There is already an article on Town Meeting to acquire the site, known as Rattlesnake Hill, but according to Benjamin Puritz, town administrator, state Senator Brian A. Joyce has proposed that the state acquire the property. The state, Puritz tells GlobeSt.com, would preserve the land as open space. The environmental bond bill, recently passed by the Senate and headed to the House, would be the source of the funding of the acquisition.
Puritz points out that the state could seize the land by eminent domain. "Acquiring parkland is a permissible purpose" for taking the land, says Puritz. A few weeks ago, the town's conservation commission proposed that the town seize the property.
Rattlesnake Hill, which is located off Mountain Street adjacent to Borderland State Park, has been a hotly contested site ever since its owners, the Striar family announced its intentions to develop the property. While some residents want to see the site preserved as open space others want to see this largely residential community have some additional source of tax revenue.
The Striar family had proposed developing senior housing and a golf course on the site but the town proposed purchasing the land instead. Town Meeting approved a $12 million override for the purchase but the proposal, which sparked intense debate among local conservationists, residents and town officials, was defeated at the polls.
This past December, a zoning bylaw was passed at Town Meeting that would allow a golf course to be developed on the property. Reportedly, the zoning change was passed in the hope that this would limit the number of residential units the developers would develop on the property.
Puritz notes that the acquisition would have to be authorized by the state's Department of Environmental Management.
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