Melissa Bailey Photo
In a proposed land deal with the Water Control Pollution Authority, the city aims to regain control of an out-of-the way roundabout where ATVs and dirt bikes have been sneaking into East Shore Park.
The city introduced the land swap in a submission to the Board of Aldermen earlier this month. The city proposes giving over two small plots of land to the WPCA, in exchange for a 1‑acre plot near the rear entrance to East Shore Park, at no cost to either party.
The deal aims to “straighten out” an error made in 2005 when the city spun off its WPCA to a new suburban-dominated entity, according to city parks chief Bob Levine. As part of that deal, the city was supposed to cede a small area of land adjacent to the WPCA’s water treatment plant at 345 East Shore Parkway, in an industrial stretch of the East Shore between I‑95 and East Shore Park.
The WPCA recently looked into its land records as it makes way for a plant upgrade, and discovered a problem: The land adjacent to the plant, which the WPCA has been using for years, still technically belongs to the city, said WPCA Executive Director Sid Holbrook.
“There was just a glitch in the transaction,” Holbrook said.
The city now proposes ceding two small plots of land to the WPCA to make way for its plant upgrade. In exchange, the city will take back a traffic circle and a larger, 1‑acre plot of land where East Shore Parkway, aka Connecticut Avenue, dead-ends into a cul-de-sac.
The roundabout sits right near a rear entrance (pictured) to East Shore Park. The rear entrance is closed to vehicular traffic. But illegal ATVs and dirt bikes have been using the back entrance to sneak into East Shore Park, according to Levine. Levine said he has heard from at least one neighbor who complained about the noise from those engines. The city recently put in new metal cords and large blocks of stone to fortify that back entrance, keeping the illegal vehicles out.
As it negotiated the deal, the city asked the WPCA to keep mowing the roundabout, Levine said. The WPCA agreed.
Taking back the acre of land near the back entrance will ensure that the WPCA doesn’t build there, noted Holbrook. Levine said it will give the city greater control over that entrance. Levine said he aims to keep that gate closed most of the time, though the city will have the flexibility to open it in an emergency, he said.
Good to see more reporting on this issue. It would be nice if the City Plan Commission could seek absolute clarity on whether this land swap, or the GNHWPCA expansion more generally, would in any way inhibit the establishment of the Harborside Trail greenway. It would be tragic to have our hands tied by hastily approving the expansion proposal and be forced to route the harborside trail along Woodward Avenue the way Farmington Canal Phase IV is planned to be routed along Olive Street. The CPC will be considering the expansion proposal at this month's meeting (on 2/20), for those who are interested.