SCITUATE — The fate of about 18 acres along Border Street will be in thehands of special town meeting voters who willdecide whether $2 million of Community Preservation Act money should be used to buythe land.
The land, known as the Border Street field, is under a purchase-and-sale agreement sought bylocalbuilderGerry Rankin. He wants tobuildsix houses on a portion of the property and donate8 acres back to the town. Atrailhead parking area would be built to access existing conservation land.
The town has the right of first refusal on the land, meaning it can buy it out from under Rankin if special town meeting voters approve. The town would have to spend$2.35 million for the land, plus$15,000 to cover closing and conservation restriction costs.
The Gulf Association, a group of Scituate and Cohasset residents who are vehemently opposed to any development of the property, has raised over $350,000 to help pay for it.The remaining $2 million, however,is a concern for town officials.
The cost of conservation
“The price is too high,” said Scituate Select Board ChairKaren Connolly, who voted not to support the community preservation committee's special town meetingarticle.“It is far above what we have paid for open space in the past.”
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She said the town created 30 affordable rental housing unitsfor people age 62 and over at Lawson Green for nearlynearly the same amount:$1.9 million from the Community Preservation fund and $400,000 from the Scituate Housing Trust.
“If we had unlimited money, of course we would purchase as much open space as possible and we would build more affordable housing for our fellow citizens,” Connolly said.“Obviously, we don’t have unlimited money, so sometimes we have to make difficult decisions.”
Frank Snow, chair of the conservation commission, said he agrees.
“From a conservation standpoint, we’d love to protect that piece of property," he said. "It’s a beautiful piece of property and I think there’s no doubt anyone would love to save it, but the concern I have is the cost.It’s an awful lot of money.”
Snow saidthe $2 million price tag could deplete the committee's resources for future land purchases.
“The (community preservation committee) is like a cookie jar, and there are already a bunch of IOUs in the jar,” he said of other projects the committeehas approved.
Snow said futureland bought by the committeeshould help protect the town's water supply, and the Border Street propertydoesn’t contribute tothat goal.
“As a conservation-minded person, I don’t want to see this slip away. But can we really afford to pay that kind of money?” Snow said. “Maybe if there was some other way to raise money to buy the property, we could do it that way.”
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The community preservation committee's funding is replenished every year with about $1.4 million from residents and $400,000 from the state,select board member Karen Canfield said.
Citizens step up
The Gulf Association was formed by residents with the goal of protecting the Gulf River and surrounding areas, saidGeorge McGoldrick, a member of the group and president of Black Rock Development.It was started in 1987 by Scituate and Cohasset residents, and more than 100 individuals and families are members.
Gulf Association members, along with hundreds of residents, saytheproperty is one of the last pastoral areas in Scituate.
“Its proximity to the Gulf River raises concerns about septic systems and fertilizer runoff, both detrimental to the health of the river,"Gulf Association member Marla Minier said.
More than 300 people have contributed to the campaign to raise the$350,000. Of that,85% of donations came from Scituate residents, McGoldrick said. He said the purchase price"is in line with other properties the town has acquired."
McGoldrick said preservation of theland far outweighs any benefits the developer is offering.
McGoldrick and Minier saidthe Gulf Association has been working to preserve the land for over two years, well before the Rankin came onto the scene.
Development proposal
Rankin has said he is willing to limit hisdevelopment of the propertyto six single-family, farmhouse-style houses on about 10 of the 18 acres. Five of the houses would be visible from Border Street and the sixthwould be set back from the road.
The town would receive about $120,000 annually in tax revenue from the development.
“I think there is a responsibility you have to have. You can’t just go in and build these monster buildings within a community,” he said.
Rankin saidhe would return 8 acres of the property back to the town at no cost and build a trailhead parking lot off Border Street at the southern part of the property, which would allow access to existing trails.He would receive a tax credit for giving theland to the town.
The proposed parking area would have about 16 spaces. He also hasagreedto donate $50,000 toward building a baseball field.
Rankin has said the Border Street land is “iconic and beautiful.”
"I believe the town will have the best of both worlds – they will get tax revenue, the (community preservation)funds will not be depleted by $2 million, and they will still get 8 acres of land and the trailhead," he said. "Common sense should prevail.”
The select board voted 4 to 1 against the specialtown meeting article proposing the purchase. Member Karen Canfield voted in favor.
“We have so few scenic agriculture wildlife sanctuary locations in our community," she said. "This particular site is one of the most iconic roads in our town and once it’s gone it’s gone forever.”
Scituate's special town meeting will take place at 7 p.m.Tuesday, Oct. 26, in the Scituate High School gym, 606 Chief Justice Cushing Highway.
Follow Ruth Thompson on Twitter @scituateruth.
