To protect wetlands, Land Trust nabs 7 acres in North Stamford
STAMFORD — Following a larger land acquisition this year, the Stamford Land Conservation Trust has added another patch of preservable land to its arsenal of properties throughout the city.
This time, the goal of establishing the new preserve is to highlight the value of saving land near waterways, according to the trust.
The trust announced Tuesday that it acquired a remote 7.1-acre waterfront property in North Stamford within the Mianus River watershed, a move that Land Trust President Harry Day called a “winwin” situation that helps underscore the role wetlands play in protecting fish and wildlife.
In the broadest sense, a wetland is an ecosystem where the land is saturated with water. The Environmental Protection Agency calls them “the link between the land and the water.” They include marshes, swamps, bogs and fens. But no matter the type, wetlands “clean the water, recharge water supplies, reduce flood risks and provide fish and wildlife habitat,” according to the EPA.
Donated by North Stamford resident Peter Levine, the parcel borders several residential properties and includes a pond, all within the watershed, which provides drinking water for about 100,000 residents in Greenwich, Stamford and Westchester County, N.Y.
Earlier this year, the nonprofit bought 64 acres of land once part of the wealthy Altschul family’s sprawling Stamford estate with help from the city. The purchase in the end created 245 acres of untouched land crowded with lush trees and streams open to the public.
While land trusts can exist to stop future real estate development on a property, Day said this property was preservation for preservation’s sake.
“This property was never developable,” by virtue of its proximity to water, he said.
Wetlands are fiercely protected by state environmental regulations, and those rules dictate what can and can’t be built on properties near waterways. The city Environmental Protection Board governs most land uses in wetlands or watercourses or in any areas “immediately adjoining wetlands and watercourses necessary to provide protection from the adverse impacts of unregulated land uses.”
Though building isn’t explicitly banned on properties like the new preserve, even building a swimming pool on one of the adjoining lots requires oversight from the city to prevent environmental damage.
“You would need a special permit for any activities — and that would even be for activities within a certain proximity to wetlands,” city environmental analyst Pamela Fausty said. Even the phrase “activities” carries with it a carefully tailored definition. Broadly speaking, it means any disturbance of material on a property, or any obstruction, construction, alteration or pollution of the area.
Despite the fact that development was unlikely on the property, Day emphasized that welcoming the parcel into the land trust still has a rhetorical value for the trust’s preservation efforts. The trust likes to “emphasize the importance of a property by showing everyone that (it’s) saving them,” he continued.
Across the entire city, the Stamford Land Conservation Trust owns more than 450 acres across 57 properties, most north of the Merritt Parkway.