Section 1. The Town of Concord, acting under Article 89 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution (the “Home Rule Amendment”), hereby establishes in the Town Treasury an individual fund, hereinafter called the “Land Fund”.
Section 2. The purposes of the Land Fund are:
a) to promote the common interest and welfare of the citizens by: protecting environmentally sensitive or critical land, preserving historic sites, assuring the availability of affordable housing, providing land for recreation, and for other future anticipated municipal needs;
b) to stabilize the impact of land purchases on Concord taxpayers;
c) to respond in a timely manner to available parcels of real estate;
d) to provide a means for the Town to participate in planning for the use of a specific parcel of real estate through its acquisition, preparation of a planned use strategy, and Town Meeting decision on whether all or part of the land shall be used for a specified municipal purpose, including affordable housing, or sold for private development.
Section 3. After review by appropriate Town committees and boards and after a public hearing, the Town Manager, subject to the approval of the Board of Selectmen, is authorized to expend from the fund for the purposes of:
a) Acquiring options for the purchase of
(i) conservation restrictions,
(ii) agricultural preservation rights, or
(iii) real estate, or as leasehold interest in real estate, for general municipal purposes, including affordable housing, and
b) Appraisal, engineering, planning, and legal services in connection with the above-stated purposes.
Section 4. At any annual or special Town Meeting, the Meeting may appropriate funds to be credited to the Land Fund.
Section 5. At any annual or special Town Meeting, the meeting may appropriate and/or transfer funds from the Land Fund, for the purpose of acquiring conservation restrictions, agricultural preservation rights, or real estate for any municipal purposes, including affordable housing.
Section 6. The Treasurer shall credit the accumulated interest income on any unused balance in the fund to the fund. Said interest income may be expended along with the balance in the fund for the purposes of the fund without further appropriation.
Section 7. Gifts of monies by private parties for the same purposes as the fund, or for any specific real estate acquisition project, may be received by the Town and credited to the fund. Gifts of monies may be expended by the Town Manager, subject to the approval of the Board of Selectmen, for the purposes of the gift, without further authorization by Town Meeting.
Section 8. The Town Accountant shall annually include in the Town Report a report on the receipts and expenditures of the fund.
Article 12, Town Meeting, April 1986
Article 33, Town Meeting, April 1994
(1994 Amendment deleted and replaced earlier version)
(see also Selectmen’s vote on expenditures from the Land Fund in Section IV of this book)
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