By Kerri Roche/Daily News staff
Daily News Tribune
GateHouse News Service
Thu Jan 17, 2008, 10:00 AM EST
WALTHAM -

Gov. Deval Patrick on Monday signed a long-awaited bill that will keep a parcel of land near Trapelo Road off the state auction block and out of developers' reach.

Passed by legislators, House Bill 4342 transferred 6.5 acres of what's called Lot 1, the former Middlesex County Hospital property, from the state to the city. The land would be left undeveloped and used for recreation.

The county hospital was sold in the early 1990s to a private hospital, which ultimately went bankrupt, said state Rep. Thomas Stanley, D-Waltham. he sponsored the bill along with state Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, and state Sen. Susan Fargo, D-Lincoln.

"What remains of that land, by default, fell into the hands of the state under the control of (the state)," Stanley said. "They at that point looked ... to bring money into the state coffers" by selling the land to developers.

The entire county hospital property spans 54 acres across Waltham and Lexington. Much of Waltham's piece contains woodlands, meadows, significant wetlands and vernal pools. The area is also part of the Chester Brook watershed, which protects the city from severe flooding during wet seasons.

Also, the entire parcel is an integral component of The Western Greenway, which contains more than 1,000 acres of interconnected undeveloped land in Lexington, Waltham and Belmont.

Although Waltham's portion is not highly prized by developers, it does provide access to the more attractive 47.5 acres in Lexington.

"It blocks access from Trapelo Road to the larger portion of Lot 1, which developers have been salivating over," said Stanley.

Because Waltham's piece is so small, said Stanley, the city is able to buy it at market-rate.

The parcel Lexington wants is six times the size of Waltham's. As such, Lexington will not be able to swing the market-rate price tag, said Stanley. Instead, legislators are working to transfer that land from Division of Capital Assessment Management to the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

That bill, Stanley said, is before the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.

In the meantime, "The fact that the Waltham bill has passed and was signed by the governor really devalues, from the developers' perspective, the Lexington portion," Stanley said.

Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy said Monday's passage "culminates a four-year effort to try to acquire that."

Now, the city will have the land appraised to buy it outright from Division of Capital Asset Management, said McCarthy.

Kerri Roche can be reached at kroche@cnc.com or 781-398-8009.