Date: Fri 27-Nov-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

McQuillen-property-state

Full Text:

Town Urges State To Acquire 30-Acre Parcel On Hanover Road

(with photo)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The town is seeking to have the state buy approximately 30 acres off Hanover

Road for a state open space preserve adjacent to Upper Paugussett State

Forest.

In an application filed with the state Department of Environmental

Protection's (DEP) land acquisition and management unit, the Conservation

Commission seeks to persuade DEP to buy 30 acres now owned by William

McQuillan at 150 Hanover Road. The property is east of Hanover Road, across

Hanover Road from Silver City Road.

"Given the governor's commitment for open space, I cannot think of any parcel

of land in northern Fairfield County more appropriate" for open space

protection, said C. Stephen Driver, town conservation official.

Conservation Commission member Judy Holmes is overseeing the application to

DEP for open space status for the land, Mr Driver said.

In a letter to DEP, Ms Holmes writes that the 30-acre parcel is accessible

from Hanover Road and is bounded by the 800-acre state forest. State

acquisition of the McQuillan property would make for a very valuable state

holding, Ms Holmes writes.

"I hope you will give serious consideration to this property (because)

development in Newtown has been, and continues to proceed at an alarmingly

rapid pace," Ms Holmes writes in the letter to Elizabeth A. Varhue, DEP's

coordinator for land acquisition and management.

Mr McQuillan has been approached by land developers and is considering his

options in terms of selling the land, Ms Holmes states.

If his property is acquired by the state, Mr McQuillan would retain a home and

adjacent land he owns there.

According to the application filed by the town with the DEP, the undeveloped

residentially zoned land is in the process of being appraised.

The McQuillan property has varied terrain with diverse land contours and rock

outcroppings. The site contains a vernal pond, stone walls and hiking trails.

Trees on the property include black birch, shagbark hickory, ash, beech,

poplar, oak and chestnut. The last timber cutting there was about 80 years

ago.

Acquiring the McQuillan property would improve the state's access to its Upper

Paugussett State Forest, according to the town application.

Neighbors

Neighbors who own a house and two acres just south of Mr McQuillan's house are

willing to bequeath their house and land to the town, allowing it to be used

as a nature center.

The McQuillan land and the adjacent property of neighbors Cheri and David

Kendall would fit nicely together in terms of expanded open space in the area,

according to the town's application to DEP.

In a May 18 letter to Conservation Commission Chairman Donald Lawrenson, Mr

McQuillan wrote that he is planning to put his land on the market for

development.

"The current development value of the property prevents us from maintaining

the land in an open status," Mr McQuillan wrote.

Mr McQuillan explained he had heard of the town's interest in preserving open

space land and asked whether his property would qualify for such protection.

It was Mr McQuillan's letter which prompted the Conservation Commission to

seek having the state buy the land to preserve it as open space.

If the state were to acquire the McQuillan property and designate it as a

state park instead of a state forest, it would prevent timber harvesting on

the 30 acres, Mr Driver said.

Mr Driver termed the McQuillan property "a gorgeous piece of land."

Past conceptual plans for the property indicate a 13-lot residential

subdivision there. Those plans never have been submitted for town review.

Mr Driver said the McQuillan property is a good candidate for state

acquisition.

The state wants to buy land which is subject to development pressure and which

is adjacent to existing state-owned land, he said. Also, the proposed eventual

creation of a nature education center on the Kendall property will be viewed

favorably by the state, he said.

Last June, the Conservation Commission began work to preserve open space land

for passive forms of recreation, such as nature study and hiking.

Basic criteria for the state's open space preservation program require that

protected property be valuable as: land for recreation, forestry, fishing and

the conservation of wildlife and natural resources; a habitat for a native

plant or animal species that are listed as threatened, endangered or of

special concern; and a relatively undisturbed example of an uncommon native

ecological community, among other criteria.

The state gives special consideration to protecting land along the Housatonic

River extending from Long Island Sound to the Massachusetts border. The upper

and lower Paugussett state forests are on the Housatonic River.

Open space along the river is known as the Housatonic Riverbelt Green Way.