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Michael Creane wants Winchester to save Forest Ridge. He is not sure the town can afford it.
“Emotionally, I love this project. I’m concerned that the finance questions might outweigh that desire,” Creane said at the first public discussion of the plan to buy the 13.7-acre property, which abuts the Middlesex Fells and Stoneham.
The Conservation Commission wants the land for permanent conservation and passive recreation, and it has come back with a financing argument aimed at residents like Creane: the town would borrow the money and pay the debt service with Community Preservation Act (CPA) revenue, not the operating budget, school funding or an override.
That argument did not carry the spring, when Town Meeting defeated Article 35, which carried the proposal, 105-59. The vote followed the failure of an $11 million override, leaving little appetite for a large appropriation.
Conservation Commission Chair Tracy Olson made the pitch in person and online, saying the purchase would permanently restrict development and safeguard wetlands and wildlife habitat.
Select Board member Michael Bettencourt attended.
The CPA, which Winchester voters adopted in 2024, funds open space, outdoor recreation, historical restoration and affordable housing through a small property tax surcharge that the Commonwealth matches every year. Because new money accrues annually, Olson said, the program can support long-term borrowing without disturbing other town projects.
The Winchester Community Preservation Committee (WCCP), which administers the money, is weighing a $2.75 million request.
Chair Christina Marshall told the Select Board on July 15 that it sits alongside about $1.4 million in other applications but, as borrowing, would not be charged against the committee’s cash this year.
At spring Town Meeting, the commission floated a figure of roughly $3 million. Olson said the number will be lower, and no price is set because the commission is still negotiating with the owner.
“The costs will only be around 4% to 8% of the current annual CPA fund. Moreover, we found out that market value may be significantly less than the appraised value,” Olson said.
Neither Olson nor the commission put a dollar figure on annual CPA revenue, leaving that yearly payment unstated.
The land holds two high-quality habitats: forested upland white pine-oak knolls and a cat-tail marsh bordered by a strip of red maple swamp, both with few invasive species. It sits on a wildlife corridor running from the Fells to the Aberjona River, and its wetlands are part of Winchester’s drinking water supply.
“The ecosystem functions as a way to absorb air pollution, naturally filter water, stabilize temperatures, prevent soil erosion, and sequestering carbon,” Olson said.
As Winchester changes zoning to increase density, Olson said, the town owes residents more places to walk and hike. The commission envisions trails and boardwalks connecting to the Fells, similar to those at the Vinson-Owen Science Park, and a small parking lot, paid for by grants or volunteers.
“Since Winchester is already almost fully built out, this is one of the last remaining opportunities,” Olson said.
None of that exists now. The land is private, no trails cross it and entering is technically trespassing.
“It is not maintained, and it is unsafe,” Bettencourt said. “There has been construction debris that the owners were cited over years ago and old, rusty car parts back there that are kind of like landmines because they hide underneath brush and the overgrowth.”
The Finance Committee opposed the article at Town Meeting, estimating the town would forgo $3 million to $4 million in property tax revenue.
Olson said homes abutting conservation land tend to rise in value, and the commission expects that to offset some of the loss.
Bettencourt said the development pressure is real. The developers behind the Winning Farm project, whom he called capable and well funded, considered Forest Ridge fully buildable and intended a Chapter 40B affordable-housing project, scaled down from an earlier 300-unit concept.
“It is absolutely developable. Concept drawings and everything,” he said.
State Rep. Michael Day secured a $250,000 earmark, and the commission has identified as much as $1.45 million in state and federal grants, none of them awarded. Notification is expected in October or November.
If those decisions are favorable, the commission would seek a Town Meeting vote in November, use a short-term bond to close in early 2027 and issue a long-term bond for a reduced amount once the grant money arrives.
The Friends of the Fells, the town’s Climate Action Advisory Committee and the Stoneham Conservation Commission support preserving the land. The WCCP saved its question-and-answer session on Forest Ridge for last, on Aug. 5.
Xiyue Eric Han is a student at Winchester High School. He has been an intern with Winchester News since summer 2025.
Will Dowd is a Massachusetts journalist who covers municipal government and community life for Winchester News. He is also the founder and editor of The Marblehead Independent, a reader-funded digital newsroom.
