Five Innovative Ideas For Funding Parks And Open Space

Article by Christopher Rizzo ¹

I. INTRODUCTION

New York State and its municipalities are not likely to have adequate revenues to support maintenance or expansion of parks and open space in the next decade. Declining income and property taxes, a cap on property taxes, and constitutional debt limits will severely constrain state and local spending for the next ten years. These constraints come after two decades of aggressive expansion of the parks and open space system. The problem is plain: government must now do "more with less," and this will require creativity on the part of municipal and land-use lawyers. This article therefore considers five alternative revenue strategies that show promise for leveraging private dollars for public parks and protected open space. They include (1) strategic sale or lease of parkland subject state legislative approval; (2) commercial uses of parkland; (3) transfers of development rights and related zoning concepts; (4)