Re: land conservation inquiry
From: Fred H Olson WB0YQM (fholsonmaroon.tc.umn.edu)
Date: Thu, 1 Jun 95 12:49:13 CST
Joel Russell Woodlea1 [at] aol.com
is the author of the message below but due
to a listserv problem it was posted by the COHOUSING-L sysop (Fred).
****************  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS *********************

In response to Meg Walker's inquiry of 5/28/95, which appears at the end of
this message, 

I have had over 13 years experience with land trusts, preserving open space
and dealing with the tax benefits. I helped start and was a consultant to the
Westchester Land Trust,  which might be an appropriate non-profit to hold a
conservation easement and/or be a partner in such a project.  I am now a
full-time consultant to landowners, land trusts, and municipalities, advising
them on open space preservation and zoning issues.  I was also the founding
executive director of the Dutchess Land Conservancy and former land trust
director for Scenic Hudson.  

You may be interested in attending the Land Trust Alliance of New York's
annual conference on Saturday, June 3 at Bard College, which will have a lot
of information and networking opportunities.  I will be speaking at that
conference.  The number to call for information is 914-677-0084.  

Our consulting firm (just my wife, Carla Cooke, and myself) is called Woodlea
Associates and we can be reached at 914-635-3036.  I have written over a
hundred conservation easements.  Only one of them allows cohousing (which is
something that interests me and several members of my family).

The problem with buying land in Westchester and preserving it as you wish to
do is that land there is so expensive.  You either have to have a lot of
income to shelter with the tax benefits or be willing and able to do high
density development on the portion of the land to be developed.  On the other
hand, if the community really supports your efforts, it might be possible to
do some fundraising that would make the project work.  Good luck!  I'd be
glad to chat with you informally to answer any basic questions you might
have.

Joel Russell 
Woodlea1 [at] aol.com


<<We at the Westchester (New York) Cohousing Community are putting together a
proposal for a 15 acre chunk of land that a local school district is selling
and our proposal must be attractive to the local community.  It is in a
village that is very keen on preserving open space.  We would like to find a
mechanism by which we can, with the help of a local land trust, buy more land
than we need for our housing,  put a conservation easement on a good bit of
it so that it cannot be developed and then make it available for public use.
 Ideally we would deed it over to the village, but I don't think they want to
maintain it.  Another idea is to partner with a local conservation group or
nature center that could help us maintain the property.

Has any one had any experience (a) with land trusts in preserving open space
(and in dividing up the resultant tax credits among a group) or (b)
partnering with local non-profits in maintaining open space?

We'd really appreciate any help or advice you can give us.>>


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