Planning Commission backs town buy of LeBlanc land

The Charlestown Citizens Alliance sent out its third e-mail in 24 hours (possibly a new record for them) where they announced that their wholly-owned subsidiary, the Planning Commission has backed the purchase of Larry LeBlanc’s controversial land fronting on Route One.

There is a new 12-page report on the town’s clerkbase website (found in the middle of the 28 pages of documents analyzing the land’s potential value to the town as open space – starts on page 9.)

The two other opinions come from the manager of the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge (he thinks the land is a valuable natural resource) and the Conservation Commission (not so much – the woods are too thick, in their opinion, to build a parking lot).

The Planning Commission’s report stands with the Ninigret NWR manager’s opinion that LeBlanc’s land contains critically important habitat, fits well and connects to other protected areas and should be preserved in its natural state.

For the first time (maybe the last) since I’ve written for Progressive Charlestown, I completely agree with the Planning Commission. They conclude that the land has inherent natural value and so strategically located that the town should commence negotiations with LeBlanc for acquiring the land at a reasonable price and terms.

They also suggest that there may be a variety of options for protecting that land other than a simple and straight-forward purchase by the town, such as a partnership with the Interior Department, Nature Conservancy, etc. But in no uncertain terms, the Planning Commission is enthusiastic about the prospect of placing that land under permanent protection.

So am I, and not just for its natural assets. This land and all the various things LeBlanc has proposed to do with it since he bought it less than 10 years ago have made this town crazy. In my last commentary on this issue, I said that even if the land was a junkyard with 20-foot stacks of crushed school buses on it, we should still buy it just to restore the town’s mental health.

And perhaps the Planning Commission has a thought that if they can settle the dispute with LeBlanc, they can avoid a ruling from Judge Lanphear on LeBlanc’s challenge to the Planning Commission’s legitimacy. That challenge was filed by LeBlanc’s lawyer on Monday and makes a very strong case that Charlestown is violating state law by having an elected Planning Commission.

But regardless of the motive, I think it’s in the town’s interest to end this long nightmare. It will come down to a vote of the Council tonight on whether to proceed with negotiations and probably down to Lisa DiBello’s vote.

Author: Will Collette