Voters favor open spaces
ROBERT MARCHANT
THE JOURNAL NEWS
November 9, 2000

One of biggest winners in Tuesday's local elections never shook a single hand or posted any campaign signs.

Local woodlands and fields -- open space -- came out on top with the electorate. Voters in seven Westchester County municipalities approved money to acquire open space, preserving it from commercial and residential development.

The total combined margin was 2-to-1 in favor of open space acquisition in those communities. Policymakers and environmentalists saw that as proof that preservation efforts aimed at shaping development in an environmentally friendly fashion have become a hit with voters, regardless of party affiliation or political persuasion.

"We've never had seven towns in one county follow suit,'' said Paul Gallay, executive director of the Westchester Land Trust. "It's unprecedented.''

The question of whether to collect money to buy open space was put before voters in six northern Westchester towns -- Bedford, Lewisboro, North Salem, Pound Ridge, Somers and Yorktown -- and one central Westchester village, Irvington. The communities will raise about $17 million in total for that purpose. The town of Greenburgh also approved an open-space fund in 1997.

Gallay said he saw Republicans and Democrats come together on the preservation issue, which can cross political, economic and demographic boundaries at a grassroots level.

"It's really the intersection of two movements, that preserving the environment means protecting the community," he said, "It's a quality of life issue."

For many voters who switched on the "yes'' column Tuesday, the open space question hit close to home.

"People come here because of a certain character in town,'' said Dean Travalino, a South Salem resident. He opposed an earlier plan to borrow $8 million for open space acquisition within the town as too expensive, but voted for the $2 million fund on Tuesday's ballot.

"We have to manage growth carefully, and I look at this as a good start,'' said Travalino, whose wife enjoys horseback riding on local trails.

The price of the open space acquisition will cost taxpayers anywhere between $30 to $153 a year in the years to come. That amount seemed like a good deal to advocates who pushed for the referendums' passage.

"It's an investment in the future of our towns," said Paul Moskowitz of Yorktown. "It may cost us money up front, but it will save us money in the future. Development always costs something. It does not pay for itself.''

Only communities facing heavy development pressure on the East End of Long Island have seen such a local rush to buy up remaining open space, but the number and scope of the Westchester initiatives have even surpassed those efforts, according to environmentalists. Elected officials appear to be listening closely to the people in moving preservation efforts along.

"It was a strong message sent by the voters,'' said Garrard Beeney, a trustee in Irvington who oversaw the referendum there. "It shows strong support to protect land, which, once it is developed, can never be reclaimed.''