Hearing from many friends and neighbors with questions about what might be happening at the land across from Putney Co-op, I reached out to Elizabeth at the Windham-Windsor Housing Trust on Friday, to try and get some information.
Elizabeth shared that they have “had some preliminary conversations with the owners of the land,” and are taking a next step of getting the land appraised.
When they get that information back, they will start to have more serious conversations about a possible sale.
Subsequent to that, they would start a design process, including public meetings- as they have with all of their other projects.
My understanding is that there is the possibility of something happening there but it is at a very preliminary stage.
And, for those interested, Here’s a bit about what I know of the history of that property.
Over 20 years ago, the owners of what was then, the Putney Nursery, got out of the business, and were looking to sell the land. Apparently, one of the first prospective owners, intended to put rows of metal storage units on the property.
That’s when the local group who now own the land , stepped in, and bought the land, to prevent that.
Then, about 10 years ago, there was a shift of the Community garden from the Central School to the current site. The land owners let the garden people know, they weren’t going to just hold onto the land and pay taxes on it forever and at some point, the land would be sold. They also shared they were open to the garden people buying the land, and encouraged them to start an entity that could raise the money to do so. It didn’t happen, and so, here we are.
When there is more actual information , Elizabeth shared, WWHT will hold informational meetings, as they have with all of their projects in Windham and Windsor County.
Hope this helps.
-mike mrowicki
www.windha4.net
mmrowicki@leg.state.vt.us