34 Acres Of Open Space Offered To Guilford, Special Town Meeting Scheduled

GUILFORD, CT — Guilford voters will decide next week whether the town should waive its right of first refusal for 34 acres of open space off Bluff View Drive and Durham Road and allow the Guilford Land Conservation to accept the property instead.

The meeting is set for Nov. 2 at 8:30 a.m., which coincides with the regularly scheduled Board of Selectmen meeting at Guilford Town Hall, 31 Park St.

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The property would be accepted as a donation, at no cost, from the Bluff Head Estates Association, which consists of 45 unit owners.

According to a letter from Association President Joseph Guerra to First Selectman Matt Hoey on Aug. 17, the association has owned the land since 1988, and members' interest in owning and operating it has declined.

Association members voted to donate the property to the Guilford Land Conservation Trust, which had expressed interest in accepting it, Guerra said.

However, a legal review found that a 1988 requirement states that the land must be offered to the town first before it can be conveyed elsewhere.

In a notice about the upcoming special town meeting, the town noted the property connects to the Guilford Land Conservation Trust's 870-plus-acre Bluff Head and Northwoods property. The land would be preserved by the organization as open space.

Additionally, voters will also decide whether the town should accept a 19,118-square-foot conservation easement on Saddle Hill Road, which was created as the result of a re-subdivision approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission in 2015, the town noted.

More information can be found here.