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Town buys waterfront property to preserve

COURTESY PHOTO | The town purchased three acres along Ram Island Causeway, using Community Preservation funds.
COURTESY PHOTO | The town purchased three acres along Ram Island Causeway, using Community Preservation funds.

The town closed on a purchase of three acres of waterfront property on both sides of Ram Island Causeway last week, using money from the Community Preservation Fund.

In February, Supervisor Jim Dougherty said the price for the property was $482,500. At the time, Community Preservation Fund Advisory Board (CPFAB) Chairman Peter Vielbig said this was a bargain.

Irwin Dressel, the owner of the property, had it on the market at $1.7 million, according to Mr. Dougherty.

The CPFAB targets open space properties for preservation and the town purchases them from the Community Preservation Fund. Also known as the “2-percent fund,” the CPF is financed by a 2-percent tax buyers pay on real estate deals, with the first $250,000 of the sale price exempted from the tax. That collected tax then goes into the town’s CPF fund and is solely dedicated to open space acquisitions and maintaining them.

According to CPF, the purchase was completed using a vehicle known as a “bargain sale.” This affords the seller a considerable tax break while saving the town a like sum based on the appraisal value of the property.

With the completion of this sale, the north side of the causeway is preserved from any development.

Over 300 acres of Island property have been preserved from development since the CPF fund’s inception in 1999.