Groton Open Space Association

Council Leaves Any Challenge Re GOSA’s Merritt Policy To CC, PC

 

GROTON — The Town Council has decided not to take an active role in the dispute over GOSA’s rules for use of The Merritt Family Forest, leaving any possible further official action to the Planning Commission in consultation with the Conservation Commission.

At its Aug. 25, 2009 meeting, the council deleted the matter from its agenda, formalizing a decision made by the council’s Committee of the Whole Aug. 11 after lengthy discussion. Mayor Harry Watson had referred the matter March 3, 2009, to the council’s Public Works/Recreation Committee, noting the signs posted by GOSA on the land prohibiting horses, bicycles and dogs.

Despite the decision, Mayor Watson did say Aug. 11 that he would like to be informed of what the Conservation Commission and Planning Commission come up with in their consideration of the GOSA policy. Michael J. Murphy, head of the Office of Planning and Development Services, told the council that the Planning Commission probably would send a letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection on the matter. However, the commission has made no decision about that.

The OPDS contends that the policy fails to “comply” with the town’s master trails plan, which envisions a multi-use trail running through the property. GOSA owns the tract. The trails plan was drawn up by Brian Kent, a consultant to the town. Mr. Kent and his wife, Deborah Finco-Kent, live on land abutting The Merritt Family Forest. On the abutting land, Ms. Finco-Kent runs a stable and horse rescue service. Ms. Finco-Kent says she has applied for non-profit tax status for these operations.

The Conservation Commission is scheduled to discuss the policy at its next monthly meeting–on Sept. 14. The Planning Commission has asked the Conservation Commission for its opinion. The planning unit presumably will take up the matter again at its Sept. 22 session, its first after the Conservation Commission convenes.

The Aug. 11 Committee of the Whole meeting, at which the council decided to stay out of the dispute, involved lengthy and spirited dialogue between OPDS staff–Mr. Murphy and Planning Manager Matthew Davis–and council members, chiefly Paulann Sheets and Mick O’Beirne. Mr. Murphy defended the involvement of the OPDS and Planning Commission in the dispute while Ms. Sheets and Mr. O’Beirne questioned the basis for the involvement. In a June 9 memo to the Planning Commission, Mr. Davis wrote that “[i]t would appear reasonable for the DEP to require that the current owners [of the Merritt Family Forest] allow use of the trail system in accordance with” Groton’s trails plan. He visited the DEP in July, questioned the DEP’s scoring of GOSA’s 2002 grant request, and complained of lack of coordination between the DEP and the OPDS ahead of the grant.

In response to questioning by Ms. Sheets, Mr. Murphy said the Planning Commission got involved in the matter because of concerns expressed by commission member Peter Roper and members of the public. He contended that GOSA’s use of public funding–it comes “with strings attached,” he said–meant that the rules were a matter of public concern and asserted that GOSA’s grant application promised multi-use trails. The state provided a grant of $650,000 toward the $1 million price of the property, with private contributions through GOSA supplying the rest of the price, along with tens of thousands of dollars in other costs associated with the acquisition.

GOSA has explained that its decision to bar horses was based on concerns about safety, liability/insurance and environmental impact that surfaced only after it took possession of the property in May 2008, following a long court fight with a developer. Mr. Murphy said Aug. 11 that GOSA should have thought about these matters prior to applying for the grant and should have had a management plan already formulated. “It’s the grant applicant’s problem,” he said. At the time GOSA applied for the grant, the property was slated for a 48-house subdivision that had been approved by the Planning Commission.

Mr. Murphy argued that the “property never has ranked high from an environmental point of view,” a remark that was among several by him that drew sharp responses from Councilor Sheets [see below]. She read a Nov. 12, 2002 letter from the Conservation Commission stating that the property possessed unique features and was a “wonderful” candidate for acquisition as open space. Mr. Murphy persisted, however, asserting that “it doesn’t rank as high as some properties that now wouldn’t be purchased.” The town has not bought open space land for some 20 years.

Mr. O’Beirne repeatedly posed the question of whether Mr. Davis had asked the DEP to pressure GOSA to comply with the town’s trails plan. Mr. Davis, who left a Planning Commission meeting in an adjacent room to speak to the council, said, “Categorically no.” Mr. Davis said the DEP told him that GOSA was in compliance with its grant conditions, despite what Mr. Davis felt was a failure by GOSA to follow through on grant application promises.

Mr. Davis said he had responded to the DEP representative “Frankly, that’s a little odd, but if that’s your position, we’ll leave it at that.” Mr. Davis said at a Planning Commission meeting July 14 that he had suggested to the DEP “line planner” that the matter should be discussed at a higher level of the DEP. Mr. Davis said Aug. 11 that he doesn’t know if the “line planner” speaks for the DEP or not.

The question of what constitutes an attempt to bring pressure on GOSA was not explicitly discussed at the Aug. 11 meeting.

Mr. O’Beirne said he found it curious that a public brouhaha should have developed over horseback riding on the 75-acre Merritt property when riding is allowed on Haley Farm/Bluff Point, totaling more than 1,000 acres, and on the town-owned Mort Wright Preserve, close to the Merritt property. He also noted that–contrary to Mr. Murphy’s “strings-attached” statement–GOSA is in compliance with its agreement with the state. Additionally, he said, GOSA’s mention of possible horseback riding in its grant application did not amount to a guarantee that riding would be allowed. Mr. O’Beirne rejected any suggestion that the town’s trails plan could supersede the will of individual landowners and said he didn’t think that the Town Council or the Planning Commission should pressure GOSA. It’s a separate issue if the town chooses to express itself on how grants awarded, he said.

Mr. Murphy said in response to Mr. O’Beirne’s remarks on rights of property owners that the town can require trails to be put through private property in new subdivisions.

Ms. Sheets said that trails through subdivisions can be required by the town when a developer asks for a permit. She said that GOSA has not asked for a permit and that “your analogy simply doesn’t hold.” She said failure of Mr. Davis to copy in GOSA on his June 9 memo — while copying trails planner Brian Kent, the state, the Connecticut Horse Council, the town manager and the director of parks and recreation — raises “some question about the sweet reasonableness of your approach.”

She continued that Mr. Murphy “trivialized” the environmental value of the Merritt property, and she quoted the Conservation Commission’s November 2002 praise of the property’s ecological value. She noted that at that time, the Planning Commission had endorsed a subdivision for the land. Speaking of GOSA’s acquisition under those circumstances, she said, “I guess the Planning Department never got over that.”

Ms. Sheets also made these points:

–GOSA wasn’t able to come up with a management plan ahead of its grant application because it had little opportunity to inspect the land. [At that time, GOSA had no contract for the land; it applied for the grant on speculation that it might win a contract, despite heavy competition from other bidders.]

–Although Mr. Murphy expressed no concern about insurance and liability, those matters are GOSA’s responsibility. She noted that riding is dangerous and that the late Superman actor Christopher Reeve had been paralyzed in a riding accident.

–GOSA is a “very small organization” that ought to be thanked for saving The Merritt Family Forest. She said GOSA’s trails are multi-use in the sense that they are used by people and animals.

–The conservation easement GOSA has given to the state specifies that any uncertainty about its interpretation should be resolved in favor of conservation and protection of the land.