...goes to those who attended Special Town Meeting on September 8, and voted overwhelmingly to approve the purchase of these parcels. The Board of Selectmen voted last night to authorize the Town Manager to close the deal with the seller on October 23. The successful conclusion to this saga is an incredible testament to the values, passion, and commitment of Acton residents. Acton Conservation Trust met their "Campaign for Great Hill" fundraising goal of $60,000, generously given by 120 donors, to augment the use of CPA funds for this land purchase. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Town staff, officials, and residents who gave time and money to this fight, together we have succeeded in preserving the integrity of two invaluable Town assets, the Great Hill Conservation Area and the South Acton Historic District.
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Special Town Meeting has been scheduled for September 8, 2020 at 6:00 PM, and will be held at the Acton Boxborough Regional High School. Both indoor and outdoor options are available. Please attend if you are able, and vote YES on the Warrant Article to approve this major land purchase.
Acton Conservation Trust has initiated a fundraising campaign to augment CPA funding of this major land purchase. All donations are contingent on a positive Town Meeting vote. If you'd like to donate, please visit www.actonconservationtrust.org for information on where to send your tax-deductible contribution. The Community Preservation Committee voted unanimously tonight to approve CPA funds for the purchase of the Piper Lane parcels! The P&S should be signed within a couple of days, and then a final vote to approve the purchase at a Special Town Meeting in September will be required.
A very heartfelt thank you to all those who have supported SANA's efforts to protect this land and the surrounding historic and cultural landscape! Here is the link to this evening’s meeting - the one sent via email is not correct.
The Open Space Committee met this morning, and voted unanimously to recommend the purchase of these parcels. The Community Preservation Committee will be meeting on Tuesday, July 7 at 7:30 PM to discuss funding the purchase using Open Space Set-Aside funds. Please attend if you can. The agenda and link to participate remotely can be found here -
https://www.acton-ma.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/13318www.acton-ma.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/13318 if you are unable to attend, please send an email of support to [email protected]. Please attend the Open Space Committee meeting on Thursday, July 2nd at 7:30 AM. The agenda and remote participation instructions can be found at this link.
https://www.acton-ma.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/13310 The committee will be discussing the purchase of the Piper Lane parcels by the Town and possible funding source for said purchase. Thank you to those who have already sent an email! We appreciate your continued support!
We need to flood the inboxes of the Open Space Committee and Board of Selectmen to reassure the members that a purchase of the Piper Lane parcels will receive support from residents at Town Meeting. If you are short on time, please copy and paste the statement below, and sign with your name and street. Send to [email protected] AND [email protected]. Emails must be sent today or tomorrow at the latest. As an Acton resident, I fully support a Town purchase of the parcels at 4 Piper Lane, 4 Piper Lane Rear, and 6 Piper Lane Acton, MA. I understand that the appraisal was higher than anticipated and that there are a variety of ways the Town can fund this purchase which will not deplete critical resources for other initiatives. I encourage the exploration of all options to preserve these important parcels of land, thereby protecting the integrity of both the Great Hill Conservation Area and South Acton Historic District, two invaluable Town resources. The future economic savings to the Town will more than offset the cost of this purchase, and I pledge my vote of approval. As you know, the Board of Selectmen has held five Executive Sessions with the Piper Lane Comprehensive Permit applicant to "consider the purchase, exchange, lease or real property located at 90 School Street, 4 Piper Lane, 4 Piper Lane Rear, and 6 Piper Lane Acton, MA (Map H3-A parcels 3, 3-1, 3-2, and 17)." These meetings are not open to the public, but we do know that an appraisal on the rear parcels (not including 90 School Street) has been completed and is higher than hoped or expected. Another Executive Session is scheduled for this Friday, June 19th at 8:00 AM, and we hope an agreement will be reached.
BEFORE THEN, please send an email to the Board of Selectmen ([email protected]) and the Open Space Committee ([email protected]) communicating your support of a purchase of this land. Community Preservation Act funds can be used to purchase Open Space, and there is money in the Open Space set-aside fund currently. There are other high value parcels, however, which the Open Space Committee is interested in purchasing should they become available, and we do NOT want to deplete the Open Space set-aside fund nor jeopardize future purchases. Land can also be purchased through bonding, and interest rates are extremely low right now. Another strategy used in the past is supplementation of a purchase using private donations from residents, and in the case of this property, non-residents as Great Hill is visited by many folks from other communities. Yet another option for funding a land purchase is the use of Free Cash. Consider the significant future cost savings to the town should this 40B project be stopped. The cost of overseeing the Soil Management Plan for the project would be significant due to the high levels of lead and arsenic present. Property values in the area would likely be negatively impacted by allowing the South Acton Historic District AND the Great Hill Conservation Area, a town gem, to be severely degraded. Municipal services (school, fire, police, water, roads, etc.) would have to be provided to future residents in the 28 units, the costs of which would exceed the revenue generated. The natural resources services provided by the 5+ acres of forest and wetlands are also tremendous - forests clean the air by removing pollutants providing health benefits ($550 million in healthcare savings are provided by New England's forests, MA Audubon "The Value of Nature - Forests" Fact Sheet), the trees and wetlands soils sequester carbon and protect the quality of water which eventually flows to the South Acton well, providing residents with drinking water (every $1 spent on source water protection translates into $27 in water treatment savings, MA Audubon "The Value of Nature - Wetlands and Waterways" Fact Sheet), the trees and wetlands prevent erosion and help control flooding, allowing for groundwater recharge (over 1 million gallons of water can be stored in 1 acre of wetland, the amount on this property, MA Audubon "The Value of Nature - Wetlands and Waterways" Fact Sheet). The Trust for Public Land estimates that for every $1 invested in land conservation, $4 is saved. The purchase of this property and its incorporation into the Great Hill Conservation Area is a very sound investment for the town. Thank you for your continued support of our efforts to stop this ill-conceived development. The Piper Lane ZBA Hearing which was continued to this evening, June 16th has again been continued to a later date. Last week, we learned that it has been continued to June 30th. Don’t hold your breath though...we cannot be sure it will be held then either. The hearings have been continued every month since the last one was held in September 2019.
The Board of Selectmen are currently in negotiations to purchase the property. They’ve held several Executive Sessions (not open to the public) with the applicant, and another is scheduled for Friday. Keep an eye on this page and on the South Acton Neighborhood Association's FaceBook page for updates. We will post info as it becomes available. The Piper Lane ZBA Hearing has again been continued, now scheduled for June 16th at 7:30 PM (agenda items for tomorrow’s hearing on May 5th are the continuance and a second amendment to the Memorandum of Agreement, an extension). As you may remember, the March Hearing was continued to May because the applicant wanted to wait for the Conservation Commission to receive, review and discuss the environmental impact Peer Review, and pass on their recommendations to the ZBA. With the pandemic forcing all hearings to occur online, the Conservation Commission has not yet done this because they are committed to a fair process which allows the public and applicant (and perhaps their representatives) to fully participate. We don’t know when that will be able to happen.
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South Acton NeighborhoodAssociationAdvocating for a balance of citizen needs, retention of Acton's historic and small town character, and thoughtful development. Archives
August 2020
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