NORTHAMPTON — A quarter of the city, including its only bog, is now protected land.
The city announced Friday it had purchased 114 acres of Burt’s Bog Greenway, which it had long sought as a conservation area. The acreage extends from Burts Pit Road to Woods Road, Florence Road, and Sandy Hill Road.
The land, plus another 6 acres that the city expects to buy soon, will be combined with an existing 23 city-owned acres in the greenway, giving the conservation area surrounding several neighborhoods a total of 143 acres.
“The Burt’s Bog Greenway protects some of the most valuable habitat in the city and provides recreation for several neighborhoods,” Mayor David Narkewicz said in statement. “Because this is a limited-development project, creating ten new building lots on three acres, three of which will be affordable homes, this project will also increase property taxes collected by the city.”
The acquisition, as well as a planned 32-acre purchase next week off Westhampton Road in the Mineral Hills Conservation Area, brings the acreage of permanently protected land in 2017 to 300 acres.
The bog lands and the development plot cost about $500,000, with more than half coming from a Massachusetts Local Acquisitions for Natural Diversity grant, according to Wayne Feiden, director of Planning & Sustainability.
An additional $150,000 came from the city’s Community Preservation Act funding. The land was purchased from Tofino Associates, which originally planned to build an 80-house development on the site. That development would have required the construction of new roads as well as the expansion of services such as buses and plowing, according to Feiden and Narkewicz.
The 10 lots to be developed are located along Burts Pit Road not far from its intersection with Wood Road. Five of the development plots will be sold at market rate to help offset the cost of the project, Narkewicz said. Three are reserved for affordable housing construction, and two are being kept by Tofino Associates. Two additional building lots to the north by Sandy Hill Road are still owned by Tofino.
“Even as we protect open space we are dedicated to creating new residential building opportunities so that our open space efforts do not drive up the building lot prices or effect city property tax collection,” Feiden said in a statement.
The greenway will also be the home to an eventual extension of a multiuse trail from the New Haven and Northampton Canal Line Rail Trail to Woods and Sandy Hill roads, according to the city.
Meanwhile, the $150,000 purchase price for the Mineral Hills land will come from a combination of CPA funds and community fundraising.
About 25 percent of the Northampton’s 23,000 acres is permanently protected as open space. Feiden said about 20 percent of that is owned by the city, with the balance owned by the state and federal government or by local farmers who have agreed to property restrictions on their land.
Feiden said the city was “being both aggressive in open space” as well as “being aggressive” in expanding building lots and the municipal tax base.
Narkewicz said the city has committed itself to trying to preserve and protect conservation areas, naturally sensitive areas and agricultural land. That work fits into the overall vision and goal of the city.
“At the same time, we are also advancing our goal for creating more affordable housing,” he said.
Narkewicz said it was a misconception that they city has gotten rid of 20 percent of the potential tax base with the permanently protected open space.
“In many cases, much of the land we acquire, isn’t developable to begin with,” he said. “In this case, part of it is in a bog that you wouldn’t be able to develop in.”
That bog land is the only one in the city, according to Feiden. He said not only is it ecologically unique but it is also home to a couple of rare species of turtles.
Burt’s Bog Greenway has been in the works for almost three decades— the first parcel of land of what is now Burt’s Bog was purchased 28 to 29 years ago, according to Feiden.
While a quarter of the city may seem like a large amount, both Feiden and Narkewicz were quick to point out that in many rural communities that number is much higher. The open spaces serve every neighborhood in Northampton.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.