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Rye Select Board asserts control of small Seavey Acres parcel after conservation commission trail vote
Summary
The Select Board clarified that one small parcel commonly thought to be part of Seavey Acres is town-owned by tax-lien deed and under Select Board control; the boards agreed to remove RCC tags and to revisit trail-closure procedure but took no immediate management action.
Select Board Chair Rob Wright and Conservation Commission Chair Shawn Joyce met jointly on June 2 to resolve who controls a small parcel adjacent to Seavey Acres after the Conservation Commission voted to adopt a study recommending trail closures.
Selectman John Tuttle told the joint meeting the Seavey Acres area is composed of two distinct parcels: one acquired through the New Hampshire Land Management Trust (managed under Fish and Game rules) and a separate parcel acquired by the Town via tax-lien deed. Tuttle said the town-owned, tax-deeded parcel is controlled by the Select Board and that the Conservation Commission did not have authority to adopt binding management actions for that specific piece. “That piece is under the control of the Select Board,” Wright said, urging that the Select Board retain prerogative over future uses.
Town Administrator Scruton noted RSA 41:11-a assigns responsibility for town property to the Select Board and said no immediate formal action was required by the board. The two bodies agreed that any signs or tags identifying the parcel as Conservation Commission-managed would be removed and that the RCC would not place brush or other obstacles on the Select Board-managed parcel.
The meeting record shows concern among residents and former commission members that closing trails could affect longstanding public access. Resident Don Cavallaro warned that closing trails may jeopardize public easements. Former RCC member Mike Garvan, who monitors the land for the L-CHIP program, urged the Select Board to consider whether the town-owned parcel should be managed under the same standards as L-CHIP properties.
RCC Alternate Jenn Madden said the commission’s April vote to adopt study recommendations may have proceeded without sufficient procedural review, and RCC Chair Joyce asked Madden to place the topic on the RCC’s next agenda for further discussion. Participants noted that the parcel at issue includes roughly 9.8 acres on the border of Berry’s Brook and that some trails run within a 330-foot wetland buffer; commissioners recommended closing the trail closest to the wetland because it is especially wet.
The boards agreed that no further immediate action would be taken and that the RCC would revisit the matter at its own meeting. The joint session produced a procedural clarification about who manages the specific tax-deeded parcel but did not change the town’s overall approach to conservation lands.
Next steps: the Conservation Commission will discuss the matter at its next meeting, and the Select Board retained the option to exercise future authority over the town-owned parcel.
