SOUTHWICK — The Select Board recently decided against changes to how it handles the town’s right of first refusal on agricultural land sales.
Under chapters 61, 61A and 61B of state law, owners of certain agricultural, recreation and historical properties can receive tax breaks in exchange for maintaining the current land use. The law says that when they sell the land to developers, however, they have to give the town a chance to match the offer. A proposal by former town Agricultural Commissioner Maryssa Cook-Obregon last summer sought to ensure that every town board that might have an interest in acquiring land would be notified of available “chapter land” with enough time to rally support for the acquisition.
“I went back through it all, and it just pulls all of [state laws] into another pile of paperwork,” Select Board member Diane Gale said during a short discussion of the proposal on Aug. 26. “We don’t need to burden ourselves with another policy.”
