Town Of Chelmsford: Update On Warren-POHL Reservation

Chelmsford MA

10 May, 2022

11:15 PM

Description

Press release from the Town of Chelmsford: May 10, 2022 May 2022 The Warren-Pohl land was purchased by the Town of Chelmsford in October, 2020 using funds from the Chelmsford Community Preservation Fund, as conservation land to be permanently protected from development. The Warren and Pohl families wanted to preserve the open space for the people of Chelmsford by first offering to sell it to the town before placing it on the open market. We are grateful to the families for this opportunity to preserve this beautiful open space. The family actively farmed this property since 1699, historically with many crops, orchards, livestock, and other agricultural activities. Since the sale of portions of the property for house lots in the early 1970's, the only agricultural activity has been haying of the fields. This has created a largely hidden pastoral setting less than a half a mile from the Chelmsford Public Library in the Town's densely developed center. The Select Board and the Town Manager have asked the Conservation Commission to develop a plan to manage the property as conservation land. Following is an update on the status of plans for the site. Access and Parking The Chelmsford DPW will be starting work soon on the public parking area and driveway access from Boston Road. The parking area will provide parking for 15 vehicles, including two handicap spaces. We may in the future look at other access points to the property and parking expansion if there is the need. Until the Boston Road driveway access and parking area are constructed, and signage is in place, public access to the property is not permitted. Conservation Restriction The Conservation Commission is working with the Chelmsford Land Conservation Trust (CLCT) to create a Conservation Restriction (CR) per Massachusetts General Laws Ch. 184 Sec. 31-33. The purpose of the CR is to permanently protect the property from non-conservation uses. While we are making progress on the CR, the process is likely to continue through this year as it requires approvals from the State, but it is not impeding other activities aimed at getting the site ready for public use. Usage The property will be used and managed for purposes similar to our other conservation reservations: passive recreation, including walking, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, and off-road bicycling. No motorized vehicles are permitted on the property. Although the Conservation Restriction will allow for limited agricultural usage of the property, our current plan is to have very limited to no active agricultural activity for the foreseeable future. Trails The property has a legacy of well-established trails that we plan to utilize and maintain with minor changes and alterations. We may introduce a linking trail to loop together different parts of the site. We may in the future create a new trail in the woods connecting Wright Reservation (Parker Road) to the existing trail in the field by Hall Road. We will also incorporate more accessibility into the trail system where possible. We are also working to include interpretative displays and signage, including farm/site history and nature/wildlife information. This Chelmsford TV produced feature provides an excellent history and background of the Warren family and the site. https://youtu.be/HYDnorNkErs. Maintenance Moving forward, the Conservation Commission is planning to have Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship (COSS) assume maintenance of this site in the same manner they currently maintain all our other Conservation Reservations. Anyone interested in helping to get the site ready for public access (and after), please contact the Chelmsford Conservation Agent – David Koonce at [email protected] or Karl Bischoff at [email protected]. Chelmsford Conservation Commission This press release was produced by the Town of Chelmsford. The views expressed here are the author's own.