Opinion: Preserving Sewataro Is Smartest For Sudbury

The following was submitted as a letter to the editor by Sudbury Resident Bob Haarde. If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, email samantha.mercado@patch.com.

I will be voting YES for Sewataro on June 4th. Due to 40B, our town just approved 684 units of multi-family housing from which we have not yet absorbed the impact. Sudbury has the fastest growing population in Massachusetts according to Census 2018 and Sudbury has the highest percentage of families with school-age children. Preserving the 44 acres at Sewataro from development is the smartest thing we could do right now.

Education is $72,000,000 of our $102,000,000 town budget or about 70%. Our entire field maintenance budget is $212,000 or .002% of our budget. Our entire Public Works Budget is $5,400,000 or 5% of our budget. There are those who will have you believe that the maintenance on a couple of buildings is a bigger threat to our budget than the increase in education costs from another large development. The cost of education, primarily salary and benefits, will continue to increase. With new technology and more durable building supplies the cost of ongoing maintenance can actually be reduced.

Every land acquisition Sudbury has ever completed was based on fair market value. Legally a municipality cannot force someone to sell their land for half its value. Even if a municipality were to acquire land by eminent domain, the municipality, by law, must pay the fair market value based on the highest and best use which is real estate development. Broadacres and Tippling Rock, like every other land acquisition, were purchased based on the value of it being developed into housing, not its value as a horse pasture or a mountain. The price for Sewataro is exactly equal to the property tax assessment set by our Town Assessor and not a penny more. Would you sell your house for half its value because someone said they would use it differently? Market-based economics just doesn’t work that way.

Unlike every other open space acquisition, Sewataro is land we can actually use. Open space is pretty to look at and great at preventing development to ease the tax burden. But Sewataro not only prevents development but is also a fun place to come together as a community. I am voting YES because we are preserving 44 acres of land from development and because we can use Sewataro as a Town Park and because we can generate revenue from Sewataro. Preserving Sewataro is the smartest thing we could do right now.

-Bob Haarde