HomeMy WebLinkAboutI - 09 Lime Hollow Correspondence - Critical Environmental AreasMarch 20, 2023
Tom Williams, Town of Cortlandville Supervisor
3577 Terrace Road
Cortland, New York 13045
Dear Mr. Williams and the Town of Cortlandville Board,
In light of recent media reports about the anticipated development along Route 13 surrounding
the area around the Gutchess Sports Complex, the Lime Hollow Nature Center, Inc. urges the
Town of Cortlandville to follow the strategies it identified in its Comprehensive Plan adopted in
2021 as “most urgent actions” by:
●establishing and adopting a designated Critical Environmental Area surrounding the
Wellhead Protection Areas and Aquifer Protection District which is largely comprised of
the Lime Hollow nature area (pages E3-5 of the comprehensive plan)
●adopting “Conservation Residential (CR) zoning to provide a transition between rural and
more highly developed areas to protect the integrity of…open space…from the impacts
of incompatible land uses” (page E5)
According to the NYS DEC, in order to be designated as a CEA, an area must have an
exceptional or unique character with respect to one or more of the following:
●a benefit or threat to human health;
●a natural setting (e.g., fish and wildlife habitat, forest and vegetation, open space and
areas of important aesthetic or scenic quality);
●agricultural, social, cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational, or educational values;
or
●an inherent ecological, geological or hydrological sensitivity to change that may be
adversely affected by any change.
By affording protection, preservation, and proper management of the Lime Hollow Area and its
surrounding watershed, the negative impacts of erosion due to flooding, stormwater runoff,
construction of natural drainage-ways, concentration of contaminants, and increased future
governmental costs from environmental degradation of groundwater quality can be avoided.
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The Lime Hollow area is of great ecological, cultural, educational, and economic importance to
the Central NY region. It features critically threatened and endangered flora and fauna, rare and
vulnerable geologic features which have been identified as unique and classic worldwide
specimens of bogs and marl ponds. It actively practices land conservation and preservation
around critical aquifer recharge zones to ensure clean drinking water and provides recreational
opportunities including access to trails and community events which provide outdoor recreation
for Cortland County residents and are vitally important to the tourism industry of the Town of
Cortlandville and Cortland County. Additionally, Lime Hollow provides vital community
services such as childcare programs for preschool aged children, out-of-school-time
programming including after-school and summer camps which are utilized by hundreds of
Cortland County residents.
The following demonstrate the significance of the importance of the Lime Hollow area and the
need for the area to be designated a “Critical Environmental Area” pursuant to Official
Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York, Title 6, Department of
Environmental Conservation, Chapter VI. General Regulations, Part 617 State Environmental
Quality Review Paragraph (g):
I.Lime Hollow: A Natural Preserve Summary and Plan dated August 1978 : The
Cortland County Environment Management Council along with Cortland County
Planning produced this comprehensive planning document which outlined the
importance of preserving and protecting this area. In addition to watershed protection,
the study highlighted the area’s unique natural features,“Lime Hollow exhibits a
number of ecological functions and unique botanical sites in an area of varied glacial
topography and typical upland forest, as modified by the presence of both acidic and
alkaline areas” (the Chicago Bog and Marl Ponds, respectively).
II.2016 NYS DEC Open Space Plan, Region 7 Supplemental Project, Page A-166 :
Fall Creek Fens and Forests - Town of Cortlandville, Cortland County, Towns of
Dryden and Groton and Village of Freeville, Tompkins County. Expansion of efforts
for the protection of the exceptional grouping of ecological communities and
geological features along Fall Creek and its tributaries, and along Beaver Brook and
its tributaries including the acquisition of lands adjacent to the Lime Hollow Nature
Center for use in educational activities and to buffer existing lands. The area contains
numerous and varied fens, bogs, swamps and glacial landforms.
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III.Chicago Bog Significance:Lime Hollow Nature Center has requested that the NYS
DEC reclassify the Chicago Bog Unique Natural Area from its current Class II
category to a Class I category based on the definitions contained in Part 664:
Freshwater Wetlands Maps and Classification (Statutory authority: Environmental
Conservation Law §3-0301 and §24-1301) found at
http://www.dec.ny.gov/regs/4612.html. According to this regulation, a wetland shall
be a Class I wetland if it is classified as a classic kettle-hole bog IAW (664.6(b)(2));
as such wetlands of this type are very rare, as are many of the life form within them,
and therefore they contribute to the ecological, geological, and aesthetic diversity of
the state. This in turn provides educational and scientific research benefits.
The Town of Cortlandville recognized the unique importance of the Chicago Bog in
February 2009, when, at the request of Town of Cortlandville Supervisor Richard
Tupper, the Cortland County Industrial Development Agency passed Resolution No.
2009-02-09-02 regarding potential environmental impacts of proposed modifications
to the Finger Lakes East Business Park, (now Byrne Hollow Farm). Section 1 C of
the resolution stated, “Imposition of a restrictive covenant prohibiting development
within 500 feet of the Chicago Bog.”
IV.Marl Pond Significance: The marl ponds along the Cortland County Linear Park
(Lehigh Valley Trail) are designated as a significant natural community by the NYS
DEC and are classified as “marl pond shore” wetlands. They have a State
Conservation Rank of S1, which means that there are very few occurrences or
remaining individual examples in NY and/or the wetland is especially vulnerable
(Edinger et al., 2002, Ecological Communities of New York). They have Global
Conservation Rank of G3-G4, which means that they are quite rare worldwide and/or
are locally restricted. The unusual flora of these marl ponds were first noted by
Dudley in 1883 (The Cayuga Flora) and again by Weigand and Eames in 1926 (The
Flora of the Cayuga Lake Basin), and so the ponds have historical significance to
biologists in addition to their high ecological value. The importance of these marl
ponds is such that they are specifically named as the type example in "Ecological
Communities of New York State," NYS DEC's Natural Heritage Program, March 2014
https://guides.nynhp.org/marl-pond/
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V.Hydrological Sensitivity:The lands of the greater Lime Hollow area are the source
for groundwater utilized by both the Town of Cortlandville and the USGS Tunison
Laboratory of Aquatic Science (Tunison). The Town of Cortlandville is completely
reliant on the groundwater provided by the Terrace Road and Lime Hollow Road well
fields. The Terrace Road well field currently provides the majority of the water
produced, but the Lime Hollow Road well field is capable of producing 100% of the
municipal water provided by the town in the event of an emergency. The Cortland
County Department of Health identified the lands straddling the former Lehigh
Railroad corridor between Lime Hollow Road and Gracie Road as the source for the
groundwater produced by the Lime Hollow Road well field in their 2001 Source
Water Assessment Plan. The Tunison Lab is an aquatic laboratory that provides vital
research support to New York, the United States and Canada for the entire Great
Lakes Basin and the St. Lawrence River. Maintaining and protecting groundwater
quality in and around Lime Hollow is of utmost importance to the Town of
Cortlandville and the USGS’ mission.
VI.Geological Significance:The glacial landforms in this area include eskers, kames,
kettles and a large meltwater channel that developed during the Valley Heads phase of
the last glaciation. They are regionally significant because this is one of only very
few areas where the full suite of landforms from this time are preserved on easily
accessible public land. The meltwater channel is singularly important because it was
the master outlet for Glacial Lake Freeville-Dryden, a large proglacial lake that
extended from Cortlandville to Ithaca as the ice sheet margin retreated from the area.
The Cortland Linear Park also overlies the deep bedrock valley of the ancestral
Tioughnioga River which flowed from its headwaters in northern and eastern
Cortland County to Ithaca before the ice ages. For these reasons, the area is visited
every year by SUNY Cortland geology students as well as other geologists and the
general public interested in their landscape history and glacial heritage.
VII.Educational and Research Training Center:Students and faculty from SUNY
Cortland, SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry, and Cornell University have
conducted research and instruction in the Chicago Bog and surrounding wetlands
complex for many years. Dr. John Gustafson, former Chairman of the SUNY
Cortland’s Department of Biological Sciences, noted “this area creates an
unparalleled opportunity for field study and recreation within easy distance of the
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Cortland urban area…The areas have been used for many years by classes,,,[and]
their preservation and availability for public enjoyment and study must be ensured.”
VIII.Community Value: Lime Hollow’s mission is to provide year-round environmental
education and outdoor recreation opportunities through utilization and protection of
the natural and cultural attributes of the Lime Hollow area. Cortland County is one of
only two counties in New York State that does not have a New York State Park. Lime
Hollow provides many of the same qualities of life opportunities as a State Park for
the citizens of Cortland County and the surrounding region. It also provides much
needed childcare, out-of-school-time programming for children, and community
gathering events.
The Lime Hollow Nature Center enjoys a strong partnership with the Town of Cortlandville in
stewarding the unique natural features of the Lime Hollow Area for current and future
generations of Central NY residents. With the designation of the Lime Hollow Area as a
“Critical Environmental Area” pursuant to the recommendations of the Town of Cortlandville
2021 Comprehensive Plan, we plan on continuing to work together to support and build our
community.
Respectfully,
Ilya Shmulenson
Executive Director
Lime Hollow Nature Center
ilya@limehollow.org | 512-571-9968 (cell) | 607-662-4632 (office)
See Attached: Enclosure A - Lime Hollow Critical Environmental Area Map
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Legend
SignificantÊNaturalÊCommuniƟes:ÊÊLocaƟonsÊofÊ
rareÊorÊhigh-qualityÊwetlands,Êforests,Êgrass-
lands,Êponds,Êstreams,ÊandÊotherÊtypesÊofÊhabitats,Êeco-
systems,ÊandÊecologicalÊareas.Ê
StateÊRegulatedÊFreshwaterÊWetlands:ÊWetlandsÊ
thatÊareÊcurrentlyÊmappedÊunderÊtheÊstate'sÊ
FreshwaterÊWetlandsÊActÊ(outsideÊtheÊAdirondackÊParkÊ).Ê
ÊRareÊPlantsÊorÊAnimalsÊ:GeneralizedÊlocaƟonsÊofÊ
animalsÊandÊplantsÊthatÊareÊrareÊinÊNewÊYorkÊ
State,ÊincludingÊbutÊnotÊlimitedÊtoÊthoseÊlistedÊasÊEndan-
geredÊandÊThreatened.Ê
ENCLOSUREÊA:
LimeÊHollowÊCriƟcalÊEnvironmentalÊArea
Source:ÊNewÊYorkÊStateÊDepartmentÊofÊEnvironmentalÊConservaƟon:ÊEnvironmentalÊResourceÊMapper
DateÊRetrieved:ÊJanuaryÊ4,Ê2023ÊÊhƩps://gisservices.dec.ny.gov/gis/erm/Ê