LAKEVILLE — The Select Board wants to set a clearer plan for the open space the town should buy, said Select Board Vice Chair Lorraine Carboni at a Monday, May 22 meeting.

“I want to protect land, too,” Carboni said. “That’s important to me, but I also know that we’re looking for affordable senior housing and to have recreation.”

The discussion was prompted by an update on the removal of Chapter 61 protections covering around 35 acres at 6 Barstow St. Chapter 61 is a state law that allows lower taxes to be paid on forestlands, agricultural land and recreational land.

In the event that the land is to be sold, the town has the first right to buy the property. 

Select Board Chair Brian Day said he wants the town to figure out which principle, such as the town’s Master Plan or Open Space Plan, should guide the decision-making procedure when opportunities arise for the town to purchase land.

Day added that having a clearer policy would give residents and officials consistent ideas on how to proceed each time land can be purchased. He said creating such guidance would lessen any emotion-driven responses residents or officials may have regarding an open space decision.

“We can’t just say, ‘yeah, we’re gonna snatch up every single [piece of open space] no matter what,’” Day said. “At some point, that becomes unsustainable.”

Select Board member Evagelia Fabian agreed. She added that the town cannot purchase open space with the intended use of preventing housing from being built, because doing so would raise taxes without providing a return on the investment like a tax-generating use would.

Town Administrator Ari Sky said he could add language to the land use policy that says the town will prioritize certain areas targeted for preservation or local government use in accordance with the Master Plan and Open Space Plan. The Select Board supported the idea.

The policy will be voted on by the board at a later date, Day said. He also said public hearings will be held about any potential purchases of Chapter 61 land.

Later in the meeting, the board discussed strategic planning priorities, and Fabian said the town needs new businesses that would take the tax burden off of residents.

“I don’t know how we keep going in this direction without a plan for economic development,” Fabian said.

This year, the town received $350,000 in revenue from new development projects, which is a decrease of around $190,000 from last year and a $200,000 decrease from the latest three-year average, according to the town budget.

“The town needs revenue,” Fabian said. “We have to do something.”