Green Plan Final web - 2

Cheverly Green Infrastructure Plan

INTRODUCTION

Cheverly is known as a green oasis in an ever urbanizing world, a small-town refuge with tree-lined streets to which people gravitate to get away from the heat, noise and congestion of big city life. Cheverly is also part of a highly developed metropolitan area that has suffered environmental degradation that impacts quality of life, property values, and equitable access to environmental benefits.

Cheverly has an opportunity to preserve and enhance the richness of its natural areas which provide us with clean air, water, fertile soil, plants and wildlife which together maintain the conditions necessary for our health and quality of life -- indeed our very lives.

A green infrastructure plan helps elected officials, town staff, community organizations and residents to consider the town’s needs as a whole. It provides a comprehensive framework for protecting green space, managing water resources, and making land use decisions. A plan endorsed by town government provides context to evaluate projects and new initiatives and assess how they reinforce or extend the aims of the plan. It also will aid in efforts to obtain grants and other support. Adoption of a Cheverly Green Infrastructure Plan will enable us to better meet future challenges and to recognize and take full advantage of future opportunities.

The goal of the Green Infrastructure Plan is to achieve a balance between the fulfillment of human needs and the sustainability of natural resources so that these needs can be met, not only in the present, but in the indefinite future. The primary purpose of the plan is to expand, enhance and restore Cheverly’s natural environments as intact and healthy ecosystems capable of providing the multiple ecological and economic resources and services that are necessary to sustain our community.

Successful implementation of the Cheverly Green Infrastructure Plan requires commitment and collaboration by the town, community organizations, businesses and institutions, and Cheverly citizens, as well as cooperation with other levels of government. This summary of the Cheverly Green Infrastructure Plan provides a brief description of Cheverly’s natural resources, a map of the natural areas network, and a table summarizing recommendations for different stakeholders and time frames for implementation.

The Cheverly Green Infrastructure Plan is intended as a living document that can be modified as needed. It is expected that the body appointed to coordinate implementation of the plan will report to the Town Council and citizens annually. Modifications to the plan can follow the same schedule.

Green Infrastructure

Green Infrastructure is an interconnected network of waterways, wetlands, grasslands, woodlands and other natural areas that support native plant and animal diversity; maintain natural ecological processes; sustain soil, air and water resources; stabilize our climate; and contribute to the health and quality of life for our community and region.

Green infrastructure functions can also be supplemented by green roofs, rain gardens and urban tree cover that provide ecosystem services in the built environment. By contrast, the roads, buildings, water systems, sewers, schools, rails and other physically engineered underpinnings of modern life are called gray infrastructure.

The basic building blocks of a green infrastructure network are hubs and corridors. Hubs are ecologically significant natural areas that provide habitat for plant and animal life. Corridors are the linear features connecting hubs to help animals and plant material move between the hubs.