2011 Protected Open Space Mapping Set

See full Data Guide here. This layer includes polygon features that depict protected open space for towns of the Protected Open Space Mapping (POSM) project, which is administered by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Land Acquisition and Management. Only parcels that meet the criteria of protected open space as defined in the POSM project are in this layer. Protected open space is defined as: (1) Land or interest in land acquired for the permanent protection of natural features of the state's landscape or essential habitat for endangered or threatened species; or (2) Land or an interest in land acquired to permanently support and sustain non-facility-based outdoor recreation, forestry and fishery activities, or other wildlife or natural resource conservation or preservation activities. Includes protected open space data for the towns of Andover, Ansonia, Ashford, Avon, Beacon Falls, Canaan, Clinton, Berlin, Bethany, Bethel, Bethlehem, Bloomfield, Bridgewater, Bolton, Brookfield, Brooklyn, Canterbury, Canton, Chaplin, Cheshire, Colchester, Colebrook, Columbia, Cornwall, Coventry, Cromwell, Danbury, Derby, East Granby, East Haddam, East Hampton, East Hartford, East Windsor, Eastford, Ellington, Enfield, Essex, Farmington, Franklin, Glastonbury, Goshen, Granby, Griswold, Groton, Guilford, Haddam, Hampton, Hartford, Hebron, Kent, Killingworth, Lebanon, Ledyard, Lisbon, Litchfield, Madison, Manchester, Mansfield, Marlborough, Meriden, Middlebury, Middlefield, Middletown, Monroe, Montville, Morris, New Britain, New Canaan, New Fairfield, New Milford, New Hartford, Newington, Newtown, Norfolk, North, Norwich, Preston, Ridgefield, Shelton, Stonington, Oxford, Plainfield, Plainville, Pomfret, Portland, Prospect, Putnam, Redding, Rocky Hill, Roxbury, Salem, Salisbury, Scotland, Seymour, Sharon, Sherman, Simsbury, Somers, South Windsor, Southbury, Southington, Sprague, Sterling, Suffield, Thomaston, Thompson, Tolland, Torrington, Union, Vernon, Wallingford, Windham, Warren, Washington, Waterbury, Watertown, West Hartford, Westbrook, Weston, Wethersfield, Willington, Wilton, Windsor, Windsor Locks, Wolcott, Woodbridge, Woodbury, and Woodstock. Additional towns are added to this list as they are completed. The layer is based on information from various sources collected and compiled during the period from March 2005 through the present. These sources include but are not limited to municipal Assessor's records (the Assessor's database, hard copy maps and deeds) and existing digital parcel data. The layer represents conditions as of the date of research at each city or town hall. The Protected Open Space layer includes the parcel shape (geometry), a project-specific parcel ID based on the Town and Town Assessor's lot numbering system, and system-defined (automatically generated) fields. The Protected Open Space layer has an accompanying table containing more detailed information about each feature (parcel). This table is called Protected Open Space Dat, and can be joined to Protected Open Space in ArcMap using the parcel ID (PAR_ID) field. Detailed information in the Protected Open Space Data attribute table includes the Assessor's Map, Block and Lot numbers (the Assessor's parcel identification numbering system), the official name of the parcel (such as the park or forest name if it has one), address and owner information, the deed volume and page numbers, survey information, open space type, the unique parcel ID number (Par_ID), comments collected by researchers during city/town hall visits, and acreage. This layer does not include parcels that do not meet the definition of open space as defined above. Features are stored as polygons that represent the best available locational information, and are "best fit" to the land base available for each. The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection's (CTDEP) Permanently Protected Open Space Phase Mapping Project Phase 1 (Protected Open Space Phase1) layer includes permanently protected open space parcels in towns in Phase 1 that meet the CTDEP's definition for this project, the Permanently Protected Open Space Mapping (CT POSM) Project. The CTDEP defines permanently protected open space as (1) Land or interest in land acquired for the permanent protection of natural features of the state's landscape or essential habitat for endangered or threatened species; or (2) Land or an interest in land acquired to permanently support and sustain non facility-based outdoor recreations, forestry and fishery activities, or other wildlife or natural resource conservation or preservation activities. Towns in Phase 1 of the CT POSM project are situated along the CT coast and portions of the Thames River and are the following: Branford, Bridgeport, Chester, Clinton, Darien, Deep River, East Haven, East Lyme, Essex, Fairfield, Greenwich, Groton, Guilford, Hamden, Ledyard, Lyme, Madison, Milford, Montville, New Haven, New London, North Branford, North Haven, Norwalk, Norwich, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Orange, Preston, Shelton, Stamford, Stonington, Stratford, Waterford, West Haven, Westbrook, Westport. For the purposes of the project a number of categories or classifications of open space have also been created. These include: Land Trust, Land Trust with buidlings, Private, Private with buildings, Utility Company, Utility Company with buildings, Federal, State, Municipal, Municipal with buildings, Conservation easement, and non-DEP State land. The layer is based on information from various sources collected and compiled during the period from August 2002 trhough October 2003. These sources include municipal Assessor's records (the Assessor's database, hard copy maps and deeds) and existing digital parcel data. The layer represents conditions on the date of research at each city or town hall. The Protected Open Space Phase1 layer includes the parcel shape (geometry), a project-specific parcel ID based on the Town and Town's Assessor lot numbering system, and system-defined (automatically generated) fields. In addition, the Protected_Open_Space_Phase1 layer has an accompanying table containing more detailed information about each parcel's collection, standardization and storage. This table is called Protected Open Space Phase1 Data and can be joined to Protected Open Space Phase1 in ArcMap using the parcel ID (PAR_ID) field. Detailed information includes the Assessor's Map, Block and Lot numbers (the Assessor's parcel identification numbering system), the official name of the parcel (such as the park or forest name if it has one), address and owner information, the deed volume and page numbers, survey information, open space type, the project-specific parcel ID number (Par_ID), comments collected by researchers during city/town hall visits, acreage collected during site reconaissance and the data source. This layer does not include parcels that do not meet the definition of open space as defined above. Features are stored as polygon feature type that represent the best available locational information, i.e. "best fit" to the land base available for each. Phase 1 of the Protected Open Space Mapping (POSM) Project was accomplished by a contractor using only a querying process to identify open space. The contractor obtained assessor's data from the various towns and created programs to cull open space parcels strictly by query processes. We have found many errors and omissions in the data, but at this point in the project we cannot revisit all the coastal towns. Therefore, this data is being sent with a disclaimer for accuracy. You are welcome to use it but not to publish it. Please note that we do not include any water company parcels despite them being listed as part of our criteria because we must first obtain written clarification and clearance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. We have since changed our data collection method for Phase 2 of this project. DEP staff now visit each town hall and thoroughly research the land records. The project is expected to be complete by 2010.