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Select Board approves conservation restriction for 32 Locust Road over parking, accessibility concerns
Summary
The Orleans Select Board approved a 3.78-acre conservation restriction at 32 Locust Road, giving the town a perpetual interest while Orleans Conservation Trust retains ownership. Board members pressed OCT over parking limits and handicap access before voting 4–1 to record the restriction ahead of a state grant deadline.
The Orleans Select Board voted to approve a perpetual conservation restriction (CR) for 32 Locust Road, finding the 3.78-acre restriction is in the public interest despite objections about parking and accessibility.
Stephen O'Grady of the Orleans Conservation Trust presented the CR, saying the document gives the town a legal interest while OCT will continue to own and manage the parcel. The CR is consistent with Article 29, which town meeting overwhelmingly approved on May 11, and is the mechanism OCT and the town use to protect habitat while allowing limited public access.
Board members repeatedly questioned section 7 of the draft CR, which grants the grantor the right to create and maintain an unpaved parking area for up to six cars. A select board member, Mark, said the board had earlier discussed two or three spaces and objected that a right to six spaces would allow the trust to build more parking “without even talking to us about it.” He also pressed whether unpaved stalls would meet handicapped-parking requirements.
Stephen O'Grady and Mark Robinson, executive director of the Cape Cod Conservation compact who helped draft the document, replied that the CR as written does not prevent the creation of an accessible stall and that the plan currently envisions only a couple of spaces. O'Grady said the grantee (the conservation commission, in the town's interpretation) must approve any parking design and location before construction, and he promised to put those commitments in writing. He also said the CR must be recorded by June 30 to meet a state grant requirement.
After discussion about how to ensure handicap access and whether the town had adequate recourse if the OCT later pursued the full six-space allowance, a motion was made to approve the CR. The motion passed 4–1.
Next steps: staff will circulate the recorded CR for signatures so the town can meet the grant recording deadline. The board also asked OCT and the conservation commission to continue collaborative planning on final parking layout, handicap access, and land-management responsibilities.
Why it matters: The CR secures long-term protection of land near Cedar Pond while preserving flexibility for future public-access features. Board members emphasized balancing habitat preservation with equitable public access and asked for written assurances and continued coordination before any parking expansion.
