Trust May Sell Land to Developer

"A controversial proposal to sell seven acres of conservation land on Crystal Spring Farm to a developer will go before members of the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust this fall.

The land trust wants to sell the property between Baribeau Drive and Pleasant Hill Road and use the money to help conserve farmland in western Brunswick.

It intends to put the issue to a vote of members as early as October, said executive director Angela Twitchell.

The organization's board has debated the issue since it received a proposal last spring from an unidentified developer who wants to build a long-term care facility on the site.

The parcel is in the city's Medical Use Zone, and has less conservation value than the remaining 155 acres of the north parcel of Crystal Spring Farm, said land trust president Tom Settlemire.

'This is a piece of land that is not a high priority in terms of land conservation. It came as part of the package, and we identified right from the start that we could use proceeds from the sale of this land to conserve other pieces,' Settlemire said.

The land trust raised $2.2 million to buy the Crystal Spring Farm-North parcel. Some members who contributed to the campaign have called the proposed sale a betrayal, and say it violates the spirit of the fundraising campaign." - more

- Portland Press Herald