Town seeks land at bargain $4.1m
Saying the depressed real estate market gives the town a chance to buy land it ordinarily cannot afford, Marshfield officials want tomorrow’s Town Meeting to spend more than $4.1 million for 128 acres that include two failed subdivisions, as well as other woodland and salt marsh property.
“Normally, developers would come in and overbid us,’’ said Jose Carreiro, chairman of the town Community Preservation Committee. “We’ve hit this interesting historical situation where the economy has been so bad . . . that we have an opportunity to acquire parcels that normally we could never compete for. This is really a unique opportunity.’’
Four other communities south of Boston also are working on deals to take advantage of the real estate meltdown to acquire land for open space, said Alison Mitchell of the statewide Community Preservation Coalition. She declined to name the towns because they are still negotiating but said like Marshfield they probably would ask for permission to borrow money for the purchases.
Carreiro said this is the first time his committee has asked to borrow money - which takes a two-thirds Town Meeting vote - but members feel compelled to take advantage of the developers’ misfortune to advance town conservation and recreation goals.
The committee gets its money from a 3 percent tax on local real estate bills and from the state. By law, the money can be used only for open space and recreation, historic preservation, and affordable housing.
Since it began in July 2001, the group has spent $12.8 million, with about two thirds going to buy open space, Carreiro said.
About 2,500 of Marshfield’s 20,000 acres are town-owned open space, according to Susan Caron, chairwoman of the town Open Space Committee, which supports the new purchases.
The land for sale includes two subdivisions - Pine Oak Farm and North River Village - whose owners lost their land in foreclosures, said town planner Paul Halkiotis.
Three years ago, the town approved plans to build 20 single-family homes on half-acre lots at the 24-acre Pine Oak Farm, Halkiotis said. The land was cleared for a road and drainage system but, several foreclosures later, all work stopped, he said.
The town has an agreement to buy the property - which is assessed at $4.5 million - for $2.4 million, he said.
The town water department would pay half the cost, since runoff from the property goes into the town’s water supply, he said.
“It’s legal to build housing on that kind of land, but if you can limit it, that’s the goal of our water department,’’ Caron said. “We try to purchase as much of that land as we can for water-supply protection.’’
Caron said the Pine Oak Farm property could be used for three or four playing fields, another high priority in town.
The 17-acre North River Village was approved four years ago as a “40B’’ development for 18 homes, five of them designated as “affordable,’’ Halkiotis said. The property is in an environmentally sensitive area, with a large vernal pool, endangered species, and archeological ruins, he said. The developer was another victim of the economy, and the plan never went forward, he said.
The land borders the North River and the 68-acre Two Mile Reservation, conservation land owned by the Trustees of Reservations.
Caron said conservation groups had wanted the property for years but couldn’t afford it. The town has an agreement to buy the land for $850,000 from the bank that took it over, she said, and plans to keep it open space.
The third piece of property that town officials want to buy - for $98,500 - is 39 acres of salt marsh starting at Rexhame Beach and running along the South River. While it cannot be developed, Caron said, it’s a good location for private docks, which her open space committee wants to avoid.
“This is beautiful, unspoiled marshland,’’ she said. “Salt marshes are one of the most important ecosystems on earth - comparable to the rain forest. We think for a reasonably small amount of money it’s worth taking the extra step to buy this property and protect the marshland.’’
A fourth property is privately owned conservation land, 48 acres on the North River abutting the John Little Conservation Area, which the town bought last year, Caron said. If approved, the new $850,000 purchase would provide access to the river, she said. “People really love the opportunity to walk along the river, and this is a particularly beautiful part of the river,’’ she said.
Carreiro said he’s heard some opposition to the spending request. “There are some folks who oppose any borrowing for anything,’’ he said. “Some folks are upset that we can’t spend [the money] on things like firefighters’ jobs.
“Often people don’t understand that [community preservation] funds don’t come from the operating funds of the town and can’t be used to fund salaries.’’
While Caron acknowledged that town officials are asking for a significant amount of money, she said Town Meeting has approved all previous requests to spend community preservation funds and voted down proposals to cut the community preservation tax.
“I think people will be very happy with these acquisitions, but it’s hard to tell how the public will react in this economy,’’ she said. “We think there will be vigorous debate, but we’re hoping we’ll succeed.’’
Johanna Seltz can be reached at seelenfam@verizon.net. 
