Friends of the Blue Hills Lantana Land Swap Page

The Lantana Land Swap is a scheme intended to convey over three acres of undisturbed Blue Hills Reservation woodlands on High St. in Randolph to a commercial abutter for a 408-space parking lot.

FBH has vigorously questioned this plan since it was first made public in February, 2002. Other skeptics include the Randolph Planning Board, the Randolph Conservation Commission, and members of the Randolph Board of Selectmen.

Nonetheless, the swap continues to go forward thanks to a bill passed unanimously at two in the morning on the final day of the 2002 legislative session. The bill directs the state to convey the Reservation parkland to the Hart Family Limited Partnership, owners of the Lantana function hall, which lies directly across the street.

Bills of this type are known as "Article 97 transfers" because Article XCVII of the MA Constitution prohibits disposal of land acquired for conservation purposes without a two-thirds vote of the legislature. The MA Public Interest Research Group has documented a sharp increase in such transfers in recent years, particularly to private developers, despite a broad consensus regarding the importance of open space to our quality of life.

Hundreds of citizens in Randolph and elsewhere have declared their opposition to the Lantana Land Swap, and FBH is joining them in an attempt to ensure that it is never completed. The woodlands in question have been protected by the Reservation since 1936. Is this why they were preserved? To be gift-wrapped for a parking lot?

FBH welcomes any comments or queries on these pages here.

The Lantana Land Swap is a scheme intended to convey over three acres of undisturbed Blue Hills Reservation woodlands on High St. in Randolph to a commercial abutter for a 408-space parking lot. FBH has vigorously questioned this plan since it was first made public in February, 2002. Other skeptics include the Randolph Planning Board, the Randolph Conservation Commission, and members of the Randolph Board of Selectmen. Nonetheless, the swap continues to go forward thanks to a bill passed unanimously at two in the morning on the final day of the 2002 legislative session. The bill directs the state to convey the Reservation parkland to the Hart Family Limited Partnership, owners of the Lantana function hall, which lies directly across the street. Bills of this type are known as "Article 97 transfers" because Article XCVII of the MA Constitution prohibits disposal of land acquired for conservation purposes without a two-thirds vote of the legislature. The MA Public Interest Research Group has documented a sharp increase in such transfers in recent years, particularly to private developers, despite a broad consensus regarding the importance of open space to our quality of life. Hundreds of citizens in Randolph and elsewhere have declared their opposition to the Lantana Land Swap, and FBH is joining them in an attempt to ensure that it is never completed. The woodlands in question have been protected by the Reservation since 1936. Is this why they were preserved? To be gift-wrapped for a parking lot? FBH welcomes any comments or queries on these pages here.
1.		Annotated 2001 Zoning Map prepared by MA Exec. Office of Environmental Affairs showing relationship between the two parcels named in the swap bill, Chap. 240 of 2002.
2.		Chapter 240 of the Acts of 2002.
3.		Many business and commercial abutters to the Blue Hills Reservation would doubtless like to have choice pieces of it carved out for them--how did Lantana go about it? Here is the earliest document we've uncovered--an October, 2001 letter from Lantana's attorney to the MDC.
4.		Diagram showing swap parcels and aerial photo showing Lantana vicinity.
5.		10/26/07 message to members: Help needed on Lantana Land Grab.
6.		11/19/07 image loop (click on one to get to the next)
7.		The MEPA review meeting, by Jenn Forman Orth
8.		12/5/07 Good news: Environmental Secretary requires impact report

FBH
last modified 12/05/07