Land trust looks to move to Woodchuck Hill

TOWN OF MANLIUS – The CNY Land Trust would like to use an old farmhouse on their Woodchuck Hill Road Field and Forest Preserve as office space.
Last week, representatives from the land trust were before the Manlius Planning Board seeking approval for the plans, which include mostly interior work on the home along with the addition of a small parking area behind the house.
The land trust is currently operating out of rented office space in Skaneateles, but has received a grant from the Central New York Community Foundation to rehabilitate the Woodchuck Hill Road home into office space for their three full-time employees. That grant is contingent on approval by the municipality.
“We chose this particular spot because it’s central to our service area,” said Simon Solomon, executive director of the land trust. “Our goal is to tread very lightly on the land.”
By having a more active presence on the site, the land trust also hopes to ward off trespassers and vandals who broken into the house, which has been vacant for at least five years.
At issue for some members of the planning board was the lack of an updated survey and more precise site plan accompanying the land trust’s application. The land trust presented a survey that was completed in 1979 that doesn’t feature the topography of the land.
Andy Ramsgard, a member of the land trust’s board, said the organization is lightly funded and the expected cost of $3,500 for an updated survey is prohibitive.
But planners – who seemed generally favorable to the project – were insistent that the land trust provide additional information about the site and their plans.
“I can’t evaluate a site plan until we have a site plan before us,” said planning board member Erin Reynolds, who added that she would like to see information about not only the rehabilitation of the house, but also the types of activities that take place on the remainder of the preserve.
“It sounds like there’s a path to success here,” Solomon said. “We just need to do a little more work.”
This is the third time in recent memory that the land trust was in front of municipal officials looking for approvals on the site. Last year, it proposed converting the barn on the site to a sanctuary for abandoned farm animals, an application that was withdrawn. Earlier this year, the land trust successfully got a special permit for its 50th anniversary fundraising event on the property, titled Evergreen Everblue, which is scheduled for Aug. 12.
The land trust manages 51 preserves in Central New York totaling more than 3,500 acres. For more information on the land trust, visit cnylandtrust.org.