Loading...
Parsons Brook Pine Barrens Baseline-Mgmt Plan.pdf BASELINE DOCUMENTATION REPORT and LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Local Acquisitions for Natural Diversity (LAND) Grant Program Property name: Parsons Brook Pine Barrens Municipality: Northampton Date acquired: May 16, 2019 Registry: Hampshire Book/page: Book 13261, page 274 LAND #: 23 Date of report: May 22, 2019 Property location: Burts Pit Road and Westhampton Roads Size: 87.89 acres Interest held by city/town: Fee Other interest holders: CR to be held by the Kestrel Land Trust Table of Contents 1. Property description Section I: Property Information 2. LAND grant program regulations 3. Legal protection 4. Contact information 5. Land Use and Management Plan (if fee owned by town) and/or Copy of Conservation Restriction (if CR) or 1. Resource map Section II: Maps 2. Monitoring map 1. General information Section III: Site Visit Report 2. Current property conditions 3. Boundary conditions 1. Photo location map Section IV: Photographs 2. List of photographs 3. Photographs Section V: Amendments Section VI: Signatures Section I: Property Information I.1. The Parsons Brook Pine Barrens property, located at Burts Pit Road and Westhampton Road, Assessors’ map/lot 36-335, is owned by / subject to a Conservation Restriction held by the City of Northampton, under care and control of the Conservation Commission, for the purposes of conservation and passive recreation, in perpetuity. It was recorded on May 16, 2019, in book 13261 page 274 in the Hampshire Registry of Deeds. Property description I.2. This property is permanently protected open space, for conservation and passive recreation only. It is subject to the standards and guidelines in 301 CMR 5.00: Self-Help and Urban Self-Help Programs, of the Division of Conservation Services, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA). Excerpted here are some of the major points: Local Acquisitions for Natural Diversity (LAND) grant program regulations - 5.06(4): Under the care and control of the City of Northampton Conservation Commis- sion - 5.09(1): The property must be used at all times for open space conservation and passive recreation purposes only, in accordance with MGL Ch. 132A, Sec. 11 - 5.09(1): The property is permanently protected under Article 97 of the Massachusetts Constitution, and may not be converted to other uses. Municipalities must pursue all fea- sible alternatives to conversion of grant-funded land. If conversion is finally determined to be the only possible choice, all of the following must occur: municipal approval of the conversion; a two-thirds majority vote of both houses of the state legislature; replacement of the land with new conservation land that is of equal or greater fair market value at the time of conversion, and of equal or greater acreage, ecological value, and usefulness, to be approved or disapproved by the Secretary of EEA. - 5.09(2): If this property ceases to be used in whole or in part for conservation and/or pas- sive recreation purposes, all interest in the property shall revert to the Commonwealth, unless the Secretary demands specific performance of the grant contract. The City of Northampton Conservation Commission must notify the Secretary of EEA of a change or potential change to an inconsistent use, or, the Secretary of EEA may notify the Conser-vation Commission that an inconsistent change in use has occurred. The Conservation Commission has 90 days to rectify the use to the satisfaction of the Secretary, or it will revert to the Commonwealth. - 5.08 (2) and (3): Open to use by all members of the public without discrimination - 5.08(1): In accordance with the LAND program regulations, the City of Northampton Conservation Commission may impose reasonable limits on the type and extent of use of this area and facilities acquired, as necessary for maintenance or preservation. - 5.06(1): Off-street parking may be required - No private enterprise may occur on properties for which the fee simple or encumbered fee is owned by the municipality, except that which contributes to and does not conflict with appropriate public use and benefit. - Structures are prohibited on properties for which the fee interest is owned by the munici- pality, except those that further conservation or public passive recreational use of the property. I.3. Through receipt of funding through the LAND grant program, this property is permanent- ly protected under Article 97 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Legal protection - Ch. 132A, §11 – Act establishing the Self-Help (now LAND) grant program - Ch. 40, §8c – Authority of conservation commissions to hold land for conservation pur-poses - Article 97 – Prohibits conversion of the property from conservation and recreational use - LAND Project Agreement – Prohibits conversion of the property from conservation and recreational uses. Requires mitigation in the event of conversion. Requires appropriate public access. Recorded with deed. - Additional legal protections – Conservation Restriction to be held by the Kestrel Land Trust I.4. Contact Information Provide contact information for property monitor or manager, landowner (if CR), and any other people or organizations involved in the property. Name (organization) Title (eg. property monitor) Mailing address Phone City of Northampton, Office of Planning and Sustainability, Conservation Commission Property Owner City Hall, 210 Main Street Northampton MA 01060 413-587-1265 The Kestrel Land Trust Conservation Restriction Holder PO Box 1016 Amherst MA, 01004 413-549-1097 I.5. Land Management Plan If the municipality acquired a Conservation Restriction (CR) with the LAND grant, use the CR to help you fill out the Management Plan section below. Purpose: To assure that the Premises will be maintained in perpetuity for conservation purposes, in a natu- ral, scenic and undeveloped condition, to prevent any use or change that would materially impair or interfere with its conservation and preservation values, and to permit limited uses including passive outdoor recreation and education, forestry management, and trails All LAND-funded properties must provide access to the general public for passive recreational activities. The specific subset of permissible passive activities varies from project to project and is described here. Permitted public activities: Note: These should be posted at the property entrance(s). walking, hiking camping Nordic skiing, snowshoeing hunting horseback riding fishing bicycle riding on designated trails gardening/agriculture picknicking swimming non-motorized watercraft All passive recreational and conservation purposes Prohibited public activities: Note: These should be posted at the property entrance(s). motorized vehicles fires swimming horseback riding gardening/agriculture bicycle riding alcoholic beverages hunting entry after dark fishing collection of plants/animals/soil/rocks Additional comments on use of this property: Structures: Structures that do not contribute to the conservation values of the premises: The Premises includes equipment leftover from a legacy of being associated with a gravel extrac- tion operation, including a large sorter. These will remain in place. Known stewardship issues/potential problems: History of all terrain vehicle use Encroachment from abutting residential properties Soil piles from legacy mineral extraction use Stewardship responsibilities: Plans for regular management: Entity responsible for management: Northampton Conservation Commission Plans for managing known stewardship issues: Increased signage of property, boundary marking, communication with abutters, refreshing of corner pins and markers, removal of historic debris, ongoing trail maintenance, removal of inva- sive species. Plans for regular management: Annual boundary walking and site inspection Restoration of the pine barrens area, possibly though the use of controlled burns as part of a habi- tat management plan Invaisve species removal Active forest or agricultural management plans: Harvesting of sawtimber or other forest management should be conducted only in consultation with a licensed forester and preparation of a Forest Management Plan for long-term objectives. All forestry must be conducted in accordance with the terms of the Conservation Restriction Section II: Maps II.1. Resource map II. Monitoring map Please refer to attachments Section III: Site Visit Report III.1. General information Date of inspection: February 4 and 5, 2019 Time spent on property: 7 hours People present: Name: Affiliation: Tom Annese City of Northampton Office of Planning & Sustaina- bility III.2. Current property conditions Note: This section may summarize some provisions of the CR or Management Plan. The entire CR document must be read in order to understand its terms. A. Conditions of the property relevant to the purpose of this project: Project purpose Condition Photo Passive Recreation - Maintenance of a Recrea- tional Trail System The property provides opportunity for hiking, and contains exist-ing trails and woods roads 1, 2, 47, 11, 13, 1421, 22, 23, 49 Protection of ground and surface waters Parsons Brook, a coldwater fishery, runs through the Premises. The western portion of the property includes extensive wetlands. 123, 135, 90 Habitat Conservation The majority of the Premises acres is located within BioMap2 Core Habitat, and abuts existing protected open space. Parsons Brook, wetlands and stream connections, cattail marsh and acidic ponds, and a sandy Pine Barrens are all present on the property. 16, 90, 93-96 123 B. Conditions of the property relevant to Permitted and Prohibited Uses: Activity Condition Photo Permitted Hiking The Premises already includes a trail and woods road network 1, 2, 47, 11, 13, 1421, 22, 23, 49 Prohibited Boundary En- croachments There are encroachments present from abutting residential uses, including dumping and clearing of vegetation that will need to be addressed 69-71, 107-114, 128, 131, 136, 138 ATV Use ATV use is evident in the central sandy portion of the Premises N/A C. Additional remarks regarding the present condition of the property: A past legacy of mineral extraction is evident in the central and eastern portion of the property through scarified areas that have reverted to Pine Barrens and associated earth piles, scattered equipment, and man-made kettle ponds. The western portion of the property contains exten- sive wetlands III.3. Boundary Conditions A. Do the boundaries on the ground clearly correlate to the legal description found in the CR document or property deed (i.e. can you follow the boundary after reading the description)? If not, how did you locate the property boundary? yes B. (If CR): Are portions of the property which are excluded from the Restriction marked or oth- erwise evident on the ground? Not applicable C. Describe the condition of the boundary markings at all other points (i.e. stone wall, flagged, signed, unmarked): The property is bounded on the east by existing protected open space under common owner-ship, and is not marked. Corner pins are generally present, and some rock walls exist. D. Describe the use of abutting properties, focusing on uses close to the boundary line: Abutting uses are primarily residential. There is a solar array to the west, and existing pro- tected open space to the east. There is some encroachment present from residential proper- ties. E. Any other comments on boundaries? Section IV: Photographs Please see attached IV.1. Photo location map The photo location map shows the location from which documentary photographs were taken. Include: • Property boundary (and CR boundary if applicable). • Photopoints (location from which photos were taken). Each point should be placed as accu- rately as possible. Mark each point with: An arrow showing the direction the photo was facing A label (A,B,C or 1,2,3 etc.) so that the description can be looked up in the list of photos IV.2. List of documentary photographs Photographer(s): Please see Baseline Photograph attachment for details IV.3. Documentary Photographs Please see attachment Section V: Amendments This property is permanently protected as open space for conservation and passive recrea-tional use only. It is difficult to anticipate all potential changes to the property that may occur, due to natural events, that may make it more or less appropriate for specific activi- ties or uses. It is also difficult to know in the present the specific passive recreational uses future visitors to the site may want. For these reasons, it may become necessary in the future for portions of the Land Management Plan to be revised. Property acquired with LAND grant funding V. 1. How to amend this document may not The following sections of this document may be revised: be used for active recreation. I.4. Contact information I.5. Land Management Plan sections: Permitted uses/activities Prohibited uses/activities Structures Stewardship plans Active management plans Any changes to these sections must still adhere to the LAND grant program regulations, Project Agreement, Article 97 requirements, and any other pertinent regulations. All changes must adhere to the terms of the Conservation Restriction, if applicable. Procedure for amending this document: Majority vote of the Conservation Commission