Selectmen support Land Trust application

SHARON — An application to preserve 81 acres of land on Millerton Road took a step ahead as the Board of Selectmen agreed at their meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 24, to write a letter of support for an Open Space Grant available through the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

The application is being prepared by the Sharon Land Trust, explained Chris Clow, who attended the meeting. 

The current owner of the parcel is Lionel Goldfrank, who is offering to sell the parcel to the Land Trust. Attributes include its scenic qualities and its healthy stand of forest. 

Additionally, the land is adjacent to the existing Goodbody Preserve and the von Ahn acreage that the Land Trust is working to acquire. Assembling all of the parcels and existing conservation easements would mean that the preserved land would front Mudge Pond at one edge and at another edge it would drain into Indian Lake, providing valuable protection to both bodies of water. 

Trails would be provided for public access and to link to the trail wending through the Goodbody Preserve, Clow said.

In keeping with its policy of attempting to identify any location within the acreage where an affordable housing unit might be built, the Land Trust did identify one spot on the property that could be suitable. The remainder of the acreage is too forested and too steep to accommodate a home. Goldfrank did not favor the idea and stipulated that nothing could be built on the land.

Hunting will be allowed on the property, but hunters will need to notify hikers of their presence in the area.