By Richard Conn/Daily News staff
Daily News Tribune
Posted Dec 16, 2009 @ 02:10 AM

WALTHAM

The City Council voted to spend $5 million to buy a 27-acre parcel off Lincoln Street to prevent it from being developed.

The council voted late Monday night to approve a $3.2 million bond authorization at the request of Mayor Jeannette McCarthy, to buy the property known as Sanderson Heights.

That's on top of the $1.8 million the city originally offered for the land, when the city tried to seize the private property by eminent domain in 2007.

Ward 2 Councilor Ed Tarallo said yesterday owner Salvatore Vinciullo took the city to court over the price. Through mediation, a deal was recently reached.

Tarallo said one appraisal of the property showed its value at almost $10 million, so he felt the city got a good deal.

Tarallo said the $5 million purchase price includes interest over the time and other associated costs.

"We believe it is a key parcel in preventing overdevelopment in North Waltham," Tarallo said.

City officials have long eyed the property. In 2002, an ad-hoc committee studying land acquisition, led by Tarallo and Ward 1 Councilor Robert Kelly, named Sanderson Heights as one of the properties the city should acquire.

Waltham had already purchased a 6-acre parcel that bordered both Sanderson Heights and a large parcel owned by the Stigmatine Fathers and Brothers, a Catholic religious order.

Kelly said acquiring the two properties was crucial because the land was close to homes and sought by developers.

"Where it was, abutting residential neighborhoods, we saw it as something that certainly needed our attention and protection," Kelly said.

Tarallo said development had been a "constant worry of the neighbors up there."

In 2005, the city also bought two large north Waltham parcels from the state to preserve - 32 acres behind Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Church for $4.4 million and the 7-acre Gaebler School property for $1.75 million. Both properties are off Trapelo Road.

The City Council last year also voted to spend $930,000 to buy a 6.5-acre parcel known as Lot 1. The land would be left undeveloped and used for recreation.

Sanderson Heights, formally referred to as Lincoln Woods, contains forest and trails as well as Jericho Hill, the second-highest point in Waltham, after Prospect Hill.

Richard Conn can be contacted at 781-398-8004 or rconn@cnc.com.

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