Wesley Drive 8-24 history

[thomas harbinson]

Commissioners - I wrote the attached letter over a month ago, when I was perhaps more fired up on the issue of selling City Dedicated Open Space without authority to do so.  Looking it over now, while it outlines all the factual data, it reads as inflammatory.  It should probably be trimmed, but I offer it for your review, reference, consideration in advance of when we get to take up the item on Wednesday.

Tom Harbinson

Tel: 203SirTomH

[Teresa G]

Three points: 

- I did actually find the 8-24 referral for the 'sale, lease or license' of the property off of Wesley Drive from a few years ago. The reason no one remembered this was because, at the time, we were told it was for licensing the open space. The Planning and Zoning minutes have Tony Panico saying that he didn't think anyone was talking about selling the opening space. Conservation reviewed the 8-24 at the time and took issue with it, but even then the assumption was that it was for licensing the open space, not selling it. Technically the 8-24 verbage included the "sale" of the property, but members of both P&Z and Conservation thought it was for licensing the open space, not selling it, and reviewed it accordingly. 

- Under the state law, there must be a public hearing to sell open space regardless of the value. There is no $10,000 limit. If the property being sold for $1 there would still need to be a public hearing under state law. 

- The other two properties, as far as I can tell, have not purchased the open space yet. Only one of the three "approved" sales have actually gone through.