Daniel A. Driscoll is founder and Chairman of the Helderberg Escarpment Planning Committee. He has been a member of the Town of Knox Planning Board since 1974 and was chairman from 1975 to 1990, when he stepped down to chair the Town of Knox Master Planning Committee. He helped found the Albany County Land Conservancy in 1991, and presently assists the Conservancy with the stewardship of its preserves. Driscoll is a Professional Engineer and has a Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering. He retired in 1999 after 26 years with New York State, where he specialized in the environmental aspects of noise and power line electric and magnetic fields. He is Board Certified in Noise Control Engineering, and served on a National Academy of Sciences committee on the possible health effects of power frequency electric and magnetic fields. He is active with the Helderberg Kiwanis Club, the St. Matthews Church music ministry, and the Knox Traditional Strings. He and his wife, Maureen, have two grown children and have resided in Knox, above the Escarpment, since 1972.

Lindsay N. Childs is Vice-Chairman of the Helderberg Escarpment Planning Committee. He was Vice- Chair of the Town of Guilderland Planning Board, 1984-90, and of the Town of Guilderland Zoning Board of Appeals, 1991-95. He has served on several planning committees of the Town of Guilderland, including the West Guilderland Land Use Study Committee, the 1999 Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee and the Guilderland Pathways Committee. Childs has a Ph. D. in Mathematics and is a professor and former chair of the Department of Mathematics at the University at Albany. During the 1980’s he was a correspondent for the Altamont Enterprise. He and his wife, Rhonda, have two grown children and a son in high school, and have resided in Guilderland, below the Escarpment, since 1973.

About the Writing of the Guide

This Guide grew out of the contributions of the participants in the initial 1991 Conference on the Helderberg Escarpment. Their presentations laid out the initial knowledge base from which the Guide evolved. Having been through twelve drafts since 1993, the Guide is very much a collaborative effort among all the members of the Helderberg Escarpment Planning Committee, but the Editors would like to particularly acknowledge the authors of the initial drafts of various chapters:

Chapter 3, Soils – Mark Franze (presentation at the 1991 Conference on the Helderberg Escarpment)

Chapter 4, Hydrology – Steve Lukowski (presentation at the 1991 Conference on the Helderberg Escarpment)

Chapter 5, Plants – Larry Jackson.

Chapter 6, Animals – Bob Daniels.

Chapter 8, Aesthetics – from a set of guidelines by Richard Benas, whom we thank for permission to use his ideas.

Chapter 9, Recreation – Mark King.

Chapter 10, Historic and Cultural Resources – Mark Hesler.

Chapter 11, Existing Land Use Controls and Development – Diane Hill, Phyllis Schilling and Ann Richards.

ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report was prepared with the assistance of grants from the New York State Council on the Arts and the Open Space Institute.

The Committee acknowledges with gratitude this financial support, as well as the support of the Towns of Knox and Guilderland for mailing and secretarial services, the Village of Altamont, the Town of New Scotland, the Town of Knox and the Albany County Soil and Water Conservation District for meeting accommodations, the Village of Altamont for managing the Committee's grants, and the Albany County Planning Department for assistance with mapping and geographic information system (GIS) analysis.

We also wish to acknowledge the helpful editorial assistance of Bagdon Environmental Associates, Alvin Breisch, Dr. Ray Bromley, Director of the Regional Planning Program at the University at Albany, and the substantial contribution of his student Qingyong Hu. Mr. Hu served as a graduate intern with the Committee during the main year of Guide development (1994-95), and he prepared much of the artwork in the Guide.

Most of the photographs throughout the Guide were taken by the editors (Driscoll and Childs); most historic photographs are from Timothy Albright’s collection; the beautiful plant photographs are by Tom Crowl of Knox. Clarksville Cave photos are reproduced with permission from the Boston Grotto Photo Gallery web site.

The Ecological Communities map of Thacher Park and some of the ideas in Chapter 6, Animals, are from a study of ecological communities of Thacher Park. We thank Tom Lyons of NYS OPRHP for making this information available for the Guide, and Betty Ketcham of NYNHP for her editorial assistance.

Information in this Guide was gathered over a number of years and may not be the most current available. However, it reflects the information used by the Committee as it developed its recommendations.

The Helderberg Escarpment Planning Committee (affiliations were those at the time of joining the Committee):

Chairman: Daniel A. Driscoll, Knox Planning Board Vice-Chair: Lindsay N. Childs, Guilderland Zoning Board Treasurer: Diane K. Hill, E. Berne Secretary: Mark King, Albany County Planning Department Members: Dennis Colliton, Knox Planning Board Robert Daniels, Knox Edward A. Donohue, New Scotland Town Board, Village of Voorheesville Trustee Mark Hesler, Guilderland Planning Board Larry Jackson, Berne Conservation Board Steve Lukowski, Albany County Health Department Raymond G. MacKay, Jr., New Scotland Planning Board Ann Richards, New Scotland Planning Board Phyllis K. Schilling, Village of Altamont Trustee Carl Schilling, Village of Altamont

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ...... ix-xxvii

I. THE STUDY AREA AND THE PURPOSE OF THE GUIDE ...... 1-17 A. The Purpose of This Guide ...... 1 B. Potential Development in the Escarpment Region ...... 2 C. The Committee and Its Development ...... 3 D. The Study Area ...... 5 E. Description of the Study Area ...... 7 F. Organization of the Guide ...... 17

II. GEOLOGY ...... 19-38 A. Geological History of the Region ...... 19 B. Glacial Geology ...... 25 C. Karst Geology ...... 29 D. Recommendations ...... 30 E. Summary ...... 36 F. References ...... 36

III. SOILS ...... 39-50 A. Background ...... 39 B. Soil Considerations in Planning ...... 40 C. Soil Maps ...... 42 D. Soils in the Study Area ...... 46 E. Resources ...... 47 F. Recommendations ...... 47 G. References ...... 49

IV. HYDROLOGY ...... 51-59 A. Ground Water Resources ...... 51 B. Surface Water Resources ...... 54 C. Present Regulatory Controls ...... 55 D. Recommendations ...... 56 E. References ...... 59

V. PLANTS ...... 61-72 A. Evolution of Local Plant Life ...... 61 B. Vegetative Changes Resulting from Human Uses ...... 61 C. Value of Flora ...... 63 D. Surveys and Records of Local Flora ...... 64 E. Ecological Communities ...... 66 F. Conclusions ...... 71 G. Initial Recommendations ...... 71 H. References ...... 72

VI. ANIMALS ...... 73-86 A. Introduction ...... 73 B. Historical Perspective ...... 73 C. Animals Present in the Helderberg Escarpment Area ...... 74 D. Significant Habitats ...... 78 E. Conclusions ...... 78 F. Recommendations—Plants and Animals ...... 79 G. Guidelines for the Identification of Biologically Important Areas ...... 81 H. Combined References for Plants and Animals ...... 83

VII. AGRICULTURE ...... 87-102 A. Value of Agriculture in the Study Area ...... 87 B. Active Farming in the Study Area ...... 89 C. Municipal Fiscal Benefits of Agricultural Land ...... 90 D. Preserving Agricultural Lands: Identification, Mapping, and Planning ...... 92 E. Farmland and Agricultural Preservation Methods ...... 92 F. Conclusion ...... 100 G. Recommendations ...... 100 H. Resources ...... 101 I. References ...... 101

VIII. AESTHETICS ...... 103-116 A. Scenic Resource Inventory ...... 105 B. Aesthetic Review ...... 108 C. Recommendations ...... 115 D. References ...... 116

IX. RECREATION ...... 117-132 A. Recreation Resources ...... 117 B. Activities ...... 117 C. Locations ...... 126 D. Recommendations ...... 127 E. Resources ...... 130

X. HISTORIC AND CULTURAL RESOURCES ...... 133-140 A. Overview ...... 133 B. Recommendations ...... 137 C. References and Resources ...... 139

XI. EXISTING LAND-USE CONTROLS AND DEVELOPMENT .. 141-164 A. Land-Use Controls ...... 142 B. Current Zoning by Municipality ...... 145 C. Residential Development ...... 150 D. Recommendations—Residential Development ...... 152 E. Commercial and Industrial Development ...... 160

vi F. Recommendations—Commercial Development ...... 162 G. References ...... 164

XII. COMPREHENSIVE RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 165-172 A. Fostering Recreation ...... 165 B. Special Zoning Districts ...... 166 C. Community Involvement and Education ...... 169 D. Closing Comments ...... 171 E. References ...... 172

APPENDICES A. DELINEATION OF THE STUDY AREA ...... 173 B. AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY AVAILABLE FOR ALBANY COUNTY ...... 175 C. SCHENECTADY WATERSHED RULES ...... 179 D. PLANT LIST OF HOMER D. HOUSE ...... 181 E. VASCULAR PLANTS OF THE HELDERBERG HIGHLANDS ...... 185 F. MAMMALS ...... 191 G. BIRDS ...... 193 H. AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES ...... 199 I. FISHES ...... 201 J. SCENIC RESOURCES IN THE ESCARPMENT AREA, BY TOWN ...... 203 K. REGULATION OF NOISE IN RURAL AND QUIET SUBURBAN AREAS ...... 207 L. DRAFT KARST OVERLAY ZONES ...... 213 M. ELECTORMAGNETIC RADIATION AND ANTENNAS ...... 221 N. SPECIAL ZONING DISTRICTS ...... 223

vii LIST OF FIGURES

1-1 Escarpment Study Area—Base Map ...... 6 1-2 Slopes Greater Than 15% ...... 8 1-3 Water Resources ...... 10 1-4 Watersheds ...... 13 1-5 Protected and Recreation Areas ...... 14 2-1 Taconian Orogeny ...... 26 2-2 Taconic Mountains and Formation of the Escarpment ...... 26 2-3 The Adirondacks and Formation of the Escarpment ...... 27 2-4 Karst Features ...... 27 2-5 Karst Terrain in the Escarpment Study Area ...... 34 2-6 Areas of Probable Limestone Pavement ...... 35 3-1 Soil Map for the Escarpment Near Meadowdale ...... 45 4-1 Subsurface Flow of the Onesquethaw Creek ...... 52 5-1 Ecological Communities of Thacher State Park ...... 69 7-1 State Agricultural Districts ...... 91 8-1 New Development ...... 114 8-2 Development With Common Open Space ...... 115 9-1 The Long Path ...... 120 11-1 Standard Grid Development ...... 156 11-2 Clustered Development ...... 156 11-3 Siting of Houses ...... 158 11-4 Structures Sited on Ridgelines ...... 159 11-5 Structures Sited Away From Ridgelines ...... 159 12-1 Special Zoning Districts ...... 167 K-1 Locations of Noise Measurements ...... 211

LIST OF TABLES

1-1 Population Trends for the Study Region ...... 15 2-1 Geologic Section of the Study Area ...... 21 2-2 Geologic History of New York State ...... 22-23 3-1 Prime Farmland Soils and Soil Map Abbreviations ...... 44 5-1 Ecological Systems and Subsystems ...... 68 5-2 Rare Plants in the Helderberg Area ...... 70 K-1 Noise Measurements ...... 210

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