Little Pond Conservation: Area Phases 1 & 2
Location: 89 Spring Bars Road, East Falmouth MA 02536
Applicant: Conservation Commission
Allocation: $50,000 (Ph. 1); $121,000 (Ph. 2); $790,720
Year/Article: November 2013, A32; April 2020, A38, April 2023, A37
In 2010 Town Meeting appropriated funds from the Community Preservation Fund for the Town to purchase approximately 21.13 undeveloped acres on Spring Bars Road for use as open space, recreation, and community housing. After a $500,000 reimbursement from a state LAND grant, the net cost of the property, including a $1 million conservation restriction, amounted to $2.5 million. The property was subdivided into an 11-acre parcel for community housing and recreation and 9.6 acres abutting the northwest end of Little Pond, to be called the Little Pond Conservation Area (LPCA) for open space and passive recreation.
In 2013, the Conservation Commission, in partnership with The 300 Committee and the Community Preservation Committee, requested and received from the CPFund $50,000 to implement Phase I of the Master Plan developed for LPCA. The Conservation Commission contracted for the work in January 2016, including restoration and rehabilitation of the area as well as construction of walkways, boardwalks over the wetlands, educational signage, benches, and picnic tables. In the future it may also be possible to install a fishing platform and dock for non-motorized boats and kayaks. The work is scheduled for completion in 2016.
Upon completion of the permitting work done by Horsley Witten Group, the plan is to complete the project in three phases over several years’ time. The first phase, the April 2020 allocation, will include site preparation, mobilization, and site clearing/invasive plant species removal over approximately one -third of the entire 9.6-acre site. Phases two and three will comprise future funding requests.
The 2023 Phase II project includes public access improvements for passive recreational use and restoration of open space with parking, trails, benches, kiosk, interpretive signage, and native plantings to restore the buffer and water quality at Little Pond, a state-designated coastal pond of critical environmental concern as well as a priority estuary.