligibility for state and federal assistance. B. Planning Process, Public Participation and Recent Progress The plan is an update of the 2001 Open Space and Recreation Plan. It has been prepared by the Conservation Commission in cooperation with the town’s Recreation Commission, the Planning and Zoning Boards, the Department of Public Works, the Easton Natural Resources Trust, the Easton Commission on Disabilities and the Historical Commission. An Analysis of Needs questionnaire was given to attendees of the town Recreation Summit held in July 2007 as well as attendees of an Easton Chamber of Commerce meeting in Fall, 2007. The replies received helped in the preparation of this report. The town’s citizens have long been supportive of Easton’s open space acquisition and environmental protection, leading to considerable public participation in the planning process and related natural resource protection activities. Since the first plan in 1972, Easton has made steady progress in effecting the original Goals and Objectives. The implementation of the Plan has been steady with most public participation occurring during board or committee meetings. A range of specialized community groups and regional organizations have taken additional actions. Significant examples are the Areas of Critical Environmental Concern and the Sole Source Aquifer designations pursued by groups such as the Canoe River Aquifer Advisory Committee. The most notable of these achievements are the designation of two multi-community Areas of Critical Environmental Concern; the Hockomock Swamp designated in 1990 and the Canoe River Aquifer designated in 1992; the establishment of the Canoe River Aquifer Advisory Committee (CRAAC) by State Legislature in 1987; and the 1993 designation of the Canoe River Aquifer as a Sole Source Aquifer under the Committee’s leadership. These nominations received formal review from the Commonwealth including on-site visits, research, public hearing notifications, public hearings, written comment periods and notification to abutting cities and towns. The Open Space and Recreation Plan Town of Easton, MA April, 2008 Page 4

Canoe River ACEC was subsequently expanded in 1991 to include the downstream Lake Sabbatia /Watson Pond area in Taunton. The two ACEC’s comprise 8,960 acres in Easton. The ACEC designation triggers lower thresholds for environmental impact reviews by the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act (MEPA) Unit under the Secretary of Environmental Affairs and establishes higher standards for these reviews, thereby increasing the level of protection in these areas. The Easton Historical Commission was instrumental in researching and affecting designation of the North Easton National Historic District and the more recent Furnace Village National Historic District. The North Easton District is the second largest in the nation. It contains five H.H. Richardson buildings, several F. L. Olmsted landscapes, and all of the physical elements of a 19th century industrial village. These are discussed in Section IV-F-3. The Natural Resources Trust of Easton, Inc. is a private conservation group with a membership of 600 families. This organization has participated in developing Easton’s conservation and recreation plans since 1968. Beyond the planning stage, they have helped in the implementation of the plan by acquiring land. The extensive land acquisitions by the town, the Easton Natural Resources Trust and the state are described in Section V, the Inventory of Lands of Conservation and Recreation Interest. In April 2001, Easton adopted the Community Preservation Act. The Easton Community Preservation (CPA) Committee is established and functioning. In Fiscal 2006, with CPA funding, the town acquired a 40-acre parcel of land located on Dean Street for 1.375 million. This parcel is located entirely within the Hockomock Swamp area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), is adjacent to Wheaton Farm, and is surrounded on three sides by town-owned land. This parcel serves as a critical link in the “green” corridor that runs from the Hockamock Swamp to Wheaton Farm and onto Borderland State Park. The CPA Committee has been working with the Recreation Commission on a plan to create new playing fields. The CPA Committee approved the request of the Recreation Commission for up to 25,000 in CPA funds to review the possibility of creating new playing fields at the Foundry Street site the Town acquired several years ago for playing field development. The results of the study were reviewed by the Recreation Commission and they determined that this site is not conductive for recreation field placement. The CPA Committee continues to work with the Recreation Commission toward the creation of additional town playing fields. Summary of Actions Taken to Implement Recommendations of the 2001 Easton Open Space and Recreation Plan: Parcels have been acquired to implement the town’s greenbelt plan. Open Space and Recreation Plan Town of Easton, MA April, 2008 Page 5

The Easton section of the Bay Circuit Trail has opened. The Community Preservation Act Committee is working to address the need for increased conservation and recreation lands. Map of Areas of Critical Environmental Concerns follows. Open Space and Recreation Plan Town of Easton, MA April, 2008 Page 6

Open Space and Recreation Plan Town of Easton, MA April, 2008 Page 7

SECTION III – Community Setting A. Regional Context Easton is a residential and agricultural town of 18,842 acres or 29.44 square miles located approximately twenty-five miles southwest of Boston and adjacent to the City of Brockton. In addition to Brockton, the towns of Sharon, Stoughton, West Bridgewater, Raynham, Norton and Mansfield and the City of Taunton border it. Though originally a self-contained agricultural and manufacturing center, Easton has evolved largely into an upper income suburb with new residents generally coming from the Brockton area and from metropolitan Boston. Its location close to Route 24 encourages such growth of a Boston or Route 128 oriented population. The town’s attractive setting and good regional accessibility are reflected in its relatively affluent population. Its long history of support for open space, environmental protection and historical preservation activities strengthen this character and continue to attract like-minded residents. (See discussion of population characteristics under C. below). In addition Easton is within the Bay Circuit Greenbelt. The Bay Circuit Greenbelt was first proposed by the Secretary of Trustees of Reservations, Charles W. Eliot III, (later Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design) in the late 1950s. The concept is a wide, varied greenbelt extending from Crane’s Beach in Ipswich on the North Shore to Duxbury Beach on the South Shore and following a wide arc, roughly between the current Rtes. 128 and 495. The Circuit was to be a region-defining greenbelt in the British tradition, clearly demarcating the edge of the metropolitan area, offering a wide variety of connected landscapes, reservations, and recreation areas, and possibly traversing them with a parkway. Thus it complemented the Metropolitan Parks System conceived by Professor Eliot’s uncle and namesake, and operated by the Metropolitan District Commission. Professor Eliot’s advocacy led the Legislature to enact the system, in Chapter 631 of Acts of 1956. This designated 50 Bay Circuit Communities and enabled them to plan and implement “a system of privately and publicly owned open spaces, including parks, forests, reservoirs and wildlife preserves, scenic and historic sites and other properties and reservations surrounding metropolitan Boston ” but appropriated no money. In 1984, the General Court appropriated funds for Bay Circuit Open Space Planning but it earmarked no money for acquisition. The 1986-1988 local Bay Circuit Open Space plans identified opportunities to affect the Circuit on a town-by-town basis, generally at a smaller scale than the original concept. The resulting plans proposed many areas for protection and suggested ways of linking them, commonly along rivers or other linear elements. Easton had recently completed its 1982 plan and did not prepare a Bay Circuit Open Space Plan. More recently a citizens group, the Bay Circuit Alliance headed by Alan French of Andover, has Open Space and Recreation Plan Town of Easton, MA April, 2008 Page 8

continued the process by staging an annual Bay Circuit Trek to hike, paddle, bike or ride the emerging circuit, and to work with local officials on completing the system. To get a connection through Easton the Alliance proposed a west-east route across the top of the town linking Borderland State Park, the Picker Field area and other holdings and then running south along the unused railroad right-of-way to the Hockomock Swamp and then east on to West Bridgewater. This is a valuable concept but the town’s present proposals allow a much more extensive Circuit segment in character with the original concept. This would go from Borderland State Park to the Wheaton Farm via the proposed north-south Poquanticut Greenbelt, and then to the Hockomock Swamp Greenbelt. On Saturday, September 8, 2007 the Easton Bay Circuit Committee and Bay Circuit Alliance, Inc. celebrated the opening of the Easton section of the Bay Circuit Trail and Greenway. The eleven-mile pedestrian recreational trail runs from Borderland State Park in Sharon to West Bridgewater and connects many beautiful and historic properties in town. B. History of the Community Easton’s heritage begins long before the Europeans came to America. It was the northern border of the range of the Wampanoag Indians. The Bay Road Indian Trail, the main route between Rhode Island and Boston, passed directly through the town and was the main connection between Narragansett Bay and Massachusetts Bay. Some time after the King Phillip’s War ended in 1676, Easton attracted its first English settlers. They came for the waterpower that the three main streams offered, as well as the bog iron and farming land in the southern part of town. Easton was incorporated in 1725. The “Furnace Village” area in the southern portion of town began Easton’s iron heritage prior to the Revolutionary War and was named for the iron furnaces of the area. Cannons for George Washington’s army were cast at Perry’s Furnace. Even today, the remains of charcoal pits can still be seen. In addition musket parts were made at Quaker Leonard’s Forge in North Easton. Early in the 19th century, Easton was changed by the establishment of the Ames shovel business in North Easton. This prospered and by the end of the century it was the largest in the world. Production has since been consolidated in the firm’s later plants in the southeastern United States. Much of the Easton plant remains with a portion of it converted to the Shovel Shop Market Place. North Easton remains the town’s most densely developed residential area and contains its traditional civic center featuring a historic district with many significant buildings. The third generation of the Ames family, particularly Frederick Lothrop Ames, gifted the town with many architecturally significant buildings by hiring Henry Hobson Richardson to build the Town Hall, the library, the railroad station, the Gate Lodge, and Open Space and Recreation Plan Town of Easton, MA April, 2008 Page 9

the Gardener’s Cottage. Ames also retained the noted landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmstead, to landscape many North Easton properties. Six of Easton’s first seven families settled in South Easton in the 1690’s. Those claiming land in this area were William Hayward, the original owner of Simpson Spring, William Manley, and John Phillips, who was the first owner of the Morse Pond Area. To the east of this area was the land claimed by Clements Briggs, the first European man to settle in Easton, and Thomas Randall, Sr. The sixth owner, Thomas Drake, settled east of John Phillip’s property. Therefore, Settlers’ Pond is near the middle of the land developed in 1694 and 1695 by Easton’s first owners. Over time, South Easton grew into a major industrial area as the foundries were joined by firms including the Ross Heel Company, the J. O. Dean Mill, whose turbine Henry Ford purchased for his model 19th century village; the Easton Machine Company, maker of the Morse automobile; and the continuing Simpson Springs beverage plant. During the 20th century, Easton evolved into a bedroom community. Commercial and industrial growth has spread and become more highway oriented as discussed below in Section D. Growth and Development Patterns. Throughout this period much of Easton’s prevailing historic atmosphere has been preserved and there are several National Register Historic Districts. This character and the town’s relative proximity to Boston have kept it a desirable area in which to settle. New housing has been developed in former agricultural areas outside of the original centers with some multi-family development along major roads in the eastern portion of the town. Located in the northeast corner is Borderland State Park. The southeast corner which contains the largely state-owned Hockomock Swamp remains largely undeveloped. C. Population Characteristics The U.S. Census reports the town population at 22,299 in 2000.The U.S. Census estimated it at 23,031 on July 1, 2006. The first table below shows the town’s growth since 1960. It indicates that Easton’s absolute and proportional rate of growth has dropped considerably since 1980.The second table below shows the growth projections by the Old Colony Planning Council (OCPC). It shows continued growth at a declining rate. Easton Population Trends (1960-2000) Population % Change 1960 9,078 N/A 1970 12,157 33.9% 1980 16,623 36.7% 1990 19,807 19.1% 2000 22,299 12.6% Open Space and Recreation Plan Town of Easton, MA April, 2008 Page 10

OCPC Population Projections for Easton (2010-2025) 2010 22,299 14.69% Projection % Change 2020 25,576 11.28% 2025 28,461 5.06% ( ) Source: Community Information and Data, OCPC, 2006. The above projections reflect a population growing by 34.10% from the 1990 population to 2025. The projections assume that Easton is going to continue to grow, but at a slower rate than in the last few decades. In contrast to these projections, the Easton Town Planner using year 2000 Vacant Land Inventory information obtained from the Easton Assessor’s Office calculated a potential for 1,830 more housing units assuming the present zoning and no public sewers. However, detailed site analysis, particularly in wetlands, may lead to significant reductions in final approvable development. Similarly, the actual near-term developability of any parcels which lack direct road frontage will depend on the ability of owners to gain needed access through joint projects or land exchanges/sales. The 2000 population of 22,299 individuals over the town’s 29.44 square miles gives an overall density of 784.1 persons per square mile, or slightly over one person per acre. Since much of the town is still open its developed neighborhoods have densities of 1 to 5 housing units/acre. With the large lots required for new development, densities of typical neighborhoods are dropping as is discussed under Section III-D, Growth and Development Patterns, and Section VII, Analysis of Needs. Using Census data to identify possible patterns of need for open space and recreation facilities requires reviewing this data town-wide and on a neighborhood basis. Easton is divided into three U. S. Census tracts as shown on the following map: Tract 6001 comprises most of North Easton Tract 6002.02 includes most of South Easton Tract 6002.01 covers the western portions of the town The following table shows the population breakdown of each tract by age and sex. Year 2000 Population Characteristics by Tract Age 0-4 5-17 18-24 25-44 45-64 65 Totals % Town Total 458 1,311 435 1,960 1,738 869 6,771 33.04% 6001 (NE) Tract Male Female 209 682 233 967 858 358 3,307 249 629 202 993 880 511 3,464 Total 723 1,995 532 2,808 2,409 514 8,981 43.83% 6002.01 (WE) Tract Male Female 366 1,044 281 1,317 1,190 251 4,449 357 951 251 1,491 1,219 514 4,855 Total 6002.02 (SE) Tract Male Female 276 686 313 1,614 1,257 591 4,737 23.11% 149 358 160 806 579 256 2,308 127 328 153 808 678 335 2,429 Open Space and Recreation Plan Town of Easton, MA April, 2008 Page 11

Tract Population by Percentage 6001 (NE) Age 0-4 5-17 18-24 25-44 45-64 65 Totals Tract Total 6.8% 19.4% 6.4% 28.9% 25.7% 12.8% 100.0% Male 3.1% 10.1% 3.4% 14.3% 12.7% 5.3% 48.9% 6002.01 (WE) Female 3.7% 9.3% 3.0% 14.3% 13.0% 7.5% 50.8% Tract Total Male 8.1% 22.2% 10.2% 36.5% 19.2% 3.8% 100.0% 4.1% 11.6% 3.1% 14.7% 13.3% 2.8% 49.6% 6002.02 (SE) Female 4.0% 10.6% 2.8% 16.6% 13.6% 5.7% 51.4% Tract Total 6.7% 14.4% 9.6% 39.0% 21.2% 9.1% 100.0% Male Female 3.1% 7.6% 3.4% 17.0% 12.2% 5.4% 48.7% As can be seen, North Easton has the largest proportion of persons over 65 (12.8% and the smallest proportion under 18 (13.2%) while the growing western part of the town has the greatest concentration of youth (30.3% and the fewest elderly (3.8%). These patterns suggest that the greatest need for youth-oriented facilities will be in the outlying western, northeastern and eastern portions of the town, while the greatest need for facilities/programs for the elderly will be in the central area of the town around North Easton and South Easton. One preliminary implication of these data is that the tracts with 20% to 30% of the population under 18 years of age will be found to need more recreation space and facilities in the last 15 years. Other implications reflecting the present distribution of resources will be discussed under the Analysis of Needs. Housing and Income data can also suggest needs. The total number of housing units in Easton in the year 2000 was 7,631 based on U.S. Census figures. Of these 7,731 units, 142 were vacant. Of the remaining 7,489 occupied housing units, 5,575 were owneroccupied and 1,914 or 25.55% of the total were renter occupied. With a substantial number of rental units densely located on smaller parcels throughout the town, Easton has an interesting challenge to meet the diverse recreational needs of that particular constituency. Of the total family households in 2000 (5,575), 2,803 households or 50% have children under 18 years of age. This also creates a need for diverse open space/recreational activities for the youth of the community. Income and employment data can also suggest needs. The total number of Easton citizens who were employed in 2000 was 12,403, 67% of the population 16 years

This 2008 Easton Open Space and Recreation Plan was prepared with the participation of members and staff of the Easton Conservation and Recreation Commissions with review by the Easton Department of Planning and Community Development. Maps by Old Colony Planning Council and the Easton Department of Public Works. Conservation Commission