By Keith Regan, Contributing Writer
Northborough – Selectmen May 18 voted to accept a conservation restriction that will permanently protect nearly 22 acres of land in the area of the ongoing TriTown Landscape Preservation Project.
Boylston, Berlin and Northborough have been actively working with the Sudbury Valley Trustees (SVT) over the past two years to permanently protect 500 acres in the largely undeveloped area where the towns’ borders meet.
“We are almost there,” said Town Planner Kathy Joubert.
Northborough and the SVT will hold the conservation restriction on the land that will permanently protect it from development, though it will remain in the ownership of Bill and Ann Rawstron.
In addition to the conservation restriction, the town accepted a trail easement for the property that will enable the construction of new trails to connect to those on nearby properties, including a parcel the Rawstrons previously donated to the SVT, and the Green Street open space parcel.
“Because we won’t own the land, this will ensure we always have access and can create trails,” Joubert said. “The Trails Committee is eager to get up there.”
“They have protected it so it will remain the way it is,” Committee Chair Jeff Amberson said of the Rawstrons. “It’s very generous.”
Also at the meeting, the board reorganized, choosing Jeff Amberson as chair, Leslie Rutan as vice chair, and William Pantazis as clerk until the 2016 elections.
