by Marty Green ·
Friday, July 12, 2024
At its July 2 meeting, the Select Board unanimously approved two separate conservation restrictions on lands near Littleton County Road. Both properties are owned by the Harvard Conservation Trust. One is a 39-acre parcel called Three Brothers Farm, which the trust bought from the Carlson family. The second is a long, narrow strip of land formerly held by New England Power; it parallels Interstate 495 and is a northern part of the Eastern Greenway.
A conservation restriction is a set of limits on what can be done with a property, so it cannot be held by the same person or entity that owns the property. The conservation restriction on Three Brothers Farm is being purchased and held by the town of Harvard. The one on Eastern Greenway North will be purchased and held by the Sudbury Valley Trustees.
John Lee, chair of the Harvard Conservation Trust’s Land Protection Committee, told the Select Board, “The CR [conservation restriction] is the most important part—even more important than purchasing the land and owning outright.” That’s because the restriction is attached to the deed and protects the land in perpetuity, even if the trust itself ceased to exist.
The town of Harvard purchased the conservation restriction on Three Brothers Farm for $495,000, with 75% of that money coming from a state Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grant. Originally the grant was set to expire June 30, the end of fiscal 2024. However, the state was slow in approving the restriction, and so the state extended the grant to fiscal 2025. The other 25% of the money will come from the town’s Community Preservation fund, as approved by Town Meeting in 2023.
State law requires town approval for a conservation restriction, even if no town money is involved, so the Select Board’s vote was a vital step in the process of protecting the land.