Pike open spaces plan

By TOM KANE

MILFORD, PA - Pike County needs to move quickly to preserve open spaces as the county is growing rapidly. And the county has a plan to do so.

Sally Corrigan, Pike County Director of Planning, presented two maps and a new open space plan at the meeting of the Pike County Commissioners on June 4 to make just that point. The maps, part of the newly published Pike County Open Space, Greenways and Recreational Plan, highlight potential areas in the county where open space initiatives and land-owner stewardship projects could be best achieved.

“This doesn’t mean that the landowners at these sites are going to join us or have already joined our open space efforts,” Corrigan said. “We are only going to work with willing landowners.”

Private property rights are of tremendous importance to the people of Pike County, she said. “To support this right, the county has adopted a policy that acknowledges that all landowners are land stewards and all land conservation will be through partnerships with willing participants.

The open space plan and its maps could encourage landowners to get on board and help create scenic byways and connected green areas, she said. It will be used as a reference by county officials, municipalities, developers, land owners and other interested parties.

The aim is to create a network of green areas or open spaces that could stretch across the county.

The network means that areas identified on the map could interconnect in a hub and spoke pattern, Corrigan said. “The hubs would be the large preserved areas like the Delaware Water Gap National Park, state game lands or state parks. The spokes would be the connecting greenways, trails or scenic byways, many of which have yet to be developed or preserved,” she said.

Part of the county’s comprehensive plan, which was completed in 2006, the open space plan and map will appear on the county website, www.pikepa.com, next week. County residents have the opportunity to comment on the plan and offer their reaction between July 19 and August 4.