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Needham officials move to buy 10 acres on Cartwright Road for conservation
Summary
The conservation commission voted Feb. 26 to recommend using $500,000 from the town’s conservation fund and to ask town meeting for a $300,000 Community Preservation Act appropriation to complete an $800,000 purchase of about 10 acres adjacent to Ridge Hill.
The Needham Conservation Commission voted Feb. 26 to advance the town’s planned purchase of roughly 10 acres on Cartwright Road, a parcel the town manager said would expand the Ridge Hill reservation.
Town Manager Katie King told the commission a purchase-and-sale agreement signed by the select board sets the price at $800,000 and that the planned funding package would combine $500,000 from the conservation fund with a $300,000 request to the Community Preservation Committee, subject to town meeting approval. “Of the $800,000, $500,000 is to be spent…based on your approval of using that fund,” King said.
Why it matters: If approved at town meeting and finalized through a brief planning-board subdivision, the town would add a 10‑acre tract contiguous with Ridge Hill, protecting wetlands and open-space habitat that Town Manager King described as “large, currently undeveloped, and can be used as conservation land.” The purchase would leave two acres of the original 12‑acre parcel with the seller to preserve road frontage.
What the commission did: After a presentation and questions about site conditions, commissioners read and passed three formal motions: (1) to find that advertising would not benefit the town’s interest because of the property’s unique qualities; (2) to authorize the expenditure of $500,000 from the conservation fund toward the purchase; and (3) to recommend a town‑meeting article to appropriate funds for the acquisition. Each motion was seconded and passed on roll call, with all members voting in the affirmative.
Next steps: The commission’s recommendation sends the funding request to the Community Preservation Committee (scheduled for March 4) and, if CPC recommends the $300,000, the appropriation and the acquisition itself would appear on the warrant for town meeting. King said the town would then file a planning-board application to split the parcel so the town acquires the ~10‑acre interior portion while the seller retains a ~2‑acre road‑front lot.
Details and context: Commissioners noted the property’s extensive wetlands and confirmed it is not forested. The conservation commission would hold the land in perpetuity if the acquisition is completed. The timeline for finalization remains contingent on CPC recommendation, town‑meeting approval and the planning‑board process.
