Land's future disputed

Board ignoring conservation vote

For the second time in three years, a 4.3-acre wooded property off Round Top Road has become a focus of contention in Boxford.

In 2005, Town Meeting authorized selectmen to put a conservation restriction on the land, once the site of a military training ground. A citizens' group said the move, which would bar development of the property, was needed because of the land's scenic and historic value. At the time, the restriction was opposed by the town's Housing Partnership, which was exploring putting two group homes for people with mental disabilities on a portion of the site.

Now controversy has flared again, this time over the Board of Selectmen's decision not to put the conservation restriction in place. In response, the citizens' group Friends of Round Top has successfully petitioned to place an article on the Oct. 28 Town Meeting warrant that would accomplish its goal in a different way. The article, which needs a two-thirds majority to pass, proposes that the town dedicate the land for conservation purposes under Article 97 of the state constitution. Adopted in 1972, any land or easements taken or acquired for natural resource purposes under the article shall not be used for other purposes unless the Legislature approves the change by a two-thirds vote.

If the conservation article passes Town Meeting, it also would require approval from the Legislature.

"The people have voted for it, and [selectmen have] gone against it," said Leslie DiNanno, a spokeswoman for the Friends group. She said the Town Meeting article is a way to carry out the wishes residents expressed three years ago, and to honor the intent of the late Harlan P. Kelsey, who donated the land to the town in 1955.

But Barbara Jessel, a member of the Board of Selectmen, said it is in the town's best interest to keep the land unrestricted.

"I don't see any advantage to putting a restriction on it," she said, "and would like in the future for the town to have the option to use this land" for other purposes, such as playing fields or tennis courts.

The selectmen announced their position at the board's Aug. 25 meeting, which was attended by representatives of the Friends and of Boxford Trails Association/Boxford Open Land Trust, the nonprofit that was to hold the conservation restriction. According to BTA/BOLT chairwoman Nancy Merrill, her group has prepared a preliminary draft of a conservation restriction.

"We're disappointed in the selectmen for not following through on the directive that Town Meeting gave them to sign the conservation restrictions," Merrill said.

Jessel said that while Town Meeting authorized the restriction, the selectmen have the final say whether to put it in place.

As they did three years ago, those who want to protect the land point to its scenic and historic qualities. The front of the site is an open area with several large pine trees and split log benches. The back half is thickly forested with red pines. The Bay Circuit Trail, a recreation trail extending through 34 towns in Eastern Massachusetts, loops through the land.

The parcel is the last undeveloped portion of a larger area that was used for military purposes as far back as the Revolutionary War, when local militias are said to have used it for training. During the Civil War, Union troops trained and camped on the property, then known as Camp Stanton. Starting in the late 1800s, the 2d Corps of Cadets used part of the site for training. During World War I, it was used as a training ground for soldiers bound for France.

"For the last 10 years, we've been spending tax dollars to purchase and save open space," DiNanno said. "It doesn't make sense that we would take a piece of property that is already so important to the town and that has historic value and want to build on it."

Jessel noted that the Friends had been unsuccessful in getting the site included on the state's Register of Historic Places. Estimating the value of the property as two building lots worth about $1 million, she said, "When we are trying to figure out how to pay for things, to take a valuable town asset and basically take away its monetary value I think is fiscally irresponsible."