Soon after taking office, the next mayor of Attleboro will be faced with deciding whether the city should purchase the idle 120-acre Locust Valley Golf Course.
So far, all four candidates to replace former Mayor Paul Heroux say they are leaning toward buying the site off Locust Street near Wamsutta Middle School from owner David Bourque.
Heroux met with Bourque two years ago on the subject and before leaving office to become Bristol County sheriff, he commissioned a study to determine the market value of the golf course.
The appraisal is expected in a few months, shortly after a Feb. 28 special election to choose Heroux’s successor.
The city assessors placed the value of the former nine-hole golf course land, just for tax purposes, at more than $1 million. Bourque owns three other adjoining parcels of land, totaling just under 191/2 acres, that have a combined value of $508,000. The entire property of 139 acres is valued at $1,659,800 for tax purposes.
It was unclear if the three adjoining parcels would be part of the sale.
The former mayor’s vision for the property was to buy it and keep it for passive recreation and conservation.
In the meantime, city council President Jay DiLisio is acting mayor and running to replace Heroux. He said he, too, is interested in having the city buy the land.
He said a lot will go into determining the city’s decision on the matter, including the price and the opinions of neighbors and residents.
“It is our responsibility to fully examine any and all funding opportunities to reduce the impact to taxpayers. We need to have a comprehensive plan for use of the land after we purchase it,” he said.
DiLisio said he would be willing to consider a range of options, but “at this point I’m opposed to single-family housing.”
Another candidate, City Councilor Cathleen DeSimone, also likes the idea of the city owning the property.
“I think we should acquire it and protect it,” she said.
The golf course, which abuts hundreds of acres of conservation land, could be used as a hiking area and other purposes, she said.
DeSimone acknowledged there is a need for housing in Attleboro and elsewhere, but said 200 single-family homes at Locust Valley would cause traffic congestion and strain city services, such as the school department.
She and a third candidate, former City Councilor John Davis, said they would prefer that existing buildings in the city be converted into affordable apartments to relieve the housing shortage.
“I’m all for affordable housing,” she said.
Davis said the strategic location of Locust Valley makes it more suitable to be maintained as open space.
“It’s one of the last open pieces of land like that in the city,” he said. “They’re not making any more land. Once we lose pristine open land it’s gone forever.”
As for housing, he said there are many older homes and buildings in the city that could be rehabilitated.
The fourth candidate in the special election for mayor, political newcomer Timothy Barone, expressed similar views on the city buying the land.
“Unless I get better or newer information, I think we should buy Locust Valley and focus on developing unused spaces we do have,” he said. “Green spaces, once they’re gone, they’re gone.”
Of course, the city already owns one shuttered golf course.
Attleboro bought the 93-acre Highland Country Club property in 2018 for about $3 million after the 117-year-old course closed.
Now called Highland Park, it has a path for cross country running that’s used for high school and college competitions and its once lush fairways and greens are returning to a natural state.
Heroux wanted a performing arts facility at the site, but that hasn’t come to fruition yet. Last April, the former mayor asked the city council to appropriate $750,000 from the city’s surplus account to construct the pavilion, which at the time he said would be built for under $450,000 with the rest of the funding being used for “the design contract and a contingency.” A motion to fund the pavilion failed 7-3 during a council vote in June. The councilors cited a lack of information at the time but said they’d reconsider after getting more details and a public hearing on the matter.
There is a clubhouse on the site at Highland, which had been mentioned as a possible new location for the city’s Council on Aging.
A proposal last October to rezone a part of the park from residential to general business met strong opposition during a public hearing.
The clubhouse at Locust Valley was torn down shortly after it closed.
