Trust wants support for land buy
A national conservation organization is seeking support from Groton officials and voters for the purchase of one of the last large, pristine tracts of land in the town -- 360 acres off Farmer's Row and Shirley Road, near the Ayer line.
The San Francisco-based Trust for Public Land has a March 1 deadline to raise a $4.9 million nonrefundable deposit for the property, which would be purchased for $19.4 million.
The Groton School, which is located just north of the tract, is pledging $5 million if Groton Town Meeting voters back the acquisition in April. A Town Meeting date has yet to be set.
The public land trust is seeking funds from the town but also some expression of strong support that it can point to in raising money from other sources.
Groton officials want the property preserved but say that the deal, which would involve public and private funds, has to be made within the context of other town fiscal requirements. A developer has already gained approval to build houses on a portion of the tract.
The public land trust revealed a week ago that it has an agreement to buy the land from the Marion Danielson Strachan Family Trust, the Marion D. Campbell Trust, and Newbury Street Development of Exeter, N.H. The two family trusts are based in Chicago.
''This property is capable of attracting the resources to be preserved, but we want to make sure that Groton selectmen and other town officials are behind a funding plan as it evolves," said Badge Blackett, senior project manager in the Boston office of the public land trust.
Blackett said that recent appraisals have valued the tract at about $23 million.
Several town officials interviewed this week said they are hopeful that this major campaign to conserve land will be successful.
''I realize that this is a one-time opportunity, but it has to be balanced with the other financial requirements of the town," said Fran Dillon, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. ''In short, it's an appealing concept, but we have to get down to the specifics on costs."
It's possible that up to $480,000 in Groton community preservation funds could be used to help purchase the land, commonly referred to as Surrenden Farm, said Rick Hughson, chairman of the preservation committee.
''Many of us on the [committee] feel that providing a funding source to capitalize on this type of opportunity is precisely why Groton residents voted to enact the Community Preservation Act," he said.
The town planning administrator, Michelle Collette, said, ''It's important to put this scenic vista in our open space inventory so that critical [natural] resources can be protected."
Under its agreement with the three parties, the trust has one year to raise money for the purchase of the land from private and public sources. However, the nonrefundable deposit is due March 1 ''to hold the property" through the end of this year, Blackett noted.
If that option isn't exercised for lack of money, then the Exeter development firm could fall back on its permitted plans for 130 housing units on 164 acres, Blackett said. Funding sources to be tapped other than private donors include the Town of Groton and the state Department of Conservation Services.
If Town Meeting approves the purchase, leading to the the Groton School commitment, and the rest of the money is raised, the town will ultimately control the land, once used for various agricultural ventures.
Richard Commons, headmaster of Groton School, said the trustees of the well-known private secondary school ''are 100 percent behind the town" in trying to save ''this glorious land."
''It has an impact on the Nashua River watershed, which abuts our campus," he said.
A few years ago, a much different scenario for the land was in the offing, one that called for housing development rather than preservation.
In July 2002, subdivision plans for the land were submitted by Newbury Street Development, the Exeter, N.H., firm. A year later, all permits were in place for 130 housing units to be built on 164 acres. Seventy-two of the units were townhouses planned for owners 55 and older, Collette said. The remainder were single-family houses.
Based on the agreement it crafted, the Trust for Public Land would pay the Exeter firm $4.9 million and the two family trusts a total of $14.5 million, Blackett said.
Five houses, now spread over a 30-acre parcel, would be sold by the land trust, he said, adding that two are now being rented, two are vacant, and the other is the home of the manager of the property, Bill Conley.
Conley, who has been involved in the management of the Marion D. Campbell Trust since 1950, asserted in a statement, ''Mrs. Campbell was a true steward of the land. This project will, in many ways, preserve her legacy, and I know, in her unassuming manner, she would be very pleased."
Blackett said the public land trust became involved last spring after officers of the family trusts ''contacted us, knowing what we had previously done in the region."
The most notable examples, he said, occurred last year, when the land trust worked to preserve the 265-acre Belmont Springs property in Pepperell and the 285-acre East Boston Camps property in Westford. Some 11,000 acres of land in Massachusetts are now under protection as a result of the land trust's efforts, he said.
