I urge townspeople to ask the town not to sell our land at 107 East Street—the Evonsion farm. The Selectmen are debating doing that, along with selling the development rights to the State. Looking out 75-100 years, there’s a good chance there will be a public need, ranging from a school to senior housing. (That is within the life-span of our current pre-schoolers and their children!) This 125-acre open parcel, could well be the only site. Keep this simple—follow the recommendations of the 2015 Town-Owned Land Study Committee.
The committee’s main recommendation was that the parcel’s best use was active agriculture, but it did not urge that in perpetuity. Neither did the committee recommend sale, but rather urged long-term leases. It noted that there was no immediate town need, but it added that “The committee also believed strongly that the agricultural use should remain as long as there was viable private agriculture in town. Should those uses disappear in the future, the property should be reevaluated for use at that time.” Summary Report of the Town of Granby Town-Owned Land Study Committee–2015 p.37. This all implicitly acknowledged that town needs and agriculture could change. (The 80-page report may be found on the town’s website, granby-ct.gov/ under the “Documents” tab within “Other topics.”)
Our elected officials should act in the best, long-term interest of the town. They should lease the farm for agricultural use to one of the two farmers proposing that. That way they keep agriculture and reserve a town asset for the future.