LYNNFIELD — The town is on pace to become a part of what is being touted as a unique project designed to protect and preserve hundreds of acres of open space at the intersection of four neighboring communities.
Lynnfield Director of Planning and Conservation Emilie Cademartori said she has been informed by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) that Lynnfield has been awarded funding to participate in the agency’s technical assistance program (TAP).
“Preservation of this undeveloped acreage holds the potential for a large, connected wooded-trail network as well as access to the Ipswich River,” said Cademartori
Titled “A Vision for Willis Woods,” the grant will support the development of a regional effort to create a vision, and ultimately a work plan, for open space at the intersection of the communities of Lynnfield, Middleton, North Reading and Peabody.
Working with MAPC, Lynnfield will act as the lead community. The vision plan will focus on perpetual protection of this large collection of contiguous open space.
The aggregate area includes various conservation-owned properties, municipal water district lands and large, privately-owned parcels, all adjacent to the Ipswich River and two miles of the abandoned Salem-Lowell Rail Line.
“Our town is truly grateful for this opportunity to work collaboratively with the towns of Middleton and North Reading and the City of Peabody to preserve this vast area of undeveloped forest,” said Lynnfield Town Administrator Robert Dolan. “Our four communities, and clearly the larger region, increasingly depend on these open spaces to safeguard our natural resources and strengthen our climate resiliency. This grant award marks a tremendous step in advancing those goals.”
“This is wonderful news for Lynnfield, North Reading, Middleton and Peabody, as this grant will help further their collective efforts to preserve hundreds of acres of shared open space, protect local drinking water sources and provide more passive recreational opportunities for all residents,” said House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. (R-North Reading). “My thanks to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council for recognizing that the proposed ‘A Vision for Willis Woods’ will offer many tangible, long-term environmental benefits to all four communities and to the region as a whole.”
“The City of Peabody is pleased to see this vision to connect recreation trails to the Peabody Independence Greenway,” said Peabody Assistant Director of Planning Brendan Callahan. “The development of a work plan and shared vision between the neighboring towns will move the communities towards the region’s goal to link our existing trail network system.”
The MAPC, Essex County Greenbelt, the Lynnfield Center Water District, Ipswich River Watershed Association and other critical regional stakeholders have long expressed interest in preservation of this area.
The project has recently come into focus with the recent activity surrounding the pending private sale of 20 acres of forested land in Lynnfield, known as Richardson Green, to developer Angus Bruce, who has proposed a 16-home development. The property is one of the last unprotected parcels in Lynnfield, and a possible “keystone” to this larger area.
The town has a right of first refusal on the land at a price tag of $2.7 million or it can assign that right to a nonprofit organization, such as Essex County Greenbelt. Should the town choose to do neither, the land — located between Sagamore Golf Course, Ipswich River and the town’s water district wellfields — will proceed to sale for the development of housing.
In January 2021, Selectman Phil Crawford said that given current circumstances, the town was not looking to spend such a hefty sum of money on the parcel despite having a $200,000 commitment from the Conservation Commission. Allowing the land to proceed to sale with Bruce, however, is also not ideal.
“Nobody really wants the development,” said Crawford, referring to Bruce’s plans. “The town doesn’t need 16 more homes when there’s already a school capacity issue.”
Since then, the town has obtained a $1.6 million grant bringing the town’s total available funds available to purchase the property to approximately $1.8 million, Crawford said on Sunday.