Lenox Selectmen endorse conservation restriction

LENOX – The board of selectmen have voted to endorse a warrant article to set up a conservation restriction (CR) on the land in the town’s watershed, setting the stage for a showdown at this year’s town meeting.

All four of the selectmen present voted to endorse Article 22, which would grant a CR on the 948 acres of land in the town’s watershed, to be administered jointly by the town conservation commission and the  Berkshire Natural Resources Council (BNRC), a non-profit organization.

Selectman W. David Roche was not present at the meeting where the vote took place.

The CR would seek to preserve the scenic and natural resources of the watershed by prohibiting residential, commercial and industrial development in the watershed.

Expansion of the town’s waterworks would be permitted, however, and waterworks expansion within a designated operations envelope around the two reservoirs and the water department buildings wouldn’t even require the notification of the BNRC.

Hiking trails would be permitted in the watershed, while the permitting of other recreational uses would be subject to the town’s discretion. Forest management is also included among the permitted activities.

The land would still be owned and administered by the Town of Lenox, with the BNRC’s primary role being to make sure the town abides by the terms of the conservation restriction.

“This is not giving away the land, the land is still owned by Lenox,” said Selectman John McNinch at the meeting where the CR was endorsed.

The restriction was drafted in response to the findings of the town’s watershed protection committee, which was formed last year to discern the best way to protect the town’s watershed lands and concluded a CR would be most appropriate

The vote occurred at the end of a special meeting of the board of selectmen on April 24, where all 24 of this year’s town meeting articles were read. This included Article 22, and the reading sparked some passionate commentary from people on both sides of the issue.

“Lenox Mountain is a beautiful area,” said Tad Ames, president of the BNRC, who noted the surrounding areas on Yokun Ridge already had conservation restrictions on them.”I know that our region would bow down and salute this community if it went that way [approved the CR].”

Lenox resident Dick Pierette did not agree with this assessment, however, saying he didn’t like the town taking away control of the land from future residents.

“We’re going to do away with future generations having any say on this piece of property,” said Mr. Pierette. “It should stay totally under our control.”

Objections to the proposal have also come from the town’s water department.

“We’re against the CR at this point, the watershed land should solely be managed for water supply,” said Rick Fuore, water department foreman, at the selectmen’s previous meeting.

He said he was conveying the opinion of the water department and the DPW: “The Town of Lenox should not have to go to a private association to work on their own land.”

Some did not find these objections to be particularly persuasive.

“It would be sending one more letter out when they’re sending all the others,” said Conservation Commission Chairman Neal Carpenter at that same meeting.

In the end, however, the board of selectmen all expressed their strong support for the CR, before voting to endorse Article 22.

“I was not in favor of the conservation restriction [originally],” said Selectman McNinch, who added that working as a member of the watershed protection committee had made him a supporter.

Article 22 will be voted on at this year’s town meeting on May 2, where it will require a two-thirds majority vote to pass. A previous effort to place the town’s watershed land under a conservation restriction, this one administered by the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, failed three years ago.

Posted by Bera B. Dunau on April 25, 2013. Filed under Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry