Home About Us Accomplishments Current Projects Get Involved Become a Member Contact Us
Welcome to GOSA!
What's New?


At the Merritt Property closing May 16, 2008!





Sidney Van Zandt, Merritt fund-raising chief, and DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy at Merritt Property benefit April 24, 2008



Cowslip Brook winds through the Merritt Property



Priscilla Pratt and Nelson A. Merritt at signing of 2003 purchase agreement. Unknown at the time: 5 years of litigation lay ahead.



Haley Farm State Park



Bluff Point in autumn


Charles Pratt, pioneering conservationist and a GOSA founder



Hello!

Welcome to the GOSA website.

The Groton Open Space Association (GOSA) is a non-profit group working to preserve open space in the greater Groton area. We hope you will use this site as a resource to learn about our organization, and, more importantly, to find out how you can get involved in local preservation efforts.

Check this page regularly for news and upcoming events.

TO MAKE A MERRITT PROPERTY CONTRIBUTION, PLEASE CLICK HERE. (We are still raising funds following the acquisition to pay off a bridge loan, recoup expenses and build a fund for insurance and other future outlays.)

(Click on color pictures to enlarge.)

   Find out about Upcoming Events.

   Check out GOSA NEWS.

   GOSA In-Depth Features:

   Watrous Property: Biology and    Beauty

   Haley State Farm: A History

   Saving Haley: Sidney Van Zandt    Reminisces

   Four Pioneers NEW!

   Missed a GOSA NEWS article?
   Visit the
GOSA NEWS Archives.
 
   Upcoming Events                               ^ top

The "Stone Puller" used to build some of the three miles of high walls on the Haley Farm -- a hobby of Caleb Haley. The machine was invented by Francis Merritt.

EVENTS last updated June 24, 2008


Wednesday, June 25, 7:30 p.m., Konover Development Corp. to hold preliminary meeting with the Inland Wetlands Agency on a planned new application for "regulated activities," an apparent reference to a Wal-Mart Super Center in the watershed of the Groton Utilities reservoir. The Planning Commission has rejected one application for the project and has prevailed against Konover's appeal to the Superior Court. The IWA approved the project in 2006, but unanimously denied on June 11, 2008, Konover's request for alterations in the IWA-approved plan.

 

Complete Schedule of Town Meetings: Groton Town Website. Please refer to this source for the full schedule. The only town meetings listed on this GOSA page will be those of expected special environmental interest. To use the town schedule, click on the calendar displayed and move forward and backward with plus and minus signs. TOWN WEBSITE VIDEO: Video of Town Council meetings (doesn't include Committee of the Whole). Click on "Town Meetings" tab at top of town website screen for instructions.


   GOSA NEWS                                         ^ top

 


[News last updated: June 27, 2008. Please contact Jim Furlong (jfurlong1@comcast.net) with suggestions, questions and criticisms regarding news.]


(Click on headlines to see full stories. Dates refer to time of event, not to web posting, except on forward-looking articles or where otherwise indicated. All stories written by GOSA, except those attributed to other publications.)


(6-25-08)-- Wal-Mart In Preliminary Talks With IWA: UPDATE 6-27-08: WAL-MART TO APPEAL

(6-11-08)--IWA Denies Wal-Mart Application For Changes

(5-30-08)--Court Sets Back Wal-Mart Plan For Watershed Development

(5-28-08)--IWA Continues Wal-Mart Deliberation To June 11

(5-14-08)--IWA To Deliberate Wal-Mart May 28 After Earlier Lively Discussion

(5-13-08)--Councilor Sheets Asks 1-Year P&Z Halt In Some Watershed Areas

(5-16-08)--The Merritt Family Forest A Reality After 5-Year Delay

(5-16-08)--Statement By Nelson Merritt On The Merritt Family Forest

(5-7-08)--KKC Back In Two Months; Some Conservationists Disappointed

(4-24-08)--GOSA Holds Fundraiser For Merritt Property

(4-24-08)--Wal-Mart Site Plan Withdrawn; IWA Application Stays

(4-17-08)--Wal-Mart IWA Hearing To Resume May 14; Planning Likely May 13

(4-8-08)--Date of Option Signatures An Issue In Wal-Mart Appeal

(4-7-08)--Public Meeting Planned On Land-Use Rule Rewrite For Groton

(3-29-08)--Deadline For Planning Decision On Wal-Mart Extended

(3-31-08)--Wal-Mart Developer Tries To Censor Public Drinking Water Talks

(3-26-08)--Groton Hires Midwest/West Firm To Help Rewrite Land-Use Regs

(3-13-08)--Planning Commission Study Of Wal-Mart As Yet Not Scheduled

(2-13-08)--IWA To Hear Wal-Mart Change Application April 9

(1-26-08)--GOSA Appeals For Funds For Merritt Property Purchase

(1-17-08)--The Day Urges Public To Pitch In On Merritt Fund

(1-09-08)--GOSA, Merritt Win Final Legal Battle In Contract Dispute

(12-20-07)--Mystic Woods Appeal Charges Bad OPDS Advice To Zoning Unit

(11-29-07)--GOSA Director Fairgrieve Urges Action On Open Space Plan For Groton

(12-12-07)--State Appellate Court Upholds Verdict Favoring Merritt, GOSA

(12-06-07)--New Mystic Woods Buffer From Adjacent Property Lines Larger By 25 Feet (with update)

(12-05-07)--Zoning Conditionally Approves Mystic Woods; Vote Split (with updates)

(11-07-07)--Zoning Unit Closes Three-Part Mystic Woods Hearing

(11-07-07)--Zoning Approves MX Floating Zone: The Day

(10-24-07)--What Is An “Open” Zoning Commission Meeting?

(10-15-07)--Mystic Woods Termed Too Big and Harmful For Fort Hill

(10-15-07)--Zoning Commission To Reconsider Floating Zone Vote

(09-12-07)-- GOSA Loses Appeal In Four Winds Case

(10-04-07)--GOSA, Neighbors Appeal IWA Approval of Mystic Woods

(10-11-07)--GOSA President Stresses Balance, Resource Protection, Quality of Life

(10-01-07)--TPL Discusses Land Protection at Conservation Commission

(10-03-07)--Zoning Commission Nixes Floating Zone Amendment

(9-19-07)--Hawthorne Presents “Mystic Woods” To Zoning: NEW MATERIAL ADDED AT END 9-21-07

(9-12-07)--Conservation Voters Give Rep. Wright 100% In Recent Ranking

(9-12-07)--IWA Approves Mystic Woods with Conditions

(9-05-07)--Zoning Commission Meeting Unveils Two Noteworthy Matters

(9-06-07)--Appellate Panel Hears Arguments In Merritt Case

(8-22-07)--IWA Continues Discussion of Mystic Woods to Sept. 12

(8-20-07)--Appellate Arguments Set For Sept. 6 In Merritt/GOSA v Ravenswood

(8-15-07)-- IWA Hearings on Mystic Woods Closed

(8-1-07)--Hearings On Floating Zone Continued To Sept. 5

(7-24-07)--Councilor O’Beirne Flags Floating Zone Proposal

(7-11-07)--IWA Continues Mystic Woods Hearing to Aug. 15

(6-28-07)-- SCCOG Draft Plan Termed Weak On Conservation

(6-27-07)--Zoning Unit Continues Floating Zone Hearing To Aug. 1

(6-26-07)--Planning Endorses Floating Zone But Seeks Refinements

(6-5-07)--Groton Floating Zone Applicant Reduces Scope Of Request

(5-22-07)--Paving Paradise: from The Day.Com

(5-22-07)-Schedule For Floating Zone Consideration Changed

(5-9-07)-Susan Sutherland Statement On Mystic Woods

(5-9-07)-UPDATED MAY 11: IWA Hears Revised "Mystic Woods;" Continued To June 13

(5-2-07)-GOSA Withdraws Proposed Zoning Amendments

(4-24-07)-Planning Backs Buildable Land Concept, Rejects GOSA Proposal

(4-14-07)-Planning Commission To Comment on GOSA Land Proposals April 24

(4-12-07)-Mixed-Use "Town" Plan Near Route 117/184 Corner: The Day

(4-3-07)-GOSA Director Arranges Haley Dog Cleanup System (with picture)

(3-28-07)-New Version Of Mystic Woods Introduced To IWA

(3-27-07)-Judge Studies Bonvie’s Proposed Appeal Drop

(3-25-07)-Mystic Woods Again On IWA Agenda

(3-5-07)-Environmental Review Report On Mystic Woods Released

(3-7-07)-Hill Friends’ASH Paper Discussion Barred; GOSA Application Taken

(3-4-07)-Groton Wal-Mart Developer Suing Town Commission

(2-2-07)-GOSA Seeks WRPD Moratorium

(2-16-07)-Wal-Mart Plan Denied

(2-16-07)-Groton Wal-Mart Plan Draws Fire

(2-7-07)-GOSA Formally Requests ASH Halt, Land Definition

(2-5-07)-Conservation Unit Urges Denial of Wal-Mart Application

(1-31-07)-WITH UPDATE: Zoning Meeting Canceled With ASH Halt Call Pending

(1-29-07)-Wal-Mart Runup: Annex Community Room 1 Site of Feb. 13 Airing

(1-24-07)-IWA Seeks Legal Opinion In Four Winds Case

(1-16-07)-GOSA Urges Priority For Open Space Protection

(1-14-07)-Watrous Property On State List For Possible Acquisition

(1-03-07)-Zoning To Mull ASH Halt Feb. 7; New Urbanism Discussed

(1-09-07)-Wal-Mart Discussion: To Be Continued Feb. 13

(12-20-06)-Appellate Court Remands 4 Winds to IWA; Review Scope Uncertain

(12-13-06)-Appellate Decision Seen Soon On Possible 4 Winds Remand

(11-29-06)-Situation Report: Appellate Brief Time In Merritt Case

(11-14-06)-Public Hearing On Wal-Mart In Watershed Area Cancelled (WITH UPDATES)

(11-08-06)-GOSA, Residents Ask For Moratorium On ASH

(11-08-06)-Town Council Approves New Land-Use Fee Ordinance

(10-23-06)-Developer Withdraws Mystic Woods Application

(10-18-06)-Council Holds Hearing On Fees Proposal; Question Arises

(10-18-06)-Planning To Hold Hearing On New Wal-Mart Nov. 14, 2006

(10-12-06)-State Archaeologist Points Out Groton’s Rich History

(10-12-06)-GOSA President Stresses Clean Water In Annual Address

(10-11-06)-IWA To Reach “Mystic Woods” Decision Oct. 25

(10-05-06)-Hearing Set For New Rule On Land-Use Application Fees

(8-23-06)-IWA Asks For Fort Hill ERT; “Woods” Project Sharply Criticized

(8-22-06)-Groton Council Tentatively OKs ERT For Mystic Woods Tract

(8-15-06)-City of Groton P&Z Unit Denies Baker Cove Zoning Change

(8-15-06)-Groton Town Council To Get Report On Mystic Woods

(8-3-06)-GOSA Urges Public Participation In Zoning Regs Rewrite

(7-26-06)-Mystic Woods Representatives Present Case To IWA

(7-13-06)-Stonington Officials Skeptical On Bond Issue But Want Town To Decide

(6-20-06)-Groton City Residents Petition Against Zoning Change

(5-21-06)-GOSA Director Allvord Receives Fort Griswold Award

(6-14-06)-Groton IWA Makes First Use Of New Expert-Hiring Power

(6-15-06)-SCCOG Meeting Dominated By Conservationist Opinion

(5-31-06)-Study Finds Stonington Should Float Open Space Bond

(5-16-06)-Groton City P&Z Unit Hears Zoning Change Proposals; Hearings Continued

(5-10-06)-GOSA Asks IWA To Reconsider Four Winds Case

(5-10-06)-Developers Present Plan For Major Senior Housing Complex

(5-11-06)-New State Measures Would Protect GU Water System

(4-29-06)-Annual Cleanup Day Heightens Beauty of Haley Farm State Park

(4-26-06)-GOSA Comments On Strategic Economic Development Plan

(4-26-06)-Groton IWA Approves Big Retail Project; Requires Special Bond For Water

(4-12-06)-Groton Wetlands Agency Adopts Expert Fee Amendment

(4-7-06)-DEP Approves Open-Space Land For Temporary Parking

(3-23-06)-Appellate Unit Won't Review GOSA Appeal On Four Winds Site Plan

(3-16-06)-David Leff To Retire From DEP

(3-08-06)-IWA Approves Kolnaski School, Groton Highpoint

(2-28-06)-UPDATED: New Land-Use Fee Proposal Presented To Council

(2-22-06)-IWA Sets Hearing For Fee Regulation Change

(2-9-06)-Mary Walton, Who Led Fight Against Jetport, Dies

(2-8-06)-IWA Considers "Expert Fee" Concept

(1-25-2006)-Groton Highpoint Hearing Continued

(1-11-06)-IWA Hears From Developer, GOSA On Groton Highpoint

(1-9-06)-GOSA Urges The Day To Recognize Eccleston Brook's Value

GOSA NEWS Archives

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Wal-Mart Talks With IWA

UPDATE--Konover said June 27, 2008, that it will appeal the IWA's denial June 11 of its application to change its original plan for a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

* * *  ^ back to headlines


IWA Denies Wal-Mart Application For Changes

* * *  ^ back to headlines


Court Sets Back Wal-Mart Plan For Watershed Development

Judge Joseph J. Purtill did not deal with the merits of the land-use commission's decision, as he came to the conclusion that Konover Development had failed to establish that it has an interest in the property, in a decision rendered Friday [May 30, 2008].

In the April 8 hearing, Town Attorney Michael Carey had questioned the four agreements that gave Konover the option to purchase the property on Gold Star Highway, to the east of Antonino Road.

Carey said at the hearing that an applicant has to have the title to or an interest in the property at the time it applies, or “they don't have standing to file the application.”

The Planning Commission's decision was rendered in February 2007.

Since then, two option agreements have expired, meaning Konover has failed to show it has a continuing interest in the property.

Two purchase agreements were signed March 28, 2007 and July 17, 2007 - after the Planning Commission decision. Although they remain in effect, they also fail to show that Konover had an interest in those parcels when the appeal began.

Carey had no comment Monday.

Konover attorney Diane Whitney said the ruling was disappointing and that her clients are considering whether to pursue other legal options.

Whitney had argued that the commission's denial of the application was not based on concrete evidence, and said commissioners simply didn't like it.

The Groton Open Space Association and attorney Marjorie Shansky, representing five interveners, have opposed the application.

Konover is still moving ahead with a new application for the 200,000-square-foot store on the same 37 acres. The Inland Wetlands Agency is now considering proposed changes to its wetland permits on the site.

Though the area is zoned for commercial development, commissioners who rejected the site plan were most concerned about its effect on the town's water resource protection district.

* * *  ^ back to headlines


IWA Continues Wal-Mart Deliberation To June 11

* * *  ^ back to headlines


IWA To Deliberate Wal-Mart May 28 After Earlier Lively Discussion

* * *  ^ back to headlines


Councilor Sheets Asks 1-Year P&Z Halt In Some Watershed Areas

* * *  ^ back to headlines


The Merritt Family Forest A Reality After 5-Year Delay

* * *  ^ back to headlines


Statement By Nelson Merritt On The Merritt Family Forest

* * *  ^ back to headlines


KKC Back In Two Months; Some Conservationists Disappointed

* * *  ^ back to headlines


GOSA Holds Fundraiser For Merritt Property

* * *  ^ back to headlines


Wal-Mart Site Plan Withdrawn; IWA Application Stays

* * *  ^ back to headlines


Wal-Mart IWA Hearing To Resume May 14; Planning Likely May 13

* * *  ^ back to headlines


Date of Option Signature An Issue In Wal-Mart Appeal

(This account incorporates some material from a story in The Day April 9, 2008, by Katie Warchut)

* * *  ^ back to headlines


Public Meeting Planned On Land-Use Rule Rewrite For Groton

* * *  ^ back to headlines


Deadline For Planning Decision On Wal-Mart Extended

* * *  ^ back to headlines


Wal-Mart Developer Tries To Censor Public Water Talks

* * *  ^ back to headlines


Groton Hires Midwest/West Firm To Help Rewrite Land-Use Regs

* * *  ^ back to headlines


Planning Commission Study Of Wal-Mart As Yet Not Scheduled

* * *  ^ back to headlines


IWA To Hear Wal-Mart Change Application April 9

* * *  ^ back to headlines


GOSA Appeals For Funds For Merritt Property Purchase

GOOD NEWS! The five years of legal battles are over. The Merritt Family Forest can now be saved, and we need your help to do it!

Enclosed [see below] is a copy of the New London Day editorial of January 17, 2008, on the good news that GOSA has finally won our legal contest to save the Merritt property--after nearly five long years of continuous and costly effort. We are working with the Department of Environmental Protection now to arrange release of the $650,000 grant that the DEP has held in reserve for us for all these years. This should occur shortly. We now need to raise the balance of the $1 million purchase price.

Stretching along the south side of Route 1 between the summit of Fort Hill and Fishtown Road, the tract is the keystone of Groton’s eastern greenbelt. The greenbelt begins on the west with Bluff Point and the Haley Farm, both state parks that GOSA was instrumental in saving. Together, they total more than 1,000 acres, and they link up with the Mort Wright Preserve, which through the Merritt property in turn is connected to other publicly and privately protected green spaces to the east. These include Pequot Woods, the former Christmas tree farm on Route 1, and -- near Cutler Middle School -- Beebe Pond Park and Avalonia Land Trust tracts...

The Merritt Family Forest is not only strategically located but is also ecologically rich. It contains stands of trees not logged for more than 130 years, vernal pools, two pristine streams that converge to run into Palmer's Cove, and diverse wildlife habitat. This description of the environmental treasures of this 75-acre property is taken from an op-ed piece that appeared in The Day June 5, 2005, after GOSA's first victory, in Superior Court, in the legal drama to save this land. In spite of the optimistic op-ed headline, the legal battle continued until December 2007, when the Appellate Court ruled decisively in GOSA's favor. The op-ed gives the story of GOSA’s endeavor first to ease the impact of a proposed housing development, and its later discovery with disbelief that it might save the property...

Roughly half of Groton is still open land, but only 11 percent of the town is preserved open space, and development pressures threaten to quickly fill land that is not protected. GOSA feels that it is vitally important to save this valuable piece of property. We note that a proposed development of great density for the north side of Fort Hill has been making the rounds of the Inland Wetlands Agency and the Zoning Commission for over a year and a half. It would essentially clear cut much of those woodlands on that hillside.

Back in April 2003, GOSA signed a contract to buy the Merritt property for $1,000,000, with the aid of the $650,000 state grant. GOSA gave F.L. Merritt, Inc., a deposit of $90,000 at the time. Since then, we have raised more funds and estimate we have a need for an additional $200,000 for the purchase.

We now turn to you to take a stand. Once open space is gone, it is gone! Please join us in this crucial fight to save this jewel by making your most generous contribution to GOSA with the hope of passing on a living legacy for the generations that follow.

Help us in our final push to save this Keystone of the Greenbelt, The Merritt Family Forest.

* * *  ^ back to headlines


The Day Urges Public To Pitch In On Merritt Fund

Following is the editorial:

The 75-acre Merritt property in Groton is a densely wooded tract with rolling hills, a pond and moss-covered stone walls that serve as vestiges of its agrarian roots.The land, like so much other open space in the region, is adjacent to an extensive residential development — and until last week it appeared it would undergo the same, all-too-familiar transformation from forest to housing.

But after five years of litigation, the Groton Open Space Association (GOSA) finally was able to declare victory when a developer that wanted to build 48 single-family homes bowed to a state Appellate Court ruling and decided to give up its claim to buy the property atop Fort Hill just west of Fishtown Road.

“We won!” Sidney F. Van Zandt, director of the open-space organization, trumpeted earlier this week.

But the fight to save the land — which serves as a key link in a greenbelt that runs through Bluff Point Coastal Reserve, Haley Farm State Park, the Mortimer D. Wright Preserve, Avalonia Land Trust property and Beebe Pond Park — is far from over.

Now GOSA, a private, nonprofit, grassroots organization that for more than 30 years has helped preserve such significant open spaces as the Haley Farm and Bluff Point, must raise money to help buy the property, which would become known as The Merritt Family Forest.

Landowner F.L. Merritt Inc. has agreed to sell it for $1 million. GOSA, which already has made a down payment and also secured a $650,000 state grant to apply toward the purchase, has launched a campaign to raise the final $175,000.

We urge all who value open space and recognize the significance of this parcel to pitch in. More information on how to donate is available on the group's Web site, gosaonline.org.

“We turn to the citizens of southeastern Connecticut to help us save another piece of green space,” Mrs. Van Zandt said. “Once it is gone, it is gone. We will never have a chance again.”

* * *  ^ back to headlines


GOSA, Merritt Win Final Legal Battle In Contract Dispute

* * *  ^ back to headlines


Mystic Woods Appeal Charges Bad OPDS Advice To Zoning Unit

* * *  ^ back to headlines


GOSA Director Fairgrieve Urges Action On Open Space Plan For Groton

Any suggestion that Groton needs to develop a town open space plan and the measures to implement it is officially ignored outside of the Conservation Commission.

The commission issued a map and list of “Properties Desirable for Protection” in November 2005 and submitted it to the Planning Department for the pending update of the Plan of Conservation and Development. No action was taken by Planning. Two years later the Conservation Commission is revising the list to be resubmitted for the same purpose with a number of properties dropped from the list because of development.

GOSA asks, “Will the revised list quickly move to be included in the updated Plan of Conservation and Development?” “Will there be a hearing for community input?”

It is important to open the subject of open space preservation for town-wide discussion. Presently the topic is bottled up in the Conservation Commission.

* * *  ^ back to headlines


State Appellate Court Upholds Verdict Favoring Merritt, GOSA

* * *  ^ back to headlines


New Mystic Woods Buffer From Adjacent Property Lines Larger By 25 Feet

* * *  ^ back to headlines


Zoning Conditionally Approves Mystic Woods; Vote Split