Selectmen decline to purchase land near Bay Pointe Club

Nov 9, 2016

The town won't purchase two lots of land on Onset Avenue owned by the company that operates the Bay Pointe Club.

On Tuesday, the Selectmen waived the town's "right of first refusal" to buy the land, which essentially means development company Stonestreet Corp. can do what it wants with the land.

Stonestreet, which purchased Bay Pointe for $1.4 million in 2012, has been planning a 90-unit housing development at the property for two years. The vote on Tuesday had to do with that project, selectmen said.

The property currently includes a golf course, clubhouse, restaurant, and adjacent condos.

Bay Pointe was formerly owned and operated by the town's now defunct Economic Development Industrial Corporation, which later evolved into the Community and Economic Development Authority (CEDA). CEDA still owns the one-acre property with the clubhouse, as well as 6.5 additional acres.

The town has retained the "right of first refusal" -- that is, the opportunity to purchase land at the property before it is put on the market or modified -- since first selling the land.

“They had to offer it to the town first,” explained Chair Judith Whiteside. “We don't want to own something just to own it. ... If the town owns it, we lose the taxes that would've been paid.”

In 2014, Stonestreet unveiled the plans for the 90 units of housing on 18 acres of land around the golf course. The plans have been the subject of a contentious back and forth between town boards. In recent months, legal issues surrounding the development have been discussed at length during meetings between Selectmen and developers.