Greenprint addition alludes to extension of bike path
by STEVEN JAGORD
Editor
The Town of Clarence added a large parcel to its Greenprint program at the Town Board meeting on April 24 after a presentation by the Western New York Land Conservancy, and it stands to become a major player for connecting portions of the town’s bike path.
Currently vacant except for a section that has been leased for corn grown by the Kelkenberg family, the roughly 66-acre lot features many attributes the conservancy values highly when deciding which areas to advocate for to remain undeveloped.
“What I want to point out is how it’s connected with other protected properties, and that’s really, really important from an ecological point of view and also from preserving the rural character,” said Kathleen McCormick, stewardship director with the Land Conservancy.
McCormick described to the board and audience members the major attributes that make the parcel located south of Clarence Center Road and east of Strickler Road ideal for Clarence’s Greenprint program. They include water purity, as the majority of the property is wetlands.
“Water quality, having a wetland in a forest, which provides a natural buffer to that wetland, and then the creek running through that wetland is very, very important to water quality,” McCormick said. “The wetland acts as a filter for water quality.
“Having a forest and a wetland provides very, very diverse habitat with lots and lots of species and a very mature forest with oak, maple and beech trees in the forest. This is very, very good wildlife habitat; all these plants support a variety of wildlife species, and again it’s a perfect place for those species to live.”
McCormick said it’s an all-around perfect fit, both with what the town aims to achieve with its Greenprint program and what the conservancy hopes to see municipalities strive to preserve.
“It’s a lovely piece of property that provides working farmland, diverse wildlife habitat and water quality protection for the Town of Clarence,” she said.
One resident who attended the meeting expressed interest in purchasing some of the land for his horses, while another raised concerns about a north-south bike path extension eventually being installed in the parcel near his own adjacent property.
Deputy Town Attorney Steve Bengart explained that specifics for use aren’t available yet, but one of the purposes of the Greenprint program is to provide access to the public for recreational purposes, which may include an extension of the town’s bike path. Other than that, most development projects would be prohibited.
“The plan is to purchase the property as Greenprint,” Bengart said. “A small piece would be set aside that we would make a determination on so that we could consider putting a bike path somewhere in a logical, reasonable spot on the property.
“My concern would be that under the Greenprint program if we would be able to even consider selling [a resident] something that he would want to put horses with fences on.”
Currently the town has multiple sections of bike path that are not fully connected, and the parcel purchased could provide a significant connection piece.
“We don’t have a specific spot in mind yet,” Bengart said. “But we would try to connect it with the other parcels we purchased.
“Any time we have bought one of these parcels in the last 10 years since I have been involved, we not only look at the possibility of the green space but also how to connect it so our citizens can use the bike path so they can enjoy the land that we are purchasing to keep forever green or forever wild or whatever it might be.”
Started in 2002, the Greenprint program strives to preserve as much open space as possible through land purchases.
Town Supervisor Dave Hartzell praised the addition as a needed connection for residents who use the path and then have to make irritating detours not only out of the way, but sometimes alongside busy roadways.
“The one thing we really lack right now is a good north-south link,” Hartzell said. “Right now if you’re on the bike path you have to go all the way out to Akron so this would make perfect sense in the scope of the whole bike path.”