Letter: Save Valued Farmland in Williamstown
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To the Editor:
On a beautiful, designated "scenic road" in Williamstown, with 1,500 feet of frontage, offering spectacular views of Mount Greylock, a portion of a farm dating back to the 1800s could be converted to a large lot, single-family home development. This property is in an area designated as a distinctive landscape by the state Department of Environmental Management due to its impressive vistas and the most picturesque mountain scenery in the commonwealth.
Today, less than 7 percent of the land in Williamstown is dedicated preserved farmland. Rural sprawl, such as proposed here, is one of the biggest causes of the loss of farmland.
There is a possibility that we can protect this property. The land is enrolled in Chapter 61A program; the owner has designated the land to be used as farmland and agreed to give the town the right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) when they convert the land to a non-chapter use such as residential development in exchange for much lower property taxes over the years. The purpose of Chapter 61 programs us to help keep land undeveloped. When the owner decides to convert the property, the town has 120 days to determine its course of action.
This may seem like a long time, but if you follow local government at all you know things take time. If the town would like to purchase the property, they need to get the agreement of the citizens, so a special town meeting might be order. We also have the option to transfer our ROFR to an eligible conservation organization – such as a land trust.
Some members of the Select Board seem to favor the large single-family homes development due to the potential for future tax revenue. Unfortunately, in the long run increasing rural sprawl costs towns more than they receive in taxes as demands for services increase (paving, water, sewer, snow clearing, etc.)
The town's Agricultural Commission, Planning Board, and Conservation Commission have unanimously voted to NOT waive our town's ROFR but to transfer this right to Williamstown Rural Lands. The final decision rests solely with the Select Board.
If Williamstown could find a creative way to maintain this farmland we'd be supporting our local economy in farming and tourism. And we'd be preserving our natural environment to benefit of all.
Currently the Select Board seems to be leaning toward waiving our ROFR or putting up barriers to WRL to purchasing the property; such as requiring them to have evidence that the purchase funds will be raised as early as November. The Select Board plans to make this decision at their Nov. 28 meeting; legally they have until Jan. 17. Let's take the time to consider all sides of this opportunity, explore partnerships and financing options, and make the decision that will provide the most benefit to our community in the long term.
Stephanie Boyd
Williamstown, Mass.
Tags: rural lands,
