Proposed Sale of 19.67 Acres Comes Under Heavy Scrutiny

Middlefield voters will get the final say on what happens to the nearly 20 acre property divided from Powder Ridge ski area nearly a year ago. 

Last week, the town held a public hearing on a $300,000 offer from Powder Hill Road resident Lori Vogel-Brown, who said she hoped to buy the property and use the land to expand her horse farm.

"I've put a lot of money into my property and the one thing I don't have now is enough field. I need more field," Vogel-Brown said at the hearing at the Middlefield Community Center on April 9.

"My vision, really, is to keep it just like it is because I like the way it is and I think it really compliments the town," she said.

But the agreement negotiated by Vogel-Brown and the Board of Selectmen came under heavy scrutiny at the hearing when residents raised concern about the property's future, its value and even whether the property was for sale in the first place.

Before members of the audience began asking questions about the proposal, town attorney Kenneth Antin and attorney John Corona, who represents Vogel-Brown, explained that the agreement approved by selectmen last month provided several conditions above and beyond what town regulations provide.

Among the restrictions, Vogel-Brown would not be allowed to build a house on the front of the property and no building's footprint could exceed 20,000 square feet. In addition, Vogel-Brown would be required to use wood siding for any barns or out-buildings she builds on the property.

"With this declaration in place, the owner can do less with the property than they could with any other property in town," said Corona.

Resident Marianne Corona, however, said she opposed language in the agreement that would allow selectmen to waive the restrictions at any time, a provision that Antin said would give town leaders some flexibility in the future.

Powder Hill Road resident Susan Pringle said she opposed the sale of the property altogether, along with her husband. She said the two felt the town should keep the 19.67 acres as open space.

"It's the ultimate betrayal of our first selectman," Pringle said. "I'm just annoyed we even have to be here. What happened to the open space, protect and preserve?"

Pringle went on to accuse Vogel-Brown and her husband of running a construction company and "solid waste transfer station" out of their yard, although several members of the audience later spoke positively about the couple's stewardship of the property.

While she favored maintaining the property as open space, resident Alma Elder said she would support leasing it.

"I thought, we the townspeople, should have a discussion about what we want to do with the property," she said.

Last year, the town split the 19.67 acre property from Powder Ridge but later agreed to give the owners of Powder Ridge Mountain Park the right of first refusal should an offer materialize. 

The company turned down the chance to buy the property when Vogel-Brown extended her offer.

For a brief time during the hearing, the discussion turned to the definition of open space and whether the resolution approved by voters at referendum in 2007 allowing the town to purchase Powder Ridge actually required that part of the property remain as open space.

"The picture we all have of open space is probably either vast woods or fields, or something," First Selectman John Brayshaw said. "There's a vision that people have of open space which is really incorrect."

Brayshaw said open space properties could include buildings and said both Powder Ridge ski area and Lyman Orchards are considered such.

"We can get involved in legalese about what's in the resolution but the bottom line is people expect it to be open space," said Long Hill Road resident Paul Pizzo.

If the deal between the town and Vogel-Brown were approved, according to Pizzo's calculations, Middlefield stood to gain just $7,500 a year after paying the interest on the town's original $2.85 million bond for the ski area.

Instead, he suggested the town lease the property for that amount.

"We should be able to preserve our rights, preserve that property for at least the next 100 years," Pizzao said.

Vogel-Brown responded to the idea of leasing the property by saying it would be cost prohibitive.

Attorney Corona also pointed out that his client agreed to buy the property for the town's asking price of $300,000, a figure based on the town's own private appraisal, even though a private appraisal commissioned by Vogel-Brown valued the property at only $125,000.

Long Hill Road resident Pat Brown said she did not oppose the land being used as horse pasture but said residents should be involved in making the decision.

"We didn't even know it was for sale," she said, later comparing the agreement to insider trading on Wall Street.

Brayshaw responded to the criticism by saying that the offer had been unsolicited and that selectmen had discussed Vogel-Brown's offer at several meetings and as early as four months ago.

"We're bringing the offer to the people who count, we're bringing the offer to the folks of Middlefield," Brayshaw said.

Brayshaw noted that any agreement to sell the land would require approval by residents at a town meeting or referendum.

Another point of contention at the meeting involved Robert Johnson, chairman of Middlefield's planning and zoning commission, who at one point asked why the meeting wasn't being recorded.

State law does not require that public hearings be recorded, Antin responded, prompting Johnson to say that it was rare that such hearings were not recorded.

Johnson also questioned the building restrictions proposed in the agreement.

"I think you're really crossing a dangerous line taking on the role of planning and zoning commission and that's exactly what you're doing with this," he said.

The Board of Selectmen will hold their regular meeting on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Community Center. The proposed sale is included in the meeting's agenda.