The Town has been noticed of their right (Right of First Refusal) to acquire 21 acres of open land at 95 and 105 Sargent Road. The land is currently under agreement to be developed into 5 (ANR/ Approval Not Required) house lots and more could be developed. As the land has been in Chapter 61 for forestry, the Town has the right to purchase or assign its right to purchase based on the current Purchase and Sales agreement within four months.
If you want to see this land saved as forest for future generations, contact the Select Board, the Planning Board, the Conservation Commission (including Town Administrator) as soon as possible. The Select Board makes the final decision whether to put this on the warrant based on Board and Commission input and public feedback.
Conservation Value of the Properties:
- Highly valued upland providing aquifer water recharge and flood control.
- As a wooded upland this land provides resiliency from climate change by sequestering carbon and contributes to improved air quality given the proximity of Route 2. Recent research shows that older trees sequester more carbon than those under 50 years old.
- The properties abut Rolling Meadow and wetlands. Conservation would provide the opportunity for additional trails for passive recreation.
- They provide habitat connectivity with the Half Moon Meadow (Sargent Road) and the Fort Pond Brook (Littlefield Road) conservation lands.
- Acquiring this land is consistent with Boxborough 2030 level 1 goals for water resource protection, recreation, and preserving the Town’s rural character.
- In the Town’s Open Space and Recreation Plan (2015-2022), these two parcels are on the priority list of parcels that have open space value to the Town. The Conservation Commission had ranked them high value for conservation.
- The cost per acre would be less than $59K, far lower than prime upland has been selling for recently (upwards of $200K/acre for some recent land sales).
Please attend the Conservation Commission meeting on Wednesday, February 2nd at 7pm and provide your support for the acquisition of these 21 acres. This agenda item is likely to start around 8:15pm, Zoom link and agenda here.