Newtown Forest Association Gets 15 Acres––

Conservation Easement, A Flexible Tool For Saving Land

By Dottie Evans

Longtime Hawleyville resident Susan Toll is like many Newtown landowners whose extensive property includes not only a house and barn but also many acres of unimproved surrounding land that is worthy of permanent protection.

There are woods, ponds, fields, and forests. Over the years since 1954, when Susan and Wolcott Toll bought 21 acres off Pocono Road in Hawleyville, the 16-acre portion of unspoiled and pristine land that surrounds their home, with its natural wild inhabitants, trees, and plants, have given them and their children great pleasure.

Now that Ms Toll [no relation to Toll Brothers Builders] is the sole owner of the entire property, she does not want to see the surrounding acres destroyed by bulldozers sometime in the distant future. She also does not want to saddle her children or their heirs with onerous estate taxes should the entire 21 acres be handed down as property that might someday be developed.

One way for a property owner to avoid this would be through the outright gift of the land to a local land trust as a part of one’s estate.

Another option, called a conservation easement, can be more flexible and is tailored to a landowner’s current needs and wishes. With a conservation easement, a landowner gives the surrounding undeveloped acres to a land trust such as the Newtown Forest Association (NFA) but may continue living on the core property where the house and outbuildings stand.

“It’s already on the books and we are very excited,” said NFA board member Tim Northrop, speaking from his office at the Connecticut Trust For Public Land.

Of the more than 1,000 acres held by the Newtown Forest Association, only two properties have been given as conservation easements, Mr Northrop said, the Toll property being the most recent.

“It’s exciting news, and serves as an example to others who want to insure that their land will never be developed –– even though it may be sold,” Mr Northrop said.

When she had decided what she wanted to do, Ms Toll met with Attorney Ed Kelleher to draft the proposal that allows her to continue living on the core property. Since this portion is not a part of her gift to the forest association, it is considered “unencumbered” and may be sold in the future. The conservation easement on the remaining 16 acres is now a permanent part of the land records.

“I’m not sure how much of a tax deduction she will get. That is up to the assessor. But it should be substantial since the property is now restricted and not developable. There will be no public access, which was negotiated at the time the easement was given. It will simply be preserved,” Mr Northrop said.

Easement is a flexible tool, he noted, since the terms between the resident and the donor may be negotiated ahead of time.

“We ask what does the donor want to protect, and what is most important to that person. Say a landowner wants to donate a scenic or historic portion of the property as an easement. The next generation may inherit it, but they don’t get stuck with the tax liability. It’s for people who plan on staying and are engaged in financial planning about their estate,” Mr Northrop said.

“In the context of everything that’s happened in Newtown –– the effort to use public funds for land acquisition –– the idea of an easement is significant. It’s one of six or seven different ways to preserve open space. [Controlling development] can’t all be on the regulatory side.”

Guy Peterson, certified public accountant and 11-year Newtown resident, is the new treasurer for the Newtown Forest Association. He spoke recently concerning the importance of working with a lawyer and an accountant when creating a conservation easement.

“Transferring land to a public land trust is more complicated now than it used to be, and the field is more competitive. You’ve got to know all the tax angles, especially respecting the landowner’s particular financial situation and purposes in giving the land.”

NFA board member Caraleigh Wilson feels that conservation easements such as Sue Toll’s gift to the Newtown Forest Association can help the town and the landowner alike.

“The whole board has worked hard to pull this together, and we worked with her on the options she wanted. We walked the land and saw the pond and wetlands. She was very concerned about protecting the wildlife.”