Opinion: New Green Deal for posh people

To the Editor,

Is Davoll Field a Green New Deal for Posh People? In other words, is the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s (BBC) proposed park and sculpture garden a type of Greenlining where financial benefits and subsidies (a $575,000 grant) disproportionately flow to affluent populations while disadvantaged or poorer communities are overlooked and underserved? Could the $575,000 grant funding for Davoll Field be better spent on more threatened land areas?

The proposed project at 4 Tannery Lane continues to be local headline news. As the BBC looks for a $575,000 grant from Dartmouth’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC) to acquire a conservation restriction, our local community continues to look for answers. So far, the details of the site’s redevelopment remain opaque.

The former Davoll property at 4 Tannery Lane, rebranded by the BBC as Davoll Field, is a minuscule 2.5-acre waterfront site located in Russells Mills village. Principal in its redevelopment is the BBC, who bought it in April 2026, for one dollar ($1.00) from the Massachusetts Design, Art & Technology Institute (DATMA), who paid $725,000 for it in March 2025.

The BBC is promoting their plan as a welcoming, waterfront park where folks can have a cup of coffee while enjoying nature and water views. It’s pleasant New England village, cosseted by an affluent neighborhood chock full of historic and million-dollar homes. Another player in this project is Massachusetts Design, Art & Technology Institute (DATMA), a New Bedford arts organization whose mission is to bring public art to the people. As a board member revealed shortly after its purchase, DATMA had plans to demolish the 1970s-era house and eventually transfer the ownership to the BBC.

So far, the BBC’s Davoll Field scheme has not cost a lot of money, but that is about to change if the Dartmouth Town Meeting members vote in favor of the BBC’s $575,000 grant request at the June 2nd Town Meeting. The grant money will purchase a Conservation Restriction, and that sum will live in the coffers of the property owner – the BBC.

Conservation restrictions (CR) are a routine matter for land conservation trusts. Nothing unusual about them. CRs protect and preserve land acquisitions in perpetuity – effectively safeguarding them from any future, adverse development. Yet despite their common use, any publicly-funded project requires scrutiny – are the costs commensurate with the public benefit?

Mr. Buddy Baker-Smith of the Community Preservation Committee’s (CPC) spoke at the May 27th Pre-Town Meeting information session to further explain CPC’s mission and its endorsement of the BBC project. Per his familiar mantra, Baker-Smith said the CPC looked for projects across town with the goal of targeting projects with the highest public benefit. He and Mr. Mark Rasmussen pitched the idea to Dartmouth’s Finance Committee (FINCOM), and with little scrutiny they greenlit a $575,000 grant request for a CR, paving the way for it to be a warrant article at the Spring Town Meeting. If passed at Town Meeting, the Davoll Field pocket park whose CR will be funded by taxpayer’s dollars will be adjacent to the DNRT’s existing 42- acre Parson’s Reserve, as well as the town’s existing Russells Mills Landing, and yet another DNRT property, the 283-acre Destruction Brook Reserve, less than a mile down the road.

Town Administrator Cody Haddad recently pointed out that the town meeting is part of our rich democratic tradition and a hallmark of our local town government. Another important part of our town’s democratic tradition is the work of the Russells Mill Local Historic District Commission (LHDC). Since the LHDC’s establishment in 1998, constituents have voiced their concerns regarding preservation matters within the MGL Chapter 40 C historic district at public meetings and hearings.

The work of the LHDC should be respected too – it has agency in preservation planning issues that impact the village historic district. The LHDC is group of civic-minded citizens, appointed by our elected Select Board, who volunteer their time in service to the community. This should be remembered by Dartmouth’s public officials when they throw corrosive shade at our LHDC, which undermines its authority and demonstrates little appreciation for its work.

At its April 21st public meeting, our LHDC considered the facts and denied the BBC’s application for the demolition of the non-historic dwelling on the site. The vote was 4-1 against the demolition request, and the Certificate of Appropriateness was denied. Anchoring their decision to National Trust guidance, our LHDC’s decision was reasoned and not arbitrary.

Davoll Field isn’t a cheap date. At $575,000, that’s an expensive cup of coffee that only a few can swallow.

James O’Day

ASLA, Historical Landscape Architect