Webster Open Space Committee

Who we are and what we do 

The Webster Open Space Committee is a group of volunteer citizens who share a desire to see Webster’s natural beauty remain intact for present and future generations. 

With the pace of development in Webster only set to increase, it is more important than ever to ensure that development which forever compromises our natural resources is balanced by a real effort on the part of our Town to preserve these resources. While a large part of this effort currently is to protect entire parcels through donation or purchase, we are also committed to pursuing code and zoning amendments which would ensure that development occurs with minimal impact to Webster’s threatened natural resources.  Since 2020, we have been working with the Town and Friends of Webster Trails to identify properties of conservational interest and engage in landowner outreach. 

Hello All Lovers of Greenspace in Webster, 

Consider this email a 'bat signal': our group is trying very hard to raise money in order to fund legal representation which will not only ensure the protection of the Bird Sanctuary Woods by forcing the Planning Board to require the developer to preserve more habitat than is currently the case, but it will set a hugely important precedent for future development on woodlot in Webster. As of now, we are still $1000 shy of the retainer and we are running out of time-- you can help us by donating to the GoFundMe directly, and everything helps! 

It is my opinion, as you know, that the project should not be approved 'as is' because the Planning Board is failing to leverage aspects of its own code which would necessitate greater habitat preservation (ie no clearcut, keep property as woodlots with minimal clearance for houses) now and in the future were these items enforced. 

Whether or not the Planning Board must enforce them is a gray area, and the reasoning goes as follows: were the Planning Board to leverage items which are open to subjective interpretation (ie that the property consists of valuable habitat, that there is 'mature vegetation') and be restrictive toward the developer, this would not only break with precedent of a lenient planning board, but also open the planning board up to retaliation from the developer. However, if the body bringing such action is a third party, a lawyer on behalf of citizens who can argue that there is in fact grounds for enforcing the more restrictive items of the code, then the planning board can defer to the assertion of the outside lawyer and enforce its own code more restrictively. This is what we are aiming to do in hiring a lawyer, and in so doing, we would also be setting a precedent for the planning board to enforce its code more restrictively for future development on woodlots in Webster.  YOU can make a difference by donating to this cause, and changing the way development is done in Webster, now and in the future!