Groton Open Space Association

TPL Official Discusses Land Protection Means At Conservation Commission

GROTON — Alicia Betty, project manager for the Trust for Public Land, made a presentation Oct. 1, 2007, to the Groton Conservation Commission on methods of protecting valuable land in municipalities.

Ms. Betty, based in New Haven, said that local conservation finance measures in Connecticut had raised $134 million in the period 1996-2006, with 50 of the 55 measures proposed passing.

The Conservation Commission has a list of properties that it deems worthy of protection, but has been unable to prevent the list from shrinking as the properties are purchased for development. At present, only 11% of Groton’s land is securely protected as open space.

In a letter to the Town Council’s Environment Committee early this year, GOSA Director Edith Fairgrieve said that the Conservation Commission still was awaiting consideration of its list for inclusion in the pending update of the Plan of Conservation and Development. She said the topic has been raised at but then “pushed aside” by the council’s Environment Committee and the Committee of Chairpersons, of which land-use chairpersons are members.

The Trust for Public Land has done a recent study for the town of Stonington on the feasibility of a bond issue for open space. Ms. Betty said that nationwide, voters tend to support open space bond issues up to a tax cost of $30 a year per household. In New England, however, voters tend to support issues that will cost up to $50 per household–or higher in more affluent communities.

The TPL is a national nonprofit conservation organization that helps conserve land for parks (mostly passive recreation), community gardens, historic sites, rural lands, and other natural places, its goal being to ensure “livable communities for generations to come.” It has conserved some 4,200 acres in Connecticut. It does not own land itself but plays a facilitating role in public land acquisition and protection. The organization would be available to provide advice to Groton on how to protect its lands.