An inexpensive effective tool to preserve open space, protect habitat or provide for recreational lands is a tool similar to cluster development, called conservation subdivision design. Most of us are familiar with cluster development which requires developers to cluster rather than spread their developments over entire parcels. 
Thus, a developer who owned 100 acres which were zoned one unit per acre, would be required to build his units on say 1/3 acre and save the remainder in open space.
Conservation design differs from cluster development in the scope and breath of the design. Under conservation design full density is permitted only when at least 50% of potentially buildable land is set aside. Further, under the principles of conservation design areas of open space are preidentified on a community-wide map of potential conservation lands. The idea is to create greenbelts of open space, so that each new development actually holds the potential to add to rather than subtract from public open space.
Conservation areas are divided into primary areas, and secondary areas. The primary areas consist of lands that could not have been built upon and include wetlands, ponds, steep slopes etc. Such lands do not add to the allowed or permitted density. The secondary conservation areas are what comprise the 50% remaining open space. Compare the two designs at left. 
This open space could be used as community parks, or gardens, jogging and walking paths, and as natural and undisturbed open space. Such conservation design has been advocated by Randall Arendt in his book, Growing Greener.
In other parts of the United States where they actually adopt and implement innovative planning techniques, they have found that such designs not only serve to benefit the community but the developer, and potential homeowner as well. Such benefits include reduced infrastructure engineering and construction costs, and increased home value. A national survey of homebuyers conducted in 1994 by American Lives showed that of 39 features critical to homebuyers, “lots of natural open space”, and “walking and biking paths” ranked third and fourth highest. Study after study has found that the character of the development is much more important than the size of the lot.
Conservation design is a cheap, effective tool to preserve sensitive open space, and provide neighborhoods with needed focal points. Unfortunately, in the Town of Brookhaven such tools are unpopular with residents. The reason is that people feel that the town will come back at some later date and build on the preserved land anyway, leaving them with higher density development and no open space. Such was the case in the Damianos Medical Park in Stony Brook. In this case the Town Board rezoned a B-1 parcel for a medical park with the stipulation that all buildings would be clustered together in the front portion of the parcel with a covenant that the back portion would remain “forever wild.” That covenant was quickly lifted, by the Town Board and an additional set of buildings was located on the “forever wild” site. And such is the case currently in East Moriches where the town is allowing the Fire Department to build a substation on 6 acres of protected land.
Such take backs irrevocably hurt our ability to design healthy well functioning communities. The Town Board must both begin to adhere to its past commitments, and to do more than to react to problems. It is time to adopt visionary land use tools such as the Conservation Subdivision Ordinance.
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