Pittsford, NY

The Town of Pittsford is about eight miles from Rochester, near the Erie Canal in upstate New York. The population of this historically rural community is approximately 25,000 persons; the town covers 24 square miles. The town has experienced pressure from the Rochester area to develop since the 1950s, with a peak in growth in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Growth has slowed from the 110 to 125 residential units per year during that previous spurt to about 80 units per year, with an expectation that population growth will continue at about 3.7 percent annually, a very high number for a northeastern jurisdiction.

Growth in and of itself was not the primary motive for this community to take steps to protect open space and ecological resources in the form of its award-winning “Greenprint”—the driving force was a desire to protect the community’s rural character.

Much of the town’s land area has been altered by agricultural and residential development. However, significant ecological resources are still present, including woodlots, meadows, streams, and wetlands, with the accompanying species of plants and animals that live in those habitats. The Greenprint states that even though there are few endangered species or unique natural communities in the town, the significance of these resources “lies in their diversity and availability to Town residents.”

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