Camp Denison Adjacent Land Purchase


 
 

 The Camp Denison Committee is requesting that the town purchase 7.89 acres of undevelopable woodland located east of the existing Town owned, Conservation Commission managed facility, known as Camp Denison.  The 7.89 acres border the National Grid electric transmission line which was formerly part of the passenger rail line running from Newburyport to Danvers. The parcel of land remains after the owner subdivided a larger parcel along Nelson street and is accessible only to the owners of residential lots1 and 2 which front on Nelson street.

Camp Denison is a thirty-four acre conservation and passive recreational public facility owned by the Town of Georgetown.  The land and buildings have a long history of passive recreational use and is well known for its natural beauty, as it is located on the shores of Baldpate Pond.  The Town of Georgetown has continued operating most of most the historic past uses including camping, picnicking, trail walking, boating, fishing, and functions in the grand lodge.

An adjacent parcel of land is on the market. The Camp Denison Committee, with the support of the Conservation Commission, is requesting that the town purchase 7.89 acres of undeveloped woodland located east of Camp Denison. The parcel of land remains after the owner subdivided a larger parcel along Nelson Street and is accessible only to the owners of residential lots1, 2 and 3 which front on Nelson Street, and from Camp Denison. The land borders the National Grid electric transmission line which is being considered for use as a “recreational rail trail”.

The property is totally forested and environmentally diverse with a variety of mature and young northern hardwoods and mature white pine.  The interesting and mostly hilly topography and stony geology makes the area ideal for activities such as hiking, study of land forms and rocks, and viewing and study of wetland wildlife in the vernal pools on the property.  There is a small area of fairly flat land bordering the existing primitive camping area of Camp Denison which would extend the size of the area used for this purpose. Purchase of this parcel will allow access to Camp Denison from the bordering proposed rail trail by bikes or by walking and provide a large connecting area of public land extending from the Rail Trail to the westerly end of Baldpate Pond.

This land is potentially vulnerable to acquisition by one or more of the landowners who border the property.  Non acquisition of this property by the Town and its subsequent potential private uses (tree harvesting, animal pasture, animal housing structures) would detract from the existing uses at Camp Denison, most likely restrict public access to Camp Denison from the Rail Trail, and result in the loss of additional public passive recreational opportunities.





 
 

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