Aspetuck Land Trust looks to buy Easton property

EASTON — A piece of town-owned property may have new stewards as a local land trust awaits state funding to purchase the majority of it.

First Selectman David Bindelglass said the Aspetuck Land Trust is looking to buy approximately 19 acres of property on South Park Avenue, which is currently part of a 29-acre lot owned by the town.

Bindelglass said the town bought the property in 2008 for $6 million with the goal of preserving it from development and keeping it as open space. Since it was purchased, he said, there have been multiple proposals for what to do with the land.

“At one point the selectmen voted to accept a proposal from Sacred Heart (University) to build a swimming pool and fields,” he said, later noting that proposal was in 2014. “That was ready to go forward until Sacred Heart pulled out.”

Bindelglass said there have not been any real changes or plans for the property since; in 2017 an outside group failed to obtain grant funding to purchase and preserve the land.

That changed when he took office in 2019.

First, the South Park Advisory Committee was set up to look at options for the land. Secondly, the town identified an opportunity to work with the Aspetuck Land Trust to get a state grant to enable the trust to purchase part of the land.

Bindelglass said the land trust is looking to buy the most ecologically sensitive part of property, which tracks the Mill River and is wooded. He said the other 10 acres are primarily flat meadow and could potentially be developed.

“At the time the [grant] application was put in, there was some concern that we had already failed to get a similar grant to purchase the whole property,” he said, further explaining the reasoning the trust is not looking to buy the entire property.

David Brant, the land trust’s executive director, said the grant has been approved but the organization has not received the money yet, adding it is also still working through some details with the town. He said the grant is for $188,000 and the property is selling for $470,000. The trust will most likely make up the difference.

Brant said the Aspetuck Land Trust is interested in preserving the South Park Avenue property for a myriad of reasons, but one primary aspect is its status as a class one trout management area. He said it is one of nine such areas in the entire state, and it needs to be protected.

“There’s naturally recurring brook trout population there, which is kind of neat,” he said. “It’s incredibly environmentally sensitive.”

The land trust would like to buy the remaining acreage of the property, Brant said, but it may take time to raise funds to do so. He said the organization has a page on its website dedicated to the land.

“It does fall within our green corridor, which is essentially a 40,000 acre greenbelt that we’ve weaved in the region,” he said.

The green corridor will extend through Fairfield, Westport, Weston, Easton, Wilton and Redding.

Bindelglass said the town is pursuing this deal, but it’s not the end of the town’s involvement in the property.

He said residents have suggested the deal is “part of some clandestine plan” to go back to Sacred Heart or other groups to develop the rest of the property.

Notably, this issue came up during the recent election, with mailers from the Citizens for Responsible Government stating that Bindeglass attempted to sell the land to Sacred Heart without following due process or informing the public.

A spokesperson for Sacred Heart said the university has no plans to purchase the property.

Bindelglass said the mailer’s theory makes no sense, noting he championed the passage of an ordinance that requires residents vote to approve any sale, purchase or lease of land on the part of the town. The ordinance was approved by the Board of Selectmen on Sept. 1 and adopted by town referendum on Sept. 21.

“That ordinance makes it impossible for us to sell that land to be developed without a town-wide vote,” he said, adding even selling a portion of the land to the land trust will require a public hearing and a vote.