Hi,
Until recently the NYS Department of Corrections ran a shock
incarceration camp on the grounds of the former Willard Psychiatric
facility. NYS has closed the shock incarceration camp and Seneca
County is now trying to identify the best use of this land for he
future. Last month the County IDA and its consultant held a public
open house where they solicited ideas. Sarah Davis, the IDA
Executive Director, asked for additional public comment to be
emailed to her.
A follow up email from Ms. Davis stated in part:
Before finalizing the concept site plan, we
will host another workshop to present some initial concepts and
make sure that we understood and incorporated your feedback
accurately. We will send you another email to let you know the
date once it is finalized. In the meantime, the materials from the
first workshop have been posted to the Seneca County IDA website:
https://www.senecacountyida.org/highest-best-use-study.
You can find the information sheets, boards, and maps there, as
well as more information about the consulting team working with us
on the plan.
As the linked maps show, this is a very large parcel of land that
includes a long stretch of lakefront - at the meeting they said
there was a mile of lakefront. There are many buildings on the
property, most of which have not been maintained and will have to be
torn down, although it might be possible to save a few. A large
part of the property has been pretty much untouched for 100 years.
All of this land has been off limits to the public for decades and
exactly what birds might be there is not known, but it includes a
deep forested ravine, very similar to the ravine just south of there
where Louisiana Waterthrush are heard, and a mixed upland forest
that likely hosts both migrating and nesting passerines. There also
is a small wetland. A 40+ acre portion on the east side of the
county road has a half-dozen buildings in two clusters and some
woodland, but much of it is grassland.
The people running the meeting in July seemed to expect that the
land to be divided up among several things. Why not set aside some
of it for a bird sanctuary with a birding trail? There is state
land close by - Sampson SP, Bonavista Golf Course, and Willard
Wildlife Management Area - but none of these is managed for birding,
or is particularly birder-friendly. Sampson, for example, recently
was put under private management and a great deal of edge habitat
was destroyed immediately after that.
The disposition of the Willard land is a situation where relatively
few voices can have a large impact. If you think that setting aside
some of this parcel for birds and birding is a good idea, you might
want to send an email to Ms. Davis <
s.da...@senecacountyida.org>
. If you live in Seneca County it would be good to mention that but
it also is helpful for her to hear from others in the region who
would make use of this property if it were birder-friendly.
Somewhat to my surprise, it doesn't sound like the County is hoping
the land will all be converted to expensive housing and businesses,
but they need public comment to demonstrate that there is interest
in other uses. Comments need not be formal or lengthy, but it would
be helpful to say what you would like to see done with part of the
property and how you would make use of that part.
Alicia Plotkin
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