Land Bank needs town backing for $30 million
BY PETER B. BRACE
As Nantucket's real estate market goes, so goes the Land Bank's open space account.

With island real estate sales down markedly over the last year, the Land Bank's coffers for buying undeveloped land are depleted, and the town's conservation organization is looking to borrow roughly $30 million to replenish its funds.

However, the Land Bank is not asking for the town, and Town Meeting approval, to borrow the money - it only needs the town to cosign the loan it will seek in order to get a lower interest rate. And that requires a Town Meeting vote.

Land Bank Executive Director Eric Savetsky said that several large purchases over the last two years, combined with steadily decreasing property transfer fees in tune with a softening real estate market, has drained the Land Bank's kitty. This loan effort is the first since voters adopted Article 38 at the 1997 Town Meeting, which allowed the town to borrow $25 million for the Land Bank.

"Ever since then we've had a nice amount of funds available," said Savetsky. "First we had the $25 million, then we were accumulating Land Bank funds. We've been able to go after anything we wanted and go after fantastic purchases."

Over the last two years, the Land Bank spent $12.4 million on the eight-acre Ottison property at 160, 162, 168 and 170 Orange St., $12.5 million on 10 of Donald Holdgate's acres at 50 Old South Road and $8 million for 12.1 acres of beach property off Capaum Pond Road from the Goodwillie family.

"I don't want to paint the picture that we're impoverished, but we're coming down from the highest high; this year we've got roughly $18 million in revenue from the 2006 calendar year."

Although he has heard all the anti-conservation arguments against buying up as much undeveloped land as possible because it takes those acres off the tax rolls, drives up property taxes and makes the remaining land that much more expensive, Savetsky said there are still several properties, including beaches, that the Land Bank feels compelled to acquire and protect.

"The feeling is we know we're going to have a decent revenue stream based on property transfers, but there are some properties out there we want, so why not go out and borrow some funds while those properties are still available," he said.

This means that the Land Bank will have its existing property transfer funds - a two-percent fee on real estate transactions - plus a cushion of $30 million to buy the properties. The Land Bank would then pay off the loan with semi-annual payments from its own account. The town is currently still paying off the $25 million approved in 1997 over a 20-year period.

Savetsky added that he is confident voters are going to see the logic of this move, especially because the town would not be spending any of its

own money. I