Dogtown survey would cost about $300,000, and the city should pay for it, Gloucester's open space committee is told

A boundary survey of Dogtown, the first step toward putting the city's largest open space under one deed, would cost about $300,000, and the city's public works director thinks the city should pay for it, Gloucester's Open Space and Recreation Committee heard Oct. 6.

What happened

• Committee member Christopher Leahy reported on a meeting with Public Works Director Mike Hale, who supports protecting Dogtown, said a surveyor has been found at about $300,000, and said the cost should be the city's, not a fundraising job.
• The next step is a meeting with the mayor, with the City Council president, to get his backing. The survey has to be done before snow, so timing matters.
• Hale was clear that he does not want a land trust such as Greenbelt, the Trustees or Mass Audubon to hold Dogtown; he wants it to be city property.
• A privately owned parking lot at Long Beach, about 250 spaces, has an early wetlands filing before the Conservation Commission.
• The committee is down to five members and no alternates after a resignation. Four make a quorum.

Dogtown: who pays, who holds it

Dogtown is a patchwork of city parcels, land trust parcels and old private woodlots. The committee's standing priority is to define its outer boundary with a survey and title research, then put the whole area under one perimeter deed with protection.

Leahy said Hale assumed the survey was the city's responsibility and did not treat $300,000 as a large sum. Hale suggested the committee take the request to Mayor Lundberg, and said that if the mayor agrees quickly the survey could be done before winter. Members plan to bring the city's own plans, which name Dogtown as a priority, and a short briefing on its history and ecology.

Members raised two things to settle first. One is whether Hale would accept a conservation restriction on the city parcels, which would keep them from being swapped for other land under Article 97 of the state constitution. The other is Hale's wish to keep ownership with the city. Greenbelt and Mass Audubon already own small pieces inside Dogtown, and some old woodlots are still owned by families who pay taxes on them.

A land conservation volunteer who worked on the protection of Lynn Woods has offered to train four volunteers to do the deed research, about four hours a week, Leahy said. He said the volunteer claims the work could be done for far less than $300,000. Members said they first need to know whether the offer is volunteer or business, since a paid proposal would have to go through city contracting, and whether a volunteer group would have to follow the open meeting law. The committee agreed the first step is the city's buy in on the survey.

Members also noted past frustration: a gate at Magnolia Woods that the public works department backed but never built. The chair said the department is stretched thin and the committee's priorities have not always been taken up.

Long Beach parking lot

Dave Sargent, who also sits on the Conservation Commission, said the owner of the private parking lot at the Gloucester end of Long Beach has filed an abbreviated notice of resource area delineation, a request for the commission to mark the wetlands, dunes and beach on the property. He said the lot, about 250 spaces and entirely in Gloucester, was bought within the last year by a development company for about $3 million. He said the delineation is at a very early stage and the filing so far does not describe the resources thoroughly. Any loss of the lot would cut off much of the parking for Long Beach, members said.

The next night, Oct. 7, the Conservation Commission took up that filing, for 2 Beachland Ave., and voted 4 to 0 to seek an outside peer review of the wetlands lines. Commissioners questioned how the line along the pond was drawn and whether soil tests were done in the disturbed parking area, and neighbors on Rockport Road and Thatcher Road spoke about flooding and the water table. The item was continued to the commission's Oct. 21 meeting.

Fields and the website

The committee wants the city website to show open space trailheads and rules, a way to reserve picnic tables and gazebos, and a public schedule for sports fields. A city staff member said the easiest first step is a spreadsheet showing which fields are booked when, and that a reservation system would need staff, as the Talbot Rink's does. Members said reserving a field could carry a fee while open play stays free.

What was decided

• Minutes of Aug. 4: approved with corrections.
• Minutes of Sept. 1: approved as amended.
• No votes on Dogtown. The committee took no position on the state ballot question that would set aside sales tax money for conservation and recreation.

What happens next

• Committee members will seek a meeting with the mayor and the council president on the survey.
• Leahy will find out whether the volunteer offer involves any payment.
• The committee will ask the city for a status report on the field schedule.
• Next meeting: Tuesday, Nov. 10, moved from Election Day.

Where to find the records

• Open Space and Recreation Committee members on the city website; agendas and meeting reports are in the city's agenda center.
• October 2026 past meetings, with the recording.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the meeting online and checked names against the committee's roster on the city website. These are our meeting notes, not the committee's minutes.