COLRAIN — The Selectboard approved plans for the Eckstein family to donate development rights on 86 acres of their North Green River Road property to the Franklin Land Trust, pending review of that agreement by the town’s lawyer.
Emily Boss of the Franklin Land Trust said the change will not bring a loss of town tax revenue, since the main tax is on the home itself. She said the development rights are still intact for the existing home on 3 acres and two more building lots (on 4 acres) will be set aside. She said the Ecksteins, now living in California, have owned the land since 1968, and would like to return.
Boss pointed out the Ecksteins have never posted their land, and that people have hunted, fished and hiked trails on their property. Although people donating development rights to a land trust are not required to provide public access to their land, the Ecksteins are considering doing so for at least the next 10 years.
The two new house lots would provide more tax dollars to the town than it now gets.
Breezy Knoll farmer Warren Facey of Leyden, who has been working a field on that property since before the Ecksteins bought it, said the parcel contains very good agricultural land. Hale Johnson of Colrain said the preservation of open space on the Eckstein was “a value to the town” and that “the value of this conservation far outweighs the potential for development.”
Selectboard Chairman Mark Thibodeau voted against the plan, saying the town is building a $3.2 million broadband network to attract more people and more businesses to town. He was worried the town may not have enough suitable land for future development.
Tax Collector Paula Harrison said at least half the town’s 27,000 acres are under some type of conservation program. She said about 3,000 acres of Colrain land are already under “permanent” conservation programs or through state ownership, and another 15,000 receive tax breaks for forest or agricultural land use through the state’s Chapter 61 statute.