Comprehensive Plan Update
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Town of Smithtown COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE VOLUME III DRAFT NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES STUDY Planning and Community Development Comprehensive Planning Series Town of Smithtown Comprehensive Plan Update VOLUME III DRAFT NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES STUDY Prepared by: Planning and Community Development August 2007 2 Town of Smithtown Comprehensive Plan Update VOLUME III DRAFT NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES STUDY TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION 3 II. NATURAL RESOURCES 4 A. LAND 5 Soil 6 Geology 6 Topography 10 B. WATER 14 Surface Water 14 Wetlands 17 Groundwater 19 Flood Hazard Areas 23 C. WILDLIFE AND VEGETATION 26 Vegetation 27 D. AIR AND CLIMATE 34 Climate 34 Air Quality 36 E. NATURAL RESOURCE SUMMARY 37 III. CULTURAL RESOURCES 37 A. COMMUNITY IDENTITY STANDARDS 38 B. HISTORIC RESOURCES 42 C. SCENIC RESOURCES 46 D. CULTURAL RESOURCES SUMMARY 52 IV. APPENDICES 53 V. SOURCES 82 3 Town of Smithtown Comprehensive Plan Update VOLUME III DRAFT NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES STUDY I. INTRODUCTION • The quality of life within a community begins with its natural environment. • Cultural and visual resources define the character of a community and provide the basis for a sense of place. • The natural environment and our cultural resources are interrelated with physical development within the community. Before a community can develop a plan for its future, it is necessary to have an understanding of the natural and cultural resources of the community. Knowing what these elements are, how they are important, and how these forces affect each other, allows the community to develop plans that best meet the needs and desires of its residents. The natural elements, i.e., the land, water, climate, and so forth, are key components in determining the quality of life within the community. They are usually the first characteristics people consider in selecting a location to live. The cultural and visual resources of a community can be varied, e.g. historic areas, scenic vistas, and so forth, but they define the community and provide the foundation for a sense of place. These elements define the identity of a locale, illustrating why the community is unique. The development within a community, whether it is new development or redevelopment, does affect the community’s natural and cultural resources. Those effects could either be positive or negative, depending upon how the community guides the development through its actions, laws, and ordinances. In order to improve the quality of life within a 4 community, it is essential that we identify, understand, and use our natural and cultural resources as a basis for determining future goals of the Town. II. NATURAL RESOURCES • Smithtown’s natural resources include land, water, air, climate, wildlife, and vegetation resources. • While the Town has made a substantial effort to protect the environment, some of our natural resources are still diminishing. • The future environmental quality of the Town will be worse than the present unless we take action to not only prevent future contamination, but to restore environmental conditions as well. Smithtown has many natural resources that make for a desirable community. A rolling terrain, attractive woods, miles of coastline, and one of only four rivers on Long Island are just a few of the Town’s natural assets. In addition, a reliable drinking water source and well-drained soils make the land well suited for development. The natural resource components include wide variety of elements from the simple subject of geology to the more complex topic of wildlife. For purposes of this study, we have divided the natural resources into four subject categories: (1) Land, (2) Water, (3) Air and Climate, and (4) Wildlife and Vegetation. Prior to the 1960s, the natural resources were often exploited and environmental concerns were often ignored in favor of economic growth. However, society has learned that developing purely for economic gain creates communities with a lower quality of life, with little sense of community pride, and insufficient resources upon which to survive. Planning with the natural resource base in mind will give Smithtown’s citizens the ability to achieve their objectives such as good health, aesthetic enjoyment, and safety from flood or damage. Since the 1960s, the Town of Smithtown, along with other government agencies, implemented several measures to protect the environment that form the foundation of our current strategy to conserve and properly use our natural resources (See Appendix). The Town has been aggressive in its efforts to protect the environment. It was among the first municipalities in the State to establish a Conservation Board and to adopt a Local Waterfront Revitalization Program, and as of 2007, the Town is still in the forefront. 5 Recently, the Town Board adopted a groundbreaking step recommended by our Department of Environment and Waterways that all garbage trucks within the Town be fueled by natural gas, an important attempt to reduce air pollution. While all of these efforts have significantly slowed the rate of environmental degradation, our natural resources are still being negatively impacted by old and new development. For example, the quality of the Town’s surface waters continues to be in a state of decline. Since the Town and State already have complex and detailed programs to protect the environment, the purpose of this part of the Comprehensive Plan is to examine the current conditions, the existing approaches to protect the environment, and the plans for the future in order to prepare an enhanced long range strategy which will continue our efforts to protect, use, and enjoy our natural resources. As part of that strategy, we will be recommending the restoration of environmental conditions as part of an effort to reduce or eliminate environmental declines. A. Land • In general, the land within the Town is highly suitable for development, but it is also easily susceptible to damage, such as by contamination or through improper regrading. • As vacant land becomes scarcer, there is mounting pressure to build on land that is not appropriate for development. • Altering the natural landforms, to make property more useable, can have substantial impacts on the surrounding properties. The comprehensive planning process covers three aspects of the Land, which include the soil, geology, and topography. As part of our natural resources, each plays a role in the community’s environment, and the combination of these three aspects dictates whether and how the land is suitable for development. Problems with development occur when the land does not match the desired use. It is obvious, for example, that when building a shopping center, it should be located on level ground, which can support the building and parking lot, and which can also absorb the rainwater that falls on the site. In order to use the land properly, we need to understand the capabilities, limitations, and problems of the land. 6 Soil Soil is the uppermost layer of the land, generally considered to include the topmost five feet of the earth’s surface. It is the layer on which we live and on which the vegetation grows. It is this layer that greatly influences the drainage capabilities of the land. For this reason, soil has a direct impact on our lives. Smithtown is generally comprised of deep, moderately well-drained to excessively well- drained, medium to coarse textured soils. Most of the soils in the Town are well suited to many uses including agriculture, home sites, streets, parking lots, underground utilities, and recreational uses. The most frequently encountered limitations on these uses are steep slopes and poor drainage caused by shallow depth to the seasonal high water table. These issues will be discussed in subsequent sections. The soils in Smithtown are typical of much of Suffolk County and are among the finest agricultural soils in New York State. The most extensive areas of prime agricultural soils are on the nearly level glacial outwash plains in the vicinity of Commack, St. James, and Nesconset. Although these soils have naturally low fertility, they respond well to fertilizer. Most of this land is no longer used for agriculture and is now developed with single-family homes. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Soil Survey of Suffolk County, the soils of Smithtown are generally well suited for home sites. The primary exception, as noted previously, would be those lands where there are high ground water conditions or where there are slopes in excess of 15% (discussed in other parts of this Study). The soils generally have good bearing strength, compressibility and drainage characteristics The soils are well suited for on-site septic systems because they are moderately to excessively well-drained. However, the side effect associated with this is that contaminants such as nitrates, medications, and household cleaning products can leach into the groundwater and affect the quality of our drinking water. Those that do not leach into the groundwater, such as arsenic pesticides used in agriculture, remain in the soil and cannot be eliminated (except through excavation). Geology Geology is the study of the composition, physical structure, and properties of the earth. The geology of Smithtown is simultaneously an asset and a liability. Its composition permits and limits development, determines where we can get our water, and tells us the history of the land. As seen in the soils, the characteristics of the underlying geologic material in Smithtown permit us to easily develop, due to the availability of potable water; however, the same characteristics make the groundwater resource susceptible to contamination. 7 Bedrock forms the base of the geologic material. In Smithtown the top of the bedrock is 700 to 1,300 feet below sea level (See Figure 1). It forms a plane that slopes from northwest to southeast. Because of its depth, the bedrock poses no limitations on development.