Johnson Farm Appropriation Approved

ESSEX:

    With less than 15 minutes of conversation, a general description of proposal, and a scattering of questions, a special town meeting of approximately 100 residents unanimously approved a special appropriation of $150,000, which will be applied to the purchase of the development rights of Murwin Johnson’s farm.

    The unanimous voice vote was immediately followed by spontaneous applause, an indication of residents’ interests in preserving open spaces in town.

    The Essex Land Trust has signed a legal agreement to purchase the development rights to the Johnson sheep farm off Baldwin Lane in Ivoryton. Under the terms of the agreement, the land will continue to be owned and farmed by the Johnsons, but can never be subdivided or developed. This will preserve the land as farmland or open space in perpetuity.  

    Approximately 42 acres of open fields and woodland, which have been in the Johnson family since 1948, would be preserved. The land, which in its higher regions has spectacular views northeast to the Connecticut River valley, is a familiar landmark not only to Ivoryton residents, but also to generations of Essex Elementary School students who have visited the sheep farm on field trips for many years.

    “This is a major step forward for Essex and one we have been working toward with the Johnson family for many years,” said Land Trust President William Grover. 

    The Essex Land Trust, which is celebrating its 40th year, is a private non-profit that protects and manages open space, with holdings of upward of 400 acres. In recent years, the land trust and town have collaborated on a series of high profile open space acquisitions, most of them either on the Falls River or in the river’s immediate watershed, as is the Johnson Farm. At present, slightly more than 10 percent of the land in Essex is preserved.

    The town meeting vote last week marked that first time residents have agreed to spend funds for the purchase of development rights. First Selectman Philip Miller said the use of this funding mechanism “is a new conservation tool” Essex has not used in the past “but is becoming more common in Connecticut, especially as we try to save smaller family farms.”

    Purchase of development rights (PDR) is a form of conservation easement or restriction in Connecticut to protect farmland and open space from development. PDRs came into being as towns became concerned about the loss of farmland that supplied food and fiber locally. Under the terms of the Johnson PDR, the Essex Land Trust will pay the farm owners for the market value of the development rights associated with the land, which have been appraised at $780,000. The Johnsons will still own the land, but will be compensated for giving up the right to develop it as real estate. The property will be farmed or preserved as open space in perpetuity at a cost that will be significantly less than purchasing the land outright. 

    Essex Land Trust estimates that the total cost of the transaction, including legal and other expenses, will be close to $850,000. To assist the land trust in raising that sum, the Johnsons have also deeded to the land trust approximately six acres in the southern, wooded area of the property, which the land trust plans to sell as two building lots to raise a portion of the needed funds.

    Now, with the unanimous approval of the town meeting, the town will contribute $150,000 toward the purchase. Grover said that private fundraising by the land trust will go into full swing now that the town’s commitment has been assured. The tentative closing date for the purchase of development rights is the spring of 2009.

    Land Trust First Vice President Bruce Glowac said, “This is a win-win situation. The Johnsons gain the financial ability to keep and farm the land and the town and citizens of Essex preserve a small piece of our heritage while avoiding the traffic and tax burden of yet another 20-house subdivision.”  

    He said that while the land continues to be actively farmed and in private hands, it will not be open to public on any regular basis.  He noted, however, that the agreement gives the land trust the right of first refusal to buy the farm outright should the Johnson family decide to sell the property out of the immediate family. 

    “In such a case, it’s exceedingly likely that the land trust would buy the farm and convert it to public open space,” said Glowac.

    Grover added that “This is the toughest challenge that we’ve yet faced as a land trust, but we have total confidence in our membership and the citizens of Essex, who have been phenomenally supportive of our open space initiatives in the past.”