Land Preservation Petition Narrowly Passes in Referendum – What’s Next?
The land at 190 Sharon Turnpike will be preserved, if the referendum mandate is observed.
On Friday, August 2nd, 696 Goshen registered voters and taxpayers turned out to vote in a referendum aimed at preserving the property at 190 Sharon Turnpike as open space. By a vote of 360 in favor to 336 opposed, the referendum passed, but it remains unclear as to how the Town will now navigate its options. In an August 3rd Waterbury Republican American article First Selectman Todd Carusillo is reported to have said that the referendum is not binding and that the Board of Selectmen is not obligated to limit the property’s use to passive recreation or preservation as open space by sale to a land trust.
Carusillo’s election night comments stand in stark contrast to the exuberance expressed by supporters of the referendum question.
“I’m thrilled with the outcome,” said Marissa Wright, owner of the neighboring Wright Organic Farm on Sharon Turnpike and the organizer of the petition to put the question to the people of Goshen. “We have worked as a community so hard to raise awareness over the past year on this important issue of land protection.” Though the property is just under 14 acres, she called it a “perfect site to protect for wildlife, for forest management, for all the possibilities of passive recreation”.
Compared with the chaotic, abortive attempt to vote on the petition question at the June 17th Town Meeting, the referendum ran smoothly and gave more than twice the number of townspeople the opportunity to vote and be heard. Nonetheless, some found the referendum wording itself confusing and somewhat ambiguous. Election workers reported frustration on the part of some voters who asked them to explain the item, which they properly declined to do, as they are required to remain impartial.
As would be expected in a close vote, not everyone was pleased with the outcome. In a phone interview with Selectman Scott Olson, he told us “I was surprised, I was disappointed, but at the same time…it’s hard to ignore the fact that close to 700 people showed up to have their voices heard, as opposed to the roughly 100 people that showed up to purchase the property” (at the Town Meeting in May 2023).
We asked Olson to comment on Carusillo’s quote in the Republican American compared to the public’s perception that the referendum was binding. He said, “Right now, the 1st Selectman is entering into the initial stages of negotiations with the President of the Goshen Land Trust to see if we can come up with some kind of a deal to possibly sell the land to the Land Trust.” He sees that outcome, should it develop, or the alternative of the Town keeping the land as open space, as consistent with the mandate of the referendum. Though Olson opposed the petition question, he said that “as an elected official and an executive of this town, my job is to make sure that we represent the will of the people, and unfortunately, in this case, the will of the people was in favor of voting “Yes” to the referendum.”
