The YMCA camp would be the Trust’s biggest deal ever
By Will Collette
During the recent debate, supporters of the idea that Charlestown
One of the lines of logic used often by Charlestown Land Trust founder and now head of the Charlestown Planning Commission Ruth Platner is that the Land Trust can do a better job of managing this piece of property than the town.
However, the YMCA camp deal, if it goes through, would be the biggest deal yet for the Trust, at least based on land value. Currently, the Y Camp is carried on Charlestown’s tax ledger as worth $1,137,700.
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On the other hand, when you look at the table below that lists the Charlestown Land Trust's holdings, I think you would be surprised at how low the town's assessments are for the Trust's numerous small waterfront properties.
Bear in mind that all of the property valuations are the current values carried on Charlestown's books. The assessed value is somewhat academic for all of these properties, given that the town collects no taxes on any of them. But for purposes of comparison, the numbers give us a uniform standard of measurement.
Compared to all of the other properties around town that are owned by the Charlestown Land Trust, the YMCA camp is assessed at a far higher value. The two Trust properties that come closest are a parcel on
The total worth, according to current tax assessments, of the Charlestown Land Trust’s 52 properties is just over $3 million, so acquiring the YMCA camp would boost the book value of their holdings by one-third.
As we’ve revealed in earlier articles, the YMCA camp poses some daunting challenges to whoever comes to own it – demolition of the buildings, roadways and fencing, clean-up of old septic systems, removal and disposal of many tons of debris, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and dealing with whatever surprises the work on the site uncovers.
Almost none of the properties on the Land Trust’s property list have ever been developed. By contrast, the Y Camp is not a meadow, a stretch of beach or a patch of forest. The YMCA camp is an old, derelict campground. Ruth Platner's claims notwithstanding, it is a challenge beyond the size and scope of the Land Trust’s experience with its existing properties.
Platner's claim that the Land Trust can do a better job than the town at managing the property dismisses the town's long experience with managing many larger properties – two town beaches and Ninigret Park – than the puny 27 polluted acres the YMCA wants to sell. The town has done a good job of managing those properties for the greater good of the citizens.
By contrast, the Charlestown Land Trust's experience is with 52 small parcels. Their management style consists largely of keeping people off of and out of those properties. I am not making a blanket condemnation of the Trust's policy on public access. I'm sure it's warranted in some cases. But the Land Trust protects land by keeping people out while the Town manages land by making it people-friendly.
If we are going to use a half million dollars of taxpayers money, I think the people have the right to more than knowing we've made a "donation to the YMCA," a gift to the Charlestown Land Trust and a wonderful favor for the non-resident vacation home owners of the Sonquipaug Association.
If we are going to use a half million dollars of taxpayers money, I think the people have the right to more than knowing we've made a "donation to the YMCA," a gift to the Charlestown Land Trust and a wonderful favor for the non-resident vacation home owners of the Sonquipaug Association.
Ruth Platner, the YMCA and the Land Trust’s Treasurer have been pushing hard to get the Charlestown Town Council to hastily agree to the deal where taxpayers pay for the land, rather than private donors as the Land Trust told RIDEM. There are a lot of people in town who feel that they are being hustled.
But as Charlestown
Check out the following list of Charlestown Land Trust properties taken from the Charlestown Town Assessor database.
OWNER | Location | Account # | Valuation |
32-0131-00 | 153,500 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,000 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,200 | ||
32-0131-00 | 163,900 | ||
COVE POINT WEST | 32-0131-00 | 262,900 | |
32-0131-00 | 276,100 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,100 | ||
32-0131-00 | 4,400 | ||
ISLAND OFF CHANNEL | 32-0131-00 | 79,700 | |
32-0131-00 | 24,600 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,500 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,300 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,000 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,400 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,200 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,800 | ||
32-0131-00 | 3,400 | ||
32-0131-00 | 204,800 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,900 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,100 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,000 | ||
32-0131-00 | 803,900 | ||
POST ROAD | 32-0131-00 | 55,000 | |
32-0131-00 | 2,000 | ||
32-0131-00 | 23,200 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,000 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,500 | ||
32-0131-00 | 1,900 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,600 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,600 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,300 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,400 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,000 | ||
32-0131-00 | 4,900 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,200 | ||
32-0131-00 | 47,200 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,200 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,800 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,200 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,900 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,000 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,900 | ||
32-0131-00 | 84,600 | ||
ISLAND-OFF SUNSET DRIVE | 32-0131-00 | 51,200 | |
32-0131-00 | 81,300 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,200 | ||
4962 SOUTH COUNTY TRAIL | 32-0131-00 | 620,300 | |
32-0131-00 | 9,500 | ||
32-0131-00 | 9,000 | ||
32-0131-00 | 87,100 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,200 | ||
32-0131-00 | 2,200 |