Current Projects
As of Spring 2011, GOSA was active on many fronts:
- Preparing the newly acquired 63-acre Sheep Farm on Hazelnut Hill Road for public use
- Monitoring the proposed rewrite of the town’s land-use rules
- Mitigating the environmental impact of proposed developments
- Tending The Merritt Family Forest, the 75-acre tract on Route 1 it bought in 2008
- Networking with other environmental group to forward worthy wider goals
Sheep Farm: We purchased the Sheep Farm for $878,500 in December 2010 with the aid of grants from the Department of Environmental Protection’s Open Space and Long Island Sound funds, as well as contributions from foundations and generous individuals. The land was the site of a colonial farm, and it has a rich industrial past, including milling and fulling, remnants of which still are visible along Fort Hill Brook. At the farm, the brook spills over the highest waterfall in Groton on its way to Mumford Cove.
Rule Rewrite: For the last two years, the Office of Planning and Development Services has been working to extensively revise the rules that cover operations of the Planning and Zoning Commissions and, to a lesser extent, the Inland Wetlands Agency. GOSA has been watching this project carefully and offering input from time to time. The rewrite features a formula-based method of computing the number of units allowed on a particular tract of land. A number of questions remain for GOSA and for the commissions about this method.
Environmental Mitigation: GOSA is following the plan to build the 190-unit Active Senior Housing development called Mystic Woods in a residential area of Fort Hill. GOSA has challenged the plan in court as too intensive but has lost on its suits. The project is quiescent at present, probably because of depressed market conditions, but can be expected to resurface in the future. We also keep track of proposed major local projects as they move through the regulatory process, adding our assessments of how they could be improved environmentally. We have done this in recent years in the cases of projects that include Mystic Estates, Wal-Mart Super Center, Four Winds, Great Brook and Groton High Point (the last now being the Sheep Farm.)
The Merritt Family Forest: GOSA’s 2008 acquisition of the 75-acre Merritt Family Forest after a nearly five-year court struggle has kept GOSA busy creating trails, working out rules of use, clearing invasive plants and marking boundaries. It has also led to demand for volunteers to assist in vigorous outdoor work.
Site walk at Mystic Estates Tract (now TMMF)
Networking: GOSA maintains contact with a host of regional and statewide conservation organizations. Many members are supporting the proposed Preston to Bluff Point bicycle trail. GOSA regularly participates with other environmental groups in contacting legislators about money for open space and other forms of protection of this state’s wonderful natural assets. Some members have participated in the Drinking Water Quality Management Project.
Other: Each year, GOSA pays for mowing of the fields at Haley Farm State Park to prevent them from turning to forest, and it sponsors a cleanup day at the park. We steadily press local planners to adopt an open space acquisition plan. The town’s planned acquisition of the old Christmas Tree farm on Thomas Road is potentially encouraging.
When the time comes for the town to write a Plan of Conservation and Development for the new decade, we will work to make sure it protects Groton’s natural resources.
