Stacey Brown’s strange war against open space
I used to be proud to have voted for Stacey Brown. She fought the Langley Parkway extension and defending Concord’s open space. That is not the councilor who attended a Sept. 9 hearing arguing to close the West End Farm Trail.
A small number of adjacent landowners have been waging a years long campaign to make use of the West End Farm Trail unpleasant and unsafe. One landowner felled a tree across the trail, has unleashed his dogs on passers by, posted threatening signage and starts target shooting when members of the public pass by. Another abutter dug a trench to limit public access (in violation of their conservation easement), put up a fence across the trail and was eventually sued by the city.
That trail exists because taxpayers paid for it. Between 2000 and 2007, more than $4 million federal, state and Concord conservation dollars purchased easements on Rossview Farm, Carter Hill Orchard and Dimond Hill Farm specifically to guarantee public recreational access alongside farmland protection.
At the hearing, Councilor Brown repeated misinformation from the same landowner who has intimidated trail users, and she is the one who brought the petition to close it. Earlier this year, she was also the lone council vote against accepting a $20,000 donation from Ski the Beav to improve cross country skiing at Beaver Meadow.
Concord deserves a Ward 5 councilor who defends open space. I hope someone runs against her, and I will be voting for that person.