Wayland's Community Preservation Committee votes to preserve Lincoln Road farmland using CPA funds

The Wayland Community Preservation Committee (CPC) voted to approve moving forward with the Town’s acquisition of a Conservation Restriction (CR) on approximately 22.6 acres of land on Lincoln Road using Community Preservation Act funds.  A warrant article has been filed for the Special Town Meeting to be held on November 20th.

The 22.6 acres, to be known as the “Lincoln Road Fields,” have been identified in the Town’s Open Space and Recreation Plan as being of particular interest for conservation, and the owner, the Lincoln Road Trust, has now agreed to sell a CR on the property that will allow it to remain undeveloped open space in perpetuity.  There will never be any residential dwellings on the land.  The land will remain in the Lincoln Road Trust ownership, but the CR document, among other things, will provide for the continued use of the property for agriculture and conservation.  There will be limited public access on designated trails for passive recreation and educational activities.

The negotiated sale price for the CR is $2.4 million, which is based on a recent appraisal contracted by the Town which will be made available for viewing online and at the Library.  Wayland residents will have an opportunity to vote to approve the acquisition at the Special Town Meeting.  In the meantime, Town officials are negotiating the details of the CR with the seller.

The Lincoln Road Fields have extensive frontage on Lincoln Road and offer beautiful vistas across ancient stone walls and down to Stone’s Pond, originally a mill pond.  The Fields have remained open space for over a century and the former owners, the Farrells, have been faithful stewards keeping it, as far as possible, in the condition they received it.  Much of the surrounding land has already been conserved, including Sudbury Valley Trustees’ Hazel Brook Reservation.  Other conservation land in the vicinity includes several CRs held by SVT, the Town’s Plimpton Land, SVT’s Murphy Field Reservation, the Weston Town Forest, and the Town of Lincoln’s McDowell/VanLear Land.  The property is part of an extensive trail network including a recent connection to MassAudubon’s Drumlin Farm Sanctuary.

For more information, please contact Jerry Heller at (617) 763-6543.