LYNNFIELD — The 21-acre Richardson Green parcel in northern Lynnfield has a new name. The property has been renamed Lynnfield Woodlot and represents the most recent addition to Essex County Greenbelt Association’s (Greenbelt) inventory of conserved properties in Essex County.
The town posted a May 25 statement from Greenbelt about the property: “We’re delighted to announce, that in partnership with the Town of Lynnfield, the Commonwealth, Ipswich River Watershed Association and many others, the 21-acre “Lynnfield Woodlot” property on Main Street (formerly referred to as Richardson Green) has been permanently protected,” said Christopher B. LaPointe, vice president, Conservation Operations.
LaPointe said Richardson Green was the previous landowner’s name. That name was used to refer to the land during the fundraising and project development stages that led to Greenbelt’s purchase.
” Richardson Green owns hundreds of additional acres of land in Middleton and the surrounding areas, so continuing to use their name here didn’t make sense,” said LaPointe.
An important ecological and drinking water resource, this land will provide a gateway to trails on other conserved land in the future.
The effort to permanently protect the land from development began about two years ago when a developer had an agreement to buy the property as part of a 15-lot subdivision for $2.7 million.
The town had the right of first refusal and the opportunity to purchase the land. In late November 2021, the Lynnfield Select Board voted to purchase the land and to assign the property to Greenbelt, and approved a Conservation Restriction (CR) for the land.
In December, the Lynnfield Conservation Commission signed the purchase and sale agreement, and the Select Board exercised the town’s right of first refusal to purchase the land and ensure it is permanently protected. The town sold the property to Greenbelt, who is responsible for creating and maintaining a modest parking area and trails.
The town holds a CR that permanently protects the land.
According to Wayne Castonguay, executive director of Ipswich River Watershed Association, “With climate change causing hotter days, more drought and extreme storms, conserving forested open space like this parcel is one of the best tools we have to protect both our communities and the endangered Ipswich River.”
Lynnfield Woodlot will provide a gateway in the future to the Willis Woods property of more than 500 acres of contiguous forest land owned by the Lynnfield Conservation Commission and the Lynnfield Center Water District.
The Willis Woods project will create a vision, and ultimately a work plan, for the preservation of hundreds of acres of open space at the intersection of the communities of Lynnfield, Peabody, North Reading and Middleton, in order to protect drinking water resources, provide passive recreation connectivity, and maintain this aggregate area as open space in perpetuity.
Among the other benefits cited by Greenbelt that are associated with the preservation of Lynnfield Woodlot are: access to existing trails and future access to trails on adjoining land; protection of the town’s beautiful character; elimination of the threat of additional private wells in an area already vulnerable to drinking water stress; mitigation of inland flooding risks; cooler air, cleaner water, and wildlife habitat, and a reduction in the urban heat island effect in the surrounding area.
Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected].
