You can see the Summer from
Here
Published as a Sunday ViewPoints Cover Buffalo News May 2012
Emerging visions of
Buffalo’s outer harbor could transform our region into a sustainable 21st
century powerhouse.
By Jay Burney
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| Kayakers on the Buffalo River near Grain Elevator Canyon |
In just a few short days, Memorial Day weekend will be upon
us and Western New Yorkers will once again joyously leap across the threshold
into another magnificent summer season.
As we break out the bathing suits and sandals and lather up
with suntan lotion, we have plenty of reason to head on down to the emerging
and boisterous Buffalo waterfront. Public access and engagement has quickly
become one of our most profound connections to the season, our mixed cultures,
and to the spectacular sweet water seas that help characterize our area as a
global level paradise.
Now is a great time for each of us to think about the real
value of outer harbor development.
What we do here, and who does it will significantly impact the very
consequential futures of our regional economy, environment, and quality of life.
Planning and development strategies are now moving into
final stages at various levels of government. Decades of work ranging from the long defunct Horizons
Commission to the very alive City of Buffalo Comprehensive Plan, Queen City
Hub, the Queen City Waterfront, and the very exciting new City of Buffalo Green
Code focusing on unified form based zoning, are going to create and enforce
policy level decisions about what and how we decide to take advantage of what
many agree is our most valuable public asset.
Of great consequence and designed to inform the Green Code,
a partnership formed by the City of Buffalo, New York State, the Erie Canal
Harbor Development Corporation, and the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper has focused
on three Brownfield Opportunity Areas (BOA) in the city. One is the Buffalo
Harbor BOA which includes the outer harbor.
This area is considered a brownfield because of the legacy
of generations of pollution from industry and urban impacts. The BOA program is
designed to help return dormant brownfield sites back to productive use and
environmental quality. The partners emphasize that the BOA process will
contribute to the city’s revitalization. Once completed the land use and built
form components of the study will be included in the City’s Green Code.
What is the opportunity for the region?
Our waterfront that comprise parts of Lake Erie, The Buffalo
River, and the Niagara River, are uniquely situated on one of the planets most
consequential and valuable natural resources.
-The
Great Lakes are the largest freshwater system on earth. Together they hold more
than 20% of the world’s fresh surface water.
-According
to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 90% of the U.S. supply of
fresh water comes from the Great Lakes.
Clean
water is a basic sustainability issue that we must find ways to protect and
restore if future generations are going to have a sustainable quality of
life. Recognizing this, and
working to help to educate about this resource, is a huge step toward global
stewardship and leadership. This is part of our opportunity.
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| The Spirit of Buffalo near the entrance to the Buffalo Harbor |
Kate Mini Hilliman of Buffalo Urban Outdoor Education, which has engaged
thousands of the region's youth in Great Lakes learning on the iconic tall
ship “Spirit of Buffalo”, says that the water is one of our most valuable
assets and probably one of our most misunderstood and undervalued assets.
“We live in a city where many people have
never actually been on the water, especially children. Every day during the
spring and summer we bring kids from the urban environment out into the lake.
They are usually pretty apprehensive before we cast off at the Central Wharf,
but by the time we hit the Buffalo Lighthouse they are looking back at the
beautiful city with amazement and wonder. During our program they make positive
connections to the lake and begin to understand the biology and geography in
ways that will influence them for the rest of their lives.”
That is a consequential connection. In a city that lost its
connectivity to the water with the building of the I-190, its important to
bring both old and young generations back to the waters edge and out into the
sweet waters of the Niagara River and Lake Erie. This is our future.
It is not lost on some of our most outspoken political
representatives that have strong beliefs that appropriate waterfront development
will characterize our future.
Congressman Brian
Higgins who has focused much of his Congressional career on Buffalo’s outer
harbor and brought hundreds of millions of dollars into play here, says that
the waterfront defines our region. “People from all over, Ellicottville,
Williamsville, Amherst are as excited about what happens here as are the city
residents. We are at a game
changing moment. And the good news
is that our local progress is unified in ways that we have not seen in the past
75 years of visioning. What we
decide now, and how we invest will guide our future economic opportunities and
our potential for jobs growth and will help us create the kind of city we want
for the 21st century”.
NYS 144th
District Assemblyman Sean Ryan recently authored important legislation
making the Buffalo River an eligible water body for Local Waterfront
Revitalization Program funding. This could mean millions of dollars to the
waterfront. He is concerned about
the NFTA ownership of waterfront properties and wants them to divest themselves
of property so that they can focus just on the mission of public
transportation. He suggests that there are other state agencies that need to
take the waterfront lead, but cautions that there are not enough public voices
making decisions. “We need more public representation and engagement on the
Board of Directors of the ECHDC and not just established decision makers that
represent private interests,” he told us. This land is valuable but only after
significant public investment. We should make sure that development promotes
public access and not just a privatization of public resources made marketable
by public investments.”
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
is a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and a vocal advocate
of an ecologically healthy Great Lakes. She knows the impact of clean water on
our regional economy. She believes that substantial Washington resources such
as the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative can directly benefit our region.
Jill Spisiak Jedlicka, Director of Ecological Programs at Buffalo
Niagara Riverkeeper says that Riverkeeper has brought millions of
dollars towards revitalizing Buffalo’s waterfront. Jedlika says
that maintaining public access is fundamental. She says that appropriate
economic development that respects ecology is important and that an appropriate
mix of uses can be targeted for the outer harbor. “Economic
health and environmental health go hand in hand” she told us.
Conservation and Economic
Development-Recreation, Tourism, Education
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council the annual
percentage of world GDP based on tourism was 9.3% in 2010 and growing at almost
5% per year. In 2011 its
impacts translated to $6.3 trillion in GDP, and 255 million jobs (1 in 12). This makes tourism the
worlds largest industry. According
to the World Trade Organization, ecotourism and nature based tourism is the
fastest growing sector with heritage tourism right behind. Tourism in the
Greater Niagara region is a $2 billion annual industry supporting over 40,000
jobs. We can build on that. Eco and heritage tourism could be this regions
future. These are the greenest of green jobs and if developed here, could mark
a permanent upturn in our economic and ecological health.
National Marine
Sanctuary
When Sylvia Earle, a former Chief Scientist at the National
Oceanographic and Atmospheric (NOAA) and current Explorer in Residence at the
National Geographic Society came to Buffalo a few years back, I asked her about
conservation and economic development strategies for the Great Lakes. She told
me, “you should think about a marine sanctuary.”
Currently NOAA administers 14 National Marine Sanctuaries in
diverse locations from Hawaii, Alaska, and Washington State to the Florida Keys. Marine Sanctuaries are designed to
promote conservation while allowing compatible commercial and recreational
activities. There is only one NOAA designated Marine Sanctuary in the Great
Lakes and that is in Thunder Bay in Lake Huron. This sanctuary has been an
economic powerhouse for the region and it is currently exploring ways to
expand.
Why Not a Lake Erie
Niagara River National Marine Sanctuary?
We have world-class biodiversity here including the Niagara
River Corridor “globally significant” Important Bird Area recognized because of
both the diversity and threats to migrating birds, fish, and other wildlife. We
have marine access heritage sites offshore and onshore including our grain
elevators, the underground railroad, early harbor, First People, and War of
1812 that help to tell the story of America.
Our marine sanctuary should include portions of Lake Erie,
the Niagara River, and the Buffalo River, which is newly recognized as eligible
for state Local Waterfront Revitalization funding thanks to Assemblyman Ryan’s
legislation. Other funding sources could include the Great Lakes Restoration
Initiative, and appropriate private investment that protects open space on the
waterfront and prevents urban sprawl.
Clearly how we develop our onshore and offshore outer harbor will be key
to investing in a consequential recreation and tourism economy.
Imagine building an economic plan around conservation,
tourism and recreation.
World class bird watching, recreational fishing, boating, kayaking,
sailing, and all of the service contexts including tours, service liveries and
amenities that would come with this kind of plan can characterize our 21st
century region. Take this a step further- Imagine a vision of a Woods Hole type
research and education center focused on sustainable Great Lakes waters. Imagine our local colleges and
universities tying in to make our region a leader in Great lakes
sustainability. Imagine all of this as our future! If we work together, we can
make our future as bright as the rising sun.
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| Proposed National Marine Sanctuary |
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| Times Beach Nature Preserve in downtown Buffalo |
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( Set out)
Buffalo Harbor BOA Principles provided by Urban Strategies, Inc. –Buffalo BOA
Consultants
http://buffalobrownfieldopportunities.com/
Principles
The following
emerging principles were presented to the break-out groups for their
consideration:
1. Seek
to better integrate the Waterfront and Harbor area into the Downtown
experience. Make these areas an extension of the Downtown.
2. Expand
efforts to harness the unique economic, cultural and recreational opportunities
provided by the Waterfront. Use the amenity of the water as a catalyst for
positive change.
3. Continue
to work to animate the Waterfront year around through a program of events,
recreation and culture.
4. Make
it a place that people want to come to and where there are things to do and
see.
5. Protect
and celebrate the waterfront as a working waterfront. Balance interests.
6. Work
to remediate and restore the health of the Waterfront: Clean, Green and
Beautiful.
7. Work
to improve accessibility to the Waterfront and make it a truly public space for
all to enjoy.
8. Make
the waterfront a public space for all ages and abilities to enjoy.2
9. Plan
Waterfront Growth Smartly
There was general consensus on the emerging principles.
There were, however, additional priorities the community wished to be added to
the list, including:
-emphasizing Buffalo
Harbor BOAs role in both the City and Regional context;
-recognizing the
Harbor’s ecological significance;
-the need to include
sustainability and environmental performance as a part of the BOAs future;
-ensure that the waterfront is usable year around – winter
and summer;
-recognize the industrial legacy of the waterfront;
-and keep the waterfront and access to the water public.
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