LYNNFIELD — Residents have an opportunity to guide town policy on preserving forest land near Sagamore Golf Course or letting it proceed to sale and development for housing.
The town Planning and Conservation department announced the survey is open through Dec. 1, 5 p.m. It can be accessed through the link,
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TH8VDQJ or by picking up a paper copy of the survey outside the Planning and Conservation office at Town Hall, 55 Summer St., and returning it upon completion.
Located between Sagamore Golf Course and Lynnfield Center Water District’s wellfields, the 20-acre Richardson Green site has attracted developers who filed a subdivision plan in April to build 15 homes and three new streets.
Under the state’s right to first refusal law, the town has authority to purchase and preserve Richardson Green as forest land.
If preserved, Richardson Green, combined with town-owned conservation land and the water district wellfields, would total more than 700 acres of forest land.
“This property forms the largest undisturbed forest in the region,” said a town Planning and Conservation statement.
Richardson Green’s potential price tag and town water needs are concerns overshadowing the parcel’s future.
The town would be required to match the amount offered for the property for development use, reportedly $2.7 million. With the town dependent on well water and summer watering restrictions enforced in past years, efforts are underway to find new water sources.
“When a citizens committee presented to the Board of Selectmen in September, they cited the protection of Lynnfield’s drinking water supply, the already stressed Ipswich River, and wildlife habitat as major benefits to conserving the parcel,” the town statement said.
If town residents want Richardson Green preserved, the Board of Selectmen has options for buying the land, including going to the bond financing market to cover the acquisition cost.
“An estimate from the Town of Lynnfield’s financial advisor puts that price at an average annual household cost of $24 to $32 per year for 20 years,” said the statement.
That cost could potentially be reduced if the town partnered with the Essex County Greenbelt, a county-wide land trust, to apply for state and federal land conservation and water protection grants “and solicit private funds from its membership donor network.”
