By Marianne Sullivan, Courier Senior Staff
Writer:
CHESTER:
As the town opens
public discussions on the possibility of purchasing the Otfinoski property on Parkers Point Road,
Amy Blaymore Paterson, project manager with The Trust for Public Land (TPL),
provided the boards of selectmen and finance with this description of the
property.
• The purchase would
protect approximately 4.6 acres of mature floodplain forest habitat along a
highly developed stretch of the Connecticut River.
• The property is
located within the Connecticut River main stem regional basin and slopes
steadily from the private easement access point over a private road down toward
the Connecticut River. The hillside is braided
by intermittent watercourses, drainage channels, wetland fingers, and seeps,
all of which drain towards the river.
• The lot is
predominantly forested with three sections of wetlands covering approximately
50,000 square feet or 1.15 acres in addition to an approximately 12,500 square
foot cove in the southeast corner.
• The parcel
contains 670 feet of water frontage along the west bank of the Connecticut River, including 260 feet on the river and
410 feet on the cove.
• The state Natural
Diversity Data Base (NDDB) maps and files for the property show records for a
number of federal and state endangered, threatened, and special concern species
in the vicinity of the parcel, including the bald eagle, tidewater mucket,
lymnaeid snail, and Atlantic sturgeon.
• The property is
considered a viable residential development site in a highly desirable section
of the lower Connecticut River valley and is
thus at high risk of being developed.
• Town ownership of
the property would provide the public with an opportunity for low impact access
to the river for scenic vistas and for passive recreational activities such as
kayaking, picnicking, hiking and fishing.
• The property is in
close proximity to the town Parkers Point boat launch and would greatly enhance
the public access to the river in this area.
A detailed analysis
of the property’s features is available in an Environmental Review Team Report
prepared in May 2008 at the request of the Chester Conservation Commission. The
Environmental Review Team is a coalition of area land use professionals. Copies
of the report were provided to the town and may also be viewed at www.ctert.org
(Current Report No. 619).
The Trust for Public
Land (TPL) is a national, non-profit, land conservation organization. Its Connecticut office is located in New Haven. Among its services is conservation
finance. TPL helps agencies and communities identify and raise funds for
conservation from federal, state, local, and philanthropic sources. It also
aids in conservation transactions, helping to structure, negotiate, and
complete land transactions that create parks, playgrounds, and protected
natural areas. Its website is www.tpl.org.