Wilton voters overwhelmingly approved the proposal to purchase a conservation easement at the property known as the Keiser family property, 39.5 acres at the corner of Seeley and Cannon Rds.. The town passed the measure, 733 to 141–although a small percentage (7.6%) of 11,464 eligible voters turned out to the polls. Voting took place Tuesday evening Nov. 29 following the Special Town Meeting to discuss the proposal as well as all day Saturday, Nov. 23.
Patricia Sesto, Wilton’s director of environmental affairs, said she was “very excited” about the results. “To have that 84-percent approval rating was just fabulous. I think the town of Wilton really does a fabulous job with balancing development and open space protection. The fact that the community values open space really is rewarding. I truly think it is to the benefit of the community as a whole.”
The easement will cost the town $2.2 million, which Wilton officials plan to bond. The Wilton Land Conservation Trust will contribute $300,000 to meet the total easement price of $2.5 million.
Bruce Beebe, president of the Land Trust, sent GMW.com the following statement in an email following the vote: “This is another feather in the cap of the Wilton Land Conservation Trust working with the Town of Wilton in our long history of sharing conservation easements to protect special properties as open space, forever. This shared easement takes total Land Trust protection well above 800 acres on more than 100 properties, an accomplishment worth celebrating as the Land Trust celebrates its 50-year anniversary next year.”
Approving the purchase of the easement only applies to the easement–or development rights; the town did not agree to purchase the land. The easement will prevent whomever eventually purchases the land from doing any kind of building or development on the 39.5 acre parcel, and outlines specific restrictions with regard to fencing, land use, and land access, among other protections. (The Keiser family will retain rights to sell four acres for residential development).
The easement also outlines certain limited access for the public to the land, including to foot trails and 1,000 feet of Norwalk River riverfront. In an interview with GOOD Morning Wilton prior to the vote, Sesto explained how ecologically and environmentally beneficial this property is, because of its close proximity to other open properties as well as it being one of the few properties that has undeveloped land on both sides of the river. “Being able to protect this section of river is an important asset,” she said.
During the presentation at the Special Town Meeting, officials estimated the measure will cost the average Wilton family an additional $20 per year in property tax. That figure is the estimate for a family with a home assessed at $500,000.
The conservation easement received unanimous endorsement from both the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance.
As to what the land will be called, one of the options in play is “Keiser Preserve,” although the final decision rests with representatives of the Keiser family. “They’re working on it. Traditionally with all the land that we’ve protected, it’s been the donor’s choice of how they want the property to be referred to. The name might actually be incorporated into the conservation easement,” so that it can never be changed should the land itself change hands.
The property has been on the market for about a year. According to Sesto, there have been potential buyers who have come looking in that time. “There was a church, there were a bunch of different groups looking at it. What we have found in other instances, once you put the conservation easement on it, the finances of the property change substantially, so you open up to a broader–or at least a different–range of buyers.”
One thing is for sure, the easement ensures that the entire 39.5 acre has to be sold as one whole package. “The only way the parcel would not be sold with the house is if the current or the future owners wanted to give land to the Wilton Land Trust or to the town. Other than that, it stays as one piece,” Sesto said.
Beebe pointed out that the easement is something that will benefit all Wilton residents–in perpetuity. “Future generations of Wiltonians will long celebrate this extraordinary collaborative vote in favor of protecting significant open space properties.”