Protection Of Saw Mill Pond Watershed Blocked By Refusal To Go Forward With Appraisal

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At the May 9 Charlestown Town Council meeting, Councilors Carney and Klinger refused to support the expenditure of $4,750 to fund a real estate appraisal to determine the fair market value of the Saw Mill Pond Watershed (Plat 25, Lot 10 on Rt. 112 – see maps below).

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) awarded a $400,000.00 Natural Heritage Grant towards the purchase of the Saw Mill Pond Watershed that contains 100 acres of forestland in northern Charlestown. The property also contains an important wetland and wildlife complex that surrounds Saw Mill Pond. The land is part of a large area of unfragmented forest that includes Tribal land and the Francis Carter Preserve.

Land proposed for protection under the Natural Heritage Grant program is scored for its protection of critical and uncommon habitat, its capability of supporting a diversity of habitats, its support for rare or endangered species, its close proximity to other protected land, its close proximity to a water body, its importance for groundwater protection, and its public access for passive recreation.

Now that Charlestown has the grant, the next step is a comprehensive real estate appraisal. RI DEM will not provide funding to any project priced more than the appraisal, so this price must be determined. Doing an appraisal does not mean the project is approved. After the appraisal, the town and landowner would negotiate a price at or below the appraised value. The Planning and Conservation Commissions would then prepare detailed advisories to the Town Council, and the sale would then have to be approved by the Town Council at a public hearing and then by the RI DEM. Costs associated with the purchase would be funded by the $400,000.00 DEM grant with the rest from the town’s open space bond fund that was approved by Charlestown voters in 2015.

Town Councilors Bonnie Van Slyke and Susan Cooper, members from the Charlestown Land Trust, Planning Commission, and Parks and Recreation Commission, a URI Professor of Botany, and several others spoke in favor of getting the appraisal and working with the land owner and DEM to preserve this forested property that drains directly to Saw Mill Pond by dropping 100 feet in elevation over the property’s 3,300 feet in length from Rt. 112.

Councilors Carney and Klinger were concerned about taking this land off the tax rolls. The land currently pays about $2,500 in taxes. A realtor at the meeting said preserving the land would increase property values in the surrounding area, easily offsetting any lost taxes and that when the land is developed, the cost of maintaining roads, and providing education and other services, will far exceed the taxes collected. In the long term, preserving this parcel will have a net positive tax impact.

Councilors Carney and Klinger were not in favor of acquiring land that would require hiking trails and a trailhead parking lot because they believe it would result in more work for the Conservation Commission. The grant does require public access, but the property already has an access drive and an existing small parking area, and there are grants available from DEM and other groups for trail creation and maintenance. Karen Jarret, the President of the Charlestown Land Trust, also offered to be a partner to the Conservation Commission to help with planning and development of trails.

Councilor Deb Carney expressed her opinion that Charlestown has sufficient open space and that there is no development likely to happen that would impact this parcel. Planning Commission member Ruth Platner responded that since the 2015 open space bond was passed, we have preserved 151 acres. However, in that time 702 acres have or are being subdivided and developed resulting in 195 new residential lots or units, a number that does not count individual existing lots that were built on in those seven years. In addition there are over 400 acres being cleared and ground up for gravel. We are developing land at a much faster pace than we are preserving it. Others spoke about the fast pace of new construction in their neighborhoods and the likelihood that this pace will increase, because Charlestown is now a prime location for remote workers who only occasionally need to attend an in-person meeting in New York or Boston.

Councilor Clarkin has a family member who owns a home in the neighborhood to the north of the Saw Mill Pond Watershed and cannot vote to spend money on this acquisition because the home is within a radius that precludes voting. Without a third vote to support getting an appraisal, Councilors Carney and Klinger were able to block moving ahead with preservation of the Saw Mill Pond Watershed.

The $400,000.00 DEM grant will be lost if the acquisition is not completed in the next year.

Map showing property, wetlands and part of Saw Mill Pond


Map showing property, other tribal or private conservation land and Saw Mill Pond