After past attempts to negotiate with a local land owner, the city has decided to seize by eminent domain a 27-acre wooded property off Lincoln Street to prevent it from being developed.
"The mayor and the City Council agreed that it was a positive thing for the community to have this property," said Ward 2 Councilor Edmund P. Tarallo, chairman of the council's Committee on Ordinances and Rules.
On Monday the City Council approved an order to take the private property known as Sanderson Heights by eminent domain. Through the process, the city would pay $1.8 million to owner Salvatore Vinciullo, a Worcester Lane resident who unsuccessfully tried to develop housing there in recent years.
Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy said Vinciullo may fight the action in court, but the city appraised the land to determine the $1.8 million market value. Vinciullo did not return calls for comment yesterday.
Located off Lincoln Street in North Waltham, Sanderson Heights, formally referred to as Lincoln Woods, contains forest and trails as well as Jericho Hill, the second highest peak in Waltham, after Prospect Hill.
"I think that the property is one of the most valuable pieces of open space left in the city," Tarallo said.
For McCarthy, acquiring the land means taking another step to protect the neighborhood of North Waltham from overdevelopment.
"North Waltham has been under assault," said McCarthy. "North Waltham affects the rest of the city ... besides the open space there is the potential for eliminating development and traffic there."
In 2005, the city bought two large north Waltham parcels from the state to preserve - 32 acres behind Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Church for $4.4 million and the seven-acre Gaebler School property for $1.75 million. Both properties are off Trapelo Road.
"These properties are preserved in perpetuity for generations of Waltham people," McCarthy said.
Before McCarthy's administration, the city bought six acres bordering Sanderson Heights from a private owner. McCarthy said it is especially important for the city to obtain Sanderson Heights because it abuts another 50 acres of undeveloped land, owned by the Stigmatine Fathers, a Catholic religious order.
"A developer could land bank this (Sanderson Heights) and eventually combine this with the Stigmatine parcel," McCarthy said.
City officials have been eyeing Sanderson Heights for years. In 2002, an ad hoc committee studying land acquisition identified the property as one of several it recommended the city aggressively pursue. Tarallo co-chaired that committee with Ward 1 Councilor Robert S. Kelly.
"For as much as the City Council gets finger pointed at for over development ... we're doing every thing we can to preserve open space," Kelly said yesterday.
Vinciullo has tried to sell his property to private developers many times. His last proposal - to have Sachem Realty Trust develop 53 high-end homes on the land - was met with profound opposition from residents and city boards and eventually failed in 2004. Previous plans for single-family homes, an assisted living facility, and elderly housing were also shot down.
Nicole Haley can be reached at nhaley@cnc.com or 781-398-8004.
