By Dave Benoit
Special to the Reporter

The Parks and Recreation Department is asking for comment on a draft of an Open Space Plan for the city. Community comments are due by Dec. 9, and some groups are already talking about needs they say were left out.

The plan, which started in 2002 with a survey of existing open space, outlines the green spaces, expansion possibilities, and proposes a series of five-year goals.

According to the plan, Dorchester has an average 3.85 acres of protected open space per 1,000 persons. Citywide there are 7.43 protected acres per 1,000. Dorchester, despite being the largest neighborhood, ranks a bit low on the greenest neighborhoods list. Compare this ratio to such neighborhoods as West Roxbury (23.06 acres per 1,000) or Hyde Park (17.84) and Dot gets a distinctly non-green hue. The study lists 24 opportunities to open up Dorchester's space.

Among these, the waterfront is the clear focus; cleaning the water, improving access, and continuing work on the Harborwalk, at Columbia Point, and Tenean Beach. Some opportunities reflect the lack of youth playgrounds and the need for peace gardens.

Adding trees and green space to Columbia Road is another suggestion, bringing to mind Frederick Law Olmsted's original plan for a parkway lined with trees to connect Franklin Park and Carson Beach, thus completing the Emerald Necklace. But in the 19th century, when Olmsted's plan was becoming a reality, Columbia Road was a crowded thoroughfare with separate roads for commercial and pleasure traffic as well as a trolley linking Uphams Corner and Franklin Park. There was no room for a parkway.

The current draft plan also discusses the possibility of including bike lanes on Columbia and improving its connections to the parks.

In Dorchester's five-year plan, the city labels three key activities. One action point is the Geneva Avenue Cliffs, and its current $200,000 plus urban wild project. Currently funded by state and city departments, the Bowdoin-Geneva parcel will be filled with trails, benches, an outdoor classroom, and a stargazing area.

A second goal reflects the Mayor's pledge this summer for 100,000 new trees for the city by 2020 and directly references Grow Boston Green's request for 35 percent canopy cover. Dorchester's canopy currently covers about 26 percent, but is much thinner toward downtown than it is in the southern half of the neighborhood.

The final goal for Dot goes back to the beaches, where the city is looking to build upon state legislation and money to improve quality.

The Sustainable Neighborhoods Group, a group of nine non-profits, found some things they felt were left off the plan, especially concerning vacant land plots.

"[The project should be] ultimately resulting in re-developed land that increases Boston's green infrastructure and meets the social, economic, and environmental needs of the community," the group said in a statement.

Some of their suggestions included sustainable building concepts, and a transparent process for developers.

In Mattapan, the study found 4.65 acres of open space per 1,000 people and 14 total opportunities to build upon, including working on existing parks, bike trails, and transforming the Gladeside urban wild into an educational resource. The five year plan will connect Mattapan to Dot's Neponset waterway projects, and improve existing spaces.

The City is required to conduct a study every five years to ensure federal funding, and is asking for comment on the plan until Sunday. It is thick and encompassing, and word was slow to spread, but activists were glad to see it all the same.

"To some degree it is the kind of thing that people in certain circles will look at very clearly and the average Joe won't know a lot about it. But it is good to know they are thinking about it," said Ian Cooke of the Neponset River Watershed Association, who admitted he had yet to get through it. "It's important for the city to have some coherent notion on open space."

The plan can be found at cityofboston.gov/parks, or at any Boston Public Library branch.