Welcome to The Open Space Advocate Newsletter and website focusing on open space issues in North Castle, NY and the surrounding communities.
Located in Northern Westchester, New York, the town of North Castle consists of 16,776 acres. Known for its stunning rock outcroppings, wooded vistas, and semi-rural character, North Castle has seen an explosion of growth in recent years. From the years 1950 to 2000 the population of North Castle nearly tripled, growing from 3,855 to 10,849 people. From 1996 to 1999, building permits for single family homes averaged about 70 per year. North Castle has surpassed seven surrounding towns in the total number of building permits it has issued since 1990. Alarmed by the explosion of growth in the town and the schools, residents of North Castle voiced their desire to preserve North Castle's open space on numerous occasions. This resulted in both the passage of the $3 Million Dollar Open Space Bond Referendum in November 2004, and a town wide building moratorium shortly thereafter.
Open space means different things to different people. It may mean parks, preserves, playing fields, historic areas, or simply some green space in the middle of a shopping district that helps a town preserve its own special look and feel. These are all examples of open space.
Because only 1,882 acres of the town are specifically preserved as open space in the form of parks and preserves, residents need to get involved and up to date about important parcels of unprotected open space and current plans to develop them. Only by voicing our opinions frequently to the town decision makers can we help to preserve the beauty of North Castle.
It has been said that land in our town is gold. Therefore we need to treat and protect the land as the asset that it is before all the gold is gone. Get informed, then get involved.
Sincerely,
Kerri A. Kazak, Editor
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