north 40 divides community
It’s hard to drive far in Wellesley without coming across a bright orange “Save the North 40” sign, which have become ubiquitous in the past few months. This saying has dominated everything from lawn fronts to town politics, but what does it really mean?
The North 40, the nickname for the 46-acre patch of land wedged between Weston Road and Central Street, is now for sale by Wellesley College. Among prospective buyers is the Town of Wellesley, which is currently weighing their options as to whether they should buy the property.
The land was donated to Wellesley College 140 years ago by co-founder, Henry F. Durant, under the circumstances that the college keep it as green space and not sell it. However, last spring the college decided to sell the land to help fund a future renovation, estimated to cost three-hundred and sixty-five million dollars and to relieve themselves of the burden of maintaining the 46-acres. In April, the state’s Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the college may now sell it, which sparked interest in purchasing the land.
The North 40 Steering Committee, headed by Don McCauley, is the town department tasked with deciding the pros and cons of buying the 46-acre property. Currently, the committee is reviewing reports submitted by various town organizations about the consequences and benefits of the town buying the land.
However, the town is not the only one interested in buying the property, which is estimated to be worth approximately $35 million, however there is no final say on the value of the land. There is still the possibility that the college will decide to sell the property to a private entity, such as a developer or conservation groups, in which case the state of the land will be out of the town’s hands.
Many developers are willing to buy the land for much more than what it is worth, and in order to compete with this, the town needs to match or outbid a developer’s price. The town could generate the necessary funds for this purchase through the advance borrowing of funds from the Community Preservation Act, which sets aside one percent of annual tax revenue for projects related to maintaining the town’s historical and cultural appearance, making a withdrawal from “Free Cash,” the Town’s past surplus pool, or by a Proposition 2 ½ tax override.
McCauley adds that buying the property would be quite a lengthy process. “There are three steps to this process,” he said. “First we need to reach an agreement with the college, then town agreement, and finally get voter approval.” The town discussed the the North 40 in a special town meeting taking place October 27- 28. For further details on the results of this meeting, see whsbradford.org. While they originally aimed to decide on whether to buy the land during this meeting, the town and the college issued a joint statement on October 16 deferring the final decisions on the land to a later date.
In order to focus on the benefits of purchasing the land, if that becomes a possibility, town departments have already begun pitching their ideas for what should become of The North 40. For example, the Recreation Department wants to build new playing fields; the School Committee wants to establish a new elementary school, and the Natural Resources Commission wants to preserve the land.
While separate from the town, the Friends of the North 40 is on the forefront of the publicity for deciding the fate of the North 40. Cynthia Curtis, a leader of the organization, describes them as “a grassroots effort that's growing every day, made up of citizens concerned about the future of the land.” They aim to make a preservation of the North 40 because, as Curtis puts it, “it is home to thriving biodiversity which would be displaced or die off as a result of development.”
Friends of the North 40 has taken on this issue of protecting the land through spreading the word on social media and with the orange signs that they have made. They created an online petition to protect the acreage, which currently has over 1,300 signatures. Additionally, the organization held a survey to gather input from neighbors of the North 40 and hosted numerous “Get to know the North 40” days, in which they led trail walks and tours of the community garden.
Curtis added that this is more than another issue on taxes or money: “We have an obligation to be good stewards of our planet. The benefits we all gain from open, green space are hard to put a price tag on. In many ways it's because they're priceless.”
Abbey Mui ’16, a co-president of Wellesley High School’s Green Team active with Friends of the North 40, believes that this issue relates to everyone townwide. “I think that kids my age are not aware of what goes on around them except what affects them directly,” she said, “but then they'll go off to college and come back to a town that they can barely recognize.”
McCauley reflects Mui’s same sentiment saying, “It’s been a very active townwide effort. People spend a lot of time and effort on preserving it, and people get very excited about it”. He added “We need to make more people aware about what’s really happening with the North 40.”
This article appeared in the October 2014 issue of The Bradford.
The North 40, the nickname for the 46-acre patch of land wedged between Weston Road and Central Street, is now for sale by Wellesley College. Among prospective buyers is the Town of Wellesley, which is currently weighing their options as to whether they should buy the property.
The land was donated to Wellesley College 140 years ago by co-founder, Henry F. Durant, under the circumstances that the college keep it as green space and not sell it. However, last spring the college decided to sell the land to help fund a future renovation, estimated to cost three-hundred and sixty-five million dollars and to relieve themselves of the burden of maintaining the 46-acres. In April, the state’s Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the college may now sell it, which sparked interest in purchasing the land.
The North 40 Steering Committee, headed by Don McCauley, is the town department tasked with deciding the pros and cons of buying the 46-acre property. Currently, the committee is reviewing reports submitted by various town organizations about the consequences and benefits of the town buying the land.
However, the town is not the only one interested in buying the property, which is estimated to be worth approximately $35 million, however there is no final say on the value of the land. There is still the possibility that the college will decide to sell the property to a private entity, such as a developer or conservation groups, in which case the state of the land will be out of the town’s hands.
Many developers are willing to buy the land for much more than what it is worth, and in order to compete with this, the town needs to match or outbid a developer’s price. The town could generate the necessary funds for this purchase through the advance borrowing of funds from the Community Preservation Act, which sets aside one percent of annual tax revenue for projects related to maintaining the town’s historical and cultural appearance, making a withdrawal from “Free Cash,” the Town’s past surplus pool, or by a Proposition 2 ½ tax override.
McCauley adds that buying the property would be quite a lengthy process. “There are three steps to this process,” he said. “First we need to reach an agreement with the college, then town agreement, and finally get voter approval.” The town discussed the the North 40 in a special town meeting taking place October 27- 28. For further details on the results of this meeting, see whsbradford.org. While they originally aimed to decide on whether to buy the land during this meeting, the town and the college issued a joint statement on October 16 deferring the final decisions on the land to a later date.
In order to focus on the benefits of purchasing the land, if that becomes a possibility, town departments have already begun pitching their ideas for what should become of The North 40. For example, the Recreation Department wants to build new playing fields; the School Committee wants to establish a new elementary school, and the Natural Resources Commission wants to preserve the land.
While separate from the town, the Friends of the North 40 is on the forefront of the publicity for deciding the fate of the North 40. Cynthia Curtis, a leader of the organization, describes them as “a grassroots effort that's growing every day, made up of citizens concerned about the future of the land.” They aim to make a preservation of the North 40 because, as Curtis puts it, “it is home to thriving biodiversity which would be displaced or die off as a result of development.”
Friends of the North 40 has taken on this issue of protecting the land through spreading the word on social media and with the orange signs that they have made. They created an online petition to protect the acreage, which currently has over 1,300 signatures. Additionally, the organization held a survey to gather input from neighbors of the North 40 and hosted numerous “Get to know the North 40” days, in which they led trail walks and tours of the community garden.
Curtis added that this is more than another issue on taxes or money: “We have an obligation to be good stewards of our planet. The benefits we all gain from open, green space are hard to put a price tag on. In many ways it's because they're priceless.”
Abbey Mui ’16, a co-president of Wellesley High School’s Green Team active with Friends of the North 40, believes that this issue relates to everyone townwide. “I think that kids my age are not aware of what goes on around them except what affects them directly,” she said, “but then they'll go off to college and come back to a town that they can barely recognize.”
McCauley reflects Mui’s same sentiment saying, “It’s been a very active townwide effort. People spend a lot of time and effort on preserving it, and people get very excited about it”. He added “We need to make more people aware about what’s really happening with the North 40.”
This article appeared in the October 2014 issue of The Bradford.