Through the efforts of the Kittery Land Trust, its partners in the Mount Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative and the commitment of a local property owner, 16 acres of undeveloped land on Chauncey Creek have been preserved.
Courtesy photo
KITTERY - The Kittery Land Trust, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving both land and the quality of life in this coastal community, has permanently protected 16 acres of shorefront along Chauncey Creek in Kittery Point.
The property includes 2,000 feet of frontage on the creek, one of the longest stretches of undeveloped coastline in Kittery. With its unaltered woodlands, sensitive wetlands and rich intertidal zone, the property provides valuable habitat for amphibians, waterfowl and migratory birds.
Lincoln Fairchild, whose family has owned the property since the 1930s, had long hoped to keep the property in its substantially undeveloped state. While the property could have been subdivided into four waterfront house lots with docks and landscaping, that wasn't his vision for his family's property.
"I cannot imagine this land in any other state than it is today," he said in the announcement of the conservation effort. "With the help of my family, the town of Kittery and the Kittery Land Trust, I am pleased to know that it will remain as is forever."
Fairchild sold his development rights to the Kittery Land Trust for $530,000, a figure the trust noted is substantially below market value, and the trust has raised over 60 percent of the total needed to pay for this remarkable property with funding from the Mt. Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative as well as the Town of Kittery Open Space Fund. The Mount Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative (MtA2C) is an effort led by a coalition of 10 partners, including the Nature Conservancy, Great Works Regional Land Trust, York Land Trust, Kittery Land Trust, Trust for Public Land, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve and the York Rivers Association, to conserve lands of ecological, scenic, agricultural and recreational value in a six-town region of approximately 48,000 acres that encompass the forests around Mount Agamenticus, the York River, the Brave Boat Harbor Estuary, Cutts Island and Gerrish Island.
According to the Kittery Land Trust, the tall pines and steep slopes that line the rocky shore provide a defining view of Kittery and the coast of Maine to anyone traveling by land or water along Chauncey Creek and the Kittery Comprehensive Plan has identified this property as one of the town's highest priorities for conservation.
While Fairchild will continue to own the land, the Kittery Land Trust will hold a conservation easement on the property, ensuring that it will never be developed. The easement preserves the aesthetic and ecological values of the property forever and provides for the creation of a public walking path at the end of the property closest to Pocahontas Road.
"We are grateful to all of the individuals and organizations who made this project happen," said KLT President Melissa Paly. "We are indebted to our partners in the Mt. Agamenticus to the Sea partnership, to the Kittery Town Council for voting unanimously to use town funds to help conserve this property, to KLT board member Rob Nichols for his vision and persistence in structuring this agreement, and most of all, to Mr. Fairchild for his steadfast commitment to the conservation of this exceptional property that so defines our community."
A capital campaign is currently underway to raise the remaining funds for the development right purchase. Visit the Kittery Land Trust's website at http://www.kitterylandtrust.org/ for more information about the Fairchild property and other conserved lands.
