Old Lyme — The Open Space Commission, in conjunction with the Board of Selectmen, announced a plan earlier this month to purchase a 300-acre property for open space, with a small portion to be used for affordable housing, pending voter approval at a town meeting in May.

The deal, which has been in the works since last summer, outlines a $500,000 purchase of approximately 300 acres to be used as town-owned open space and another $100,000 to go toward purchasing two building envelopes, or reserved space, previously put aside for members of the McCulloch family, who own the land.

The envelopes amount to 6 acres and were reserved in 1999 for the family to build on after a conservation easement was placed on a large portion of their 500-plus-acre property through the Nature Conservancy.

With the family having never built on those envelopes, however, First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder said the town, pending approval, now plans to use both for two affordable housing homes to be located off Flat Rock Hill Road. Both parcels, she said, will sit adjacent to two already existing affordable-housing lots, which are owned by HOPE Partnership and which were previously given to the town by David McCulloch.

Reemsnyder said that, due to a conservation restriction, both parcels will not be used for multi-family housing but only for single-family homes. And should the town not use the parcels as affordable housing plots after five years, Reemsnyder said both will be deferred as town-owned open space.

When and if the town uses, donates or sells the 6 acres for affordable housing, the town would then reimburse $100,000 to the open space acquisition fund, which the town is using to finance the $600,000 needed for the purchase.

Known as the McCulloch Farm, the property abuts the eastern side of Whippoorwill Road and extends north of Interstate 95. It has been owned and preserved by the McCulloch family since they purchased the land in the late 1920s.

Previously known as Camp Aladdin — a camp for inner-city youths to experience the outdoors — parts of the property have also been used as a dairy farm. It is also where David McCulloch’s sister, Mary Jean Vasiloff, bred hundreds of Morgan horses until she died in 2017.

Amanda Blair, co-chair of the town’s open space commission, said that, because the McCulloch family has carefully tended the property and kept it in “pristine condition” over the decades, the property will make for “a wonderful gift” to town residents once the town owns it. Because of the conservation easement placed on the property in 1999, Blair said, the public has been restricted from going on the land.

Three trails are being planned for the property, Blair said, one of which is already underway and will have access from Whippoorwill Road. The trails will be maintained by the town’s Open Space Commission, while the Old Lyme Land Trust will lay and map the trails.

Having had an eye on the property since 1997, when the Open Space Commission was first formed, both Blair and Reemsnyder said it has been a long-held town goal to marry the McCulloch property with the town’s Ames Open Space and the adjacent Lay Preserve, owned by the Old Lyme Land Trust.

The idea, they said, has been to create a continuous greenway and crosstown trail system to be used for hiking, jogging, bicycling and bird watching.

“Our goal has been to have a greenway that would connect the north end of town with the south end,” Reemsnyder said. “The idea is that you could walk through these properties continuously.”

Combined, the three parcels will create 700 acres of contiguous open space, she said.

“The trails will go through the woods. But instead of blazing trails, you’ll also be following old cart paths that weave throughout trees,” Blair said. “You’ll also see glacier undercroppings and understories of ferns. You just go in there, and you’re overwhelmed because there is something new to discover every time.”

Aside from its planned trails, Blair said the Open Space Commission also hopes to organize educational outings with organizations such as the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center and the Lyme Art Association to talk about wildlife and art inspired by the property.

“This has to be one of the most beautiful pieces of land I’ve ever seen,” Blair continued. “When I go walk this piece, it’s just like falling in love. (The family) never developed it. So it’s rare to see land stay like this these days. And it’s really such a gift.”

A town meeting to vote on the purchase is scheduled for May 22, while an opening and dedication for the property is also being planned for June 1 — also National Trails Day — pending town approval.

m.biekert@theday.com