A trail at Warren Woods Preserve in Scarborough in 2022, one of the town’s conserved open spaces. Drew Johnson / Leader

The town of Scarborough is seeking feedback from residents on a draft of its Open Space Plan before finalizing and presenting it to the Town Council for adoption next month.

The goal of the plan, being developed by the ad hoc Open Space Committee, is to come up with an inventory of open space and provide recommendations on how and where Scarborough can achieve its 30-by-30 goal – conserving 30% of its land by 2030.

The town’s Conservation Commission works to help identify parcels of land to conserve en route to the 30-by-30 goal.

“(The commission) really brought to the forefront that we haven’t done a comprehensive plan around our open space since the late 90s,” Jami Fitch, the town’s sustainability coordinator, told the Leader on Monday. “The Open Space Plan provides us with a baseline of where we are in terms of our land protection currently and how much more we need to protect in order to achieve that 30-by-30 goal.”

Currently, 24% of the town’s total area – or roughly 7,500 acres – is either under conservation or reserved as open or recreational spaces. However, the plan is designed to not only help achieve the 30-by-30 goal but potentially exceed it.

A map of protected land in Scarborough. Yellow represents federally protected land, red marks municipal conservation, teal represents designated open space; purple represents private conservation; and green is land under state protection. Open Space Plan / Town of Scarborough

“We still have five more years to get to the 30-by-30 goal, but then it’s not like the Open Space Plan and its recommendations will be obsolete,” said Town Councilor Karin Shupe, the council’s liaison to the committee. “I think we can slowly plug away with all of the recommendations they have within (the plan) and make some really great forward progress for Scarborough.”

The plan goes beyond conservation and acquiring open space as well. Fitch said it can aid the town in developing a “comprehensive open space network” which can help to create better access from parcel to parcel – not only for people, but wildlife as well.

Shupe and Fitch both noted the Open Space Plan coincides with other town projects such as its vulnerability assessment and Transportation Network Study.

“A big piece of the vulnerability assessment is looking at … flooding – where it’s already happening and where it is likely to happen in the future,” Fitch said. “There are undeveloped parcels in the area that are already prone to flooding or will become prone. Those are going to be areas that will be key to protect.”

When it comes to the transportation study, trail networks and connectivity are themes it shares with the Open Space Plan.

“The Open Space Plan includes a recommendation to develop a trail network master plan to map and understand the formal and informal trails throughout town,” said Planning Director Autumn Speer. “That effort, if moved forward, will be informed by the work already completed with the town-wide transportation assessment in regard to available bicycle and pedestrian improvements and help prioritize missing connections.”

The Open Space Plan outlines many strategies to achieve the town’s conservation goals and the committee is looking for residents to help them prioritize which to follow first.

“Should we prioritize the habitat, agriculture and forestry, recreation?” Shupe said. “There are other topics within that like water quality, mental health and sea level rise.”

In addition to resident feedback, which is due by Wednesday, Jan. 15, Shupe said she is eager for her fellow councilors to weigh in.

“I’m really anxious to get it before the council and get their feedback as well,” she said. “I want to hear where (they think) we should focus with such a big plan.”

The plan can be viewed and feedback can be provided by going to the town’s website, scarboroughmaine.org, navigating to the “Open Space Plan” page and clicking “review the draft plan.”