Letter | Saving Allebach Farm: A Model for the Hampshire College Campus?

Instead of turning the Hampshire College campus into a real-estate-development boondoggle, what are the chances of Amherst doing something like this (see below)? There are likely constitutional challenges for a town in Massachusetts to impose a local income tax, not to mention its unlikely political popularity, but if a small township in SE Pennsylvania can swing for $21 million to preserve a 63-acre farm, why can’t “great-again-Amherst” swing for 50% more to preserve much of an 800-acre campus? Please check out the attached article.

Rob Kusner

Rob Kusner is Professor of Mathematics at UMass and a former member of the Amherst Select Board.

Saving Allebach Farm

Residents of Lower Salford Township, Montgomery County, PA, voted overwhelmingly—more than four to one—to approve an Open Space Referendum on May 19. The vote meant there was finally a clear pathway to save the 63-acre Allebach Farm, an iconic property that the township wanted to purchase to preserve as community open space. The township had negotiated with the Allebach family a sale price of $21.5 million. Anticipated grants would cover about 35 percent of that price. The remaining cost would be funded through an Earned Income Tax on township residents, but only if voters approved the ballot measure to tax themselves. “When Lower Salford Township reached out to us to help them with the open space referendum, we were thrilled,” said Kate Raman, planner for Natural Lands. “We guided them through the process and even secured additional grant funds for them to reduce the expense of monthly bond servicing.” Added Kate, “The residents and leaders of Lower Salford value conservation and the Township’s rural heritage. We were so pleased to be able to work with the community to create open space funding to protect natural areas for future generations to enjoy.”

Reprinted from Natural Lands.