Smart Growth and the Community Preservation Act

 

A poster from 2006.

“Smart Growth and Open Space Protection:  The Community Preservation Act in Massachusetts.” ISSRM 2006, a Symposium in the Series of International Symposia on Society and Resource Management, Vancouver, Canada, June 2006.

For the latest info on the Community Preservation ACT see this page CPA.  And a map here.

Community Preservation Act in Practice

 A couple of papers for my students.


See the Community Preservation Act webpage.

Bristow, R., Skala, N., & Pelletier, N. (2004). Open Space Planning and the Massachusetts Community Preservation Act. In In: Murdy, James, comp., ed. Proceedings of the 2003 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium; 2003 April 6-8; Bolton Landing, NY. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-317. Newtown Square, PA: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station: 240-244..


Bristow, R. S., & VanHeynigen, M. T. (2008). The Massachusetts Community Preservation Act: factors influencing acceptance. In In: LeBlanc, Cherie; Vogt, Christine, comps. Proceedings of the 2007 northeastern recreation research symposium; 2007 April 15-17; Bolton Landing, NY. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-23. Newtown Square, PA: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 190-196. (Vol. 23).

Community Preservation Act in Springfield MA?

Plans are in the mix to offer the citizens of Springfield MA to join the numerous communities across the Commonwealth who have adopted the Community Preservation Act (CPA).  The Act, created in 2000, allows community to self tax by adding a small surcharge on real estate taxes. Springfield proponents recommending 1.5%, and that is estimated to add $10 to the tax bill for the average house.

Now, nobody likes taxes, but like death, it is unavoidable. That said, additional funds from the state would be added and this money could in turn be used to preserve open space, historic preservation, enhance recreation and improve community housing.

Ten bucks is worth all of that, and I hope the citizens embrace this opportunity to improve Springfield.  I wrote about the CPA and you can read the paper here.

The towns and cities shown in green on the map below have adopted the Community Preservation Act as of May 2016. Thus far, 228 Massachusetts communities have voted on CPA adoption. Of those, 161 communities (46 percent of the state's municipalities) have passed CPA. This represents a 71 percent adoption success rate.

Communities in green have adopted CPA. Communities in yellow represent upcoming CPA adoption ballots.

Community Preservation Act interest level

The interest should be better. After all the CPA provides matching funds for Open Space and Recreation, Affordable Housing and Historic Preservation.  And these make a community a better place to live or visit.  See the news report in this morning's paper.

Wrote a paper on the CPA a few years back to compare and contrast the socio-demographic characteristics of communities accepting (or have yet to vote) the Community Preservation Act.  It is titled "The Massachusetts Community Preservation Act: factors influencing acceptance" and is available at this site.

Abstract:
In New England, urban sprawl creates a need for protecting open space. In 2002, residents of Southwick, MA, voted to accept the Massachusetts Community Preservation Act (CPA), which helps communities implement smart growth by providing funds for affordable housing, open space protection, and historic landmark preservation. This paper summarizes the findings of a survey administered before the town-wide CPA vote. Survey and demographic data from Southwick and other Massachusetts communities are compared in order to anticipate additional acceptance of the statewide initiative. The data suggest that communities that have higher median household incomes and more extensive housing stock are more likely to adopt the CPA.

Has your town adopted a Smart Growth strategy?

Community Preservation Act Funding Improved

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's FY13 Budget includes increased funding for the CPA.    Not only will more state matching money be available to towns that have adopted the CPA, changes permit money to be used on repairs to parks and recreation facilities.

We all know that in poor economies, parks are often the first to see decreased funding.  Park managers are hard pressed when money needs to go to schools, police and fire protection.

Since the poor economy has meant fewer home sales, and more and more communities have adopted the CPA, what little money the Commonwealth may have is being stretched to the limit.  This change by Gov. Patrick is an improvement and will help "preserve" Massachusetts' communities into our future.

See this previous Blog.

How has the Community Preservation Act helped?

The Community Preservation Coalition is dedicated to help organizations and governments improve the quality of life in Massachusetts by improving recreation and open space, historic preservation and affordable housing.

For a list of communities that have adopted the CPA, see this link.

Is your community on this list?

the Community Preservation Act in Massachusetts

This week in Recreation Geography I want to highlight the Community Preservation Act.

First the sad/bad news: Statewide CPA Trust Fund shows 11% decline.

Why? in part to the decline of home sales where the CPA gets funding. No houses sold, no money for CPA. As a result, we can expect a decline in Open Space protection, less affordable housing, and not as much historic preservation.

Incidentally, an article in the Springfield's Sunday Republican, noted a decline in lottery money as well.

But a good thing about the CPA is that it does fund those things. See the success stories for your community and a photo.