Cohousing-L Mailing List: Land Trusts/Open Space

[OtisWalker (OtisWalker]

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.

Thanks,

Meg Walker