Protect and manage open spaces and undeveloped lands

In 1998, the Town com­plet­ed an open space inven­to­ry and plan that iden­ti­fied and eval­u­at­ed the Town’s remain­ing open spaces and the poten­tial for link­ing exist­ing open space parcels locat­ed through­out the Town. The Town should update the open space inven­to­ry and devel­op an Open Space Man­age­ment Pol­i­cy (OSMP) to main­tain and seek to expand areas of open space qual­i­ty, Town parks and pre­serves, and biot­ic cor­ri­dors. The update should also exam­ine and map how the Town’s open spaces con­nect with open spaces in neigh­bor­ing towns that abut New Cas­tle. The OSMP should be updat­ed in close coor­di­na­tion with the devel­op­ment of an NRI/​Biodiversity Man­age­ment Plan and the update of the Town’s Recre­ation and Parks Mas­ter Plan and Trail Devel­op­ment Mas­ter Plan. Local­ly sig­nif­i­cant view sheds/​scenic vis­tas should be iden­ti­fied and mapped and includ­ed in the Plan, and if appro­pri­ate, reg­u­la­tions for the pro­tec­tion of view sheds/​scenic vis­tas should be codified.