Salisbury Land Trust seeks to buy 297-acre parcel

SALISBURY — The Salisbury Association Land Trust (SALT) is looking to purchase a 297-acre, environmentally sensitive tract of land on Twin Lakes Road with expansive views of Mount Tom and the Twin Lakes region which recently came on the market for $2.9 million.

The property, listed by Elyse Harney Real Estate, is part of the real estate holdings of Salisbury resident Robert Boyett, producer of numerous hit television shows including “Happy Days,” “Family Matters” and “Full House,” as well as Broadway shows.

John Landon, co-chairman of SALT, appeared before the membership of the Twin Lakes Association (TLA) on Saturday, Aug. 5, to explain that the Trust is raising funds and hopes to buy the land so that it can be protected from development.

“From the land trust’s point of view, this is extremely valuable property,” he said.

The land is home to many animals and rare plants and is a key buffer for stormwater runoff. A Connecticut tract of land across the state line in Massachusetts was recently acquired by a farmer with help and restrictions from a land trust in that state.

Time, he told the crowd of about 100 in attendance, is of the essence. His organization is hoping that a group of investors will come forth to get the property off the market long enough to allow SALT time to raise funds to acquire the property.

“People have looked at it and it just takes one person to decide this is what they want to do,” Landon noted. “I know in Massachusetts, within one day, the property had an offer on it. It created a mad scramble to come up with a competing offer.”

“Bob Boyett, who owns a tremendous amount of property in New York and Massachusetts, has been starting to sell it all off,” Landon explained. His holdings also include a large tract of land in Salisbury.

“The Connecticut property does have a conservation easement on it, where the house is,” noted Landon, but the parcel that is of interest to SALT is home to a number of endangered species and is very important for wildlife corridors.

According to the listing by Elyse Harney Real Estate, the land boasts “sprawling acreage with views of the scenic Twin Lakes region” and comprises mature hardwood forests, rolling meadows, wetland and granite outcroppings.”

Landon explained that 492 acres of Boyett property at the top of Cooper Hill in neighboring Massachusetts is being protected under a joint effort by the Sheffield Land Trust, Massachusetts Audubon, The Nature Conservancy of Massachusetts and The Trustees of Reservations.

The farmland, he explained, is under contract and will have an agricultural easement to be kept in farming, and the Trustees of Reservations is negotiating to buy the 75 acres next to Bartholomew’s Cobble.

“We are hoping we can do something in Connecticut in the same way,” said Landon, who noted that SALT is working with Housatonic Valley Association and the Nature Conservancy in Connecticut “to find ways to purchase it,” including through grants and donations. Landon said SALT has been in contact with Boyett to express its interest in purchasing the Salisbury acreage.

“We wrote a letter to Bob, pleading with him to work with us and give us some breathing room to try to make this work.”

Grant Bogle, president of the Twin Lakes Association, noted that while his organization has neither the ability nor the time to raise funds for the cause, “Hopefully we can get a group together to get it off the market,” and buy some time for SALT to apply for grant funding and solicit private donations.

Landon fielded questions from several of the TLA members in attendance regarding the impact to Salisbury’s tax rolls should the property be preserved, the fate of the land should SALT not be able to secure a group of financial backers and whether public access to the land would need to be provided should a state grant be obtained.

He responded that should the land be protected, it would not have a significant impact on Salisbury’s tax rolls; that if the land ends up in the hands of developers, “you could be looking at a number of houses very visible from the lake,” that some sort of public access would need to be provided if state funds are used, but it would not need to be extensive.

Landon ended his talk on a positive note. “I am very optimistic that this is something that could be worked out, based on how quickly everybody has rallied. I think we are going to be able to do something and I am extremely optimistic, which was not the case a week ago.”