07/12/2011

Move to reconsider $350,000 pledge for Land Trust purchase fails to win Town Council majority

A request submitted by four Town councilors to reconsider the $350,000 pledge made last month toward the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust's purchase of a 63-acre parcel of open space next to Robinson Woods failed to win council support at their meeting July 11, 2011.

The request, moved by Anne Swift-Kayatta, would have had the council take a second look at their June 13 unanimous decision to use $150,000 from the Town's land-acquistion fund, and an additional $200,000 bonded money, to help the Land Trust purchase Robinson Woods II, located next to the 80-acre Robinson Woods open space next to Shore Road.

The motion failed 3-3, with Swift-Kayatta, Jim Walsh and Jessica Sullivan supporting; and Councilors Frank Governali, Caitlin Jordan and Chair David Sherman opposed. Councilor Sara Lennon was not present at the meeting.

It was Swift-Kayatta's addendum to the June 13 approval that caused her and other councilors to ask for a reconsideration of the pledge. The addendum requested that the Land Trust work with the Town to explore alternative placements for the Shore Road Path through the part of Robinson Woods already owned by the Land Trust.

In meetings with Sherman and Town Manager Michael McGovern, however, Land Trust leadership said they did not believe the conservation easement, held by Maine Coast Heritage Trust, would allow the path to come into Robinson Woods. "It's unfortunate that CELT's desire to manage our properties in accordance with the conservation restrictions placed upon them has become a reason for some to consider CELT uncooperative or unreasonable," said Cape Elizabeth Land Trust Executive Director Chris Franklin during a public-comment session July 11.

At the June meeting, Swift-Kayatta said the Land Trust's cooperation would not be a requirement of the $350,000 donation, but in explaining her move to reconsider July 11, she said she believed the two actually should be linked. "Linkage is just a way of saying 'two-way street'," Swift-Kayatta said. She and other supporting councilors said that if the Town is to give $350,000 of taxpayers money to help fund the purchase, it should get something in return. Moving the yet-to-be constructed Shore Road Path out of the right-of-way and into Robinson Woods would save trees and blasting costs, as much as $96,000 worth, Swift-Kayatta said.

"I want to be clear about what we are asking of the Land Trust," Swift-Kayatta said. "When you hear someone say the path would cut across Robinson Woods, what they really mean is that it would cross along a sliver of its edge," she said. The 5-foot wide, 1,400 foot long stonedust path would encroach a maximum of 30 feet, but would save a dozen trees and reduce the need for blasting, she said.

The Land Trust was first asked in 2009 whether the Town could run the path across Robinson Wood land. Ted Darling, president of the Land Trust, testified during the public comment session July 11 that, at the time, the Land Trust board deliberated at length the Town's proposal but ultimately decided it was not in keeping with the Robinson Woods easement. Even now that the Town proposes to use natural stonedust material, 24-hour-a-day path access would violate the day-use only provision of the easement, Land Trust officials have said. Use of motorized vehicles to clear the path of snow would also violate the easement.

Darling added that the Land Trust is also concerned about its credibility with land owners who sell or donate open space. Credibility was one reason Councilor Caitlin Jordan said she respected the Land Trust's stance and wanted the $350,000 pledge to stand. "As part of a family that has easements with the Land Trust, I commend them for holding firm on this," Jordan said.

If the move to reconsider the pledge had passed, Swift-Kayatta said she would have proposed that council require the Land Trust to allow this or a compromise plan for the Shore Road path to cross Robinson Woods before completing the donation.

While the placement of the Shore Road path remains a request and not a requirement, the donation approved June 13 does depend upon the Land Trust granting a public-access easement to the Town to help complete its Greenbelt Plan, and upon the Land Trust raising the remaining $750,000 for the purchase.

Public opinion on reconsidering the $350,000 donation was as divided as the council's vote. During a public comment session, seven residents, including Darling and Franklin, spoke on the move to reconsider. One, Autumn Tide Lane resident Julian Coles, urged the council to stand by its June 13 decision, but also encouraged the Town and Land Trust to work together, "to work to figure out a better way before it comes to a meeting like this," Coles said.

Other speakers however supported reconsideration. "It just strikes me that this whole idea of the Town voting to come up with $350,000, a third of a million dollars, and then go out and borrow most of that, for the purpose of supplementing something that the Land Trust is doing is not right." said Woods Knoll Drive resident Robert Barton. He said he supported the Land Trust's mission, but that land preservation is not the primary mission of the Town. Because the pledge had been made, however, he said he did support trying to have the Shore Road Path cross Robinson Woods.

Hannaford Cove Road resident Richard Berman said he opposed using public money to support the Land Trust purchase. He said taxpayers already support the Land Trust when protected lands come off the tax rolls, and that conservation easements, though laudable, aren't always in the public interest. Berman, who said he is a former member of the Land Trust board, said he would rather see $100,000 of the $350,000 pledge go to the Shore Road Path to offset the cost of keeping it out of Robinson Woods, and the remaining $250,000 go to the Town's Conservation Commission.

Though opinions differed on placement of the Shore Road Path, most everyone speaking agreed that open space is a priority for the Town. Sherman, the last councilor to state his position, pointed to several sections of the Comprehensive Plan that holds Cape Elizabeth's open space in highest regard. "Land Trust partnership is mentioned in several places in the Comprehensive Plan document," Sherman said. "To me, we made the right decision last month," he said.

He said he looked forward to discussing an alternate Shore Road path location with the Land Trust that would encroach on about half of the Robinson Woods property than originally proposed.