Members of the Town of Lakeville Open Space Committee on Jan. 2 raised serious concerns about gaps and inconsistencies in town property records, saying assessor downloads and the committee’s five‑acre inventory do not reliably show recorded conservation restrictions (CRs) and agricultural preservation restrictions (APRs).

Joan Morton told the committee, “The list that you sent today, this afternoon, is so inaccurate. It's unbelievable. I have more than 40 acres of conservation restriction. It doesn't show that there's a conservation restriction on that.” Morton said a 93‑acre parcel she cited appears on the assessor map as unprotected despite an APR on record.

Committee members said assessor exports sometimes omit CR and APR markers, or the conservation designations are embedded in datasets that are not visible in the map download they received. The group discussed creating a lookup table to cross‑reference the committee’s parcel inventory with the assessor's Chapter 61 output and the larger five‑acre list the committee is assembling for outreach and monitoring.

David Talonis said he had asked assessors about the Chapter 61 report and was told an updated list addressing the committee’s requested fields would be released in mid‑February. He asked members to wait for that update before finalizing outreach targets; members agreed the February report would be the best authoritative source.

The committee also discussed the need to identify which properties are already protected in perpetuity so outreach to landowners does not duplicate existing protections. Talonis said the town administrator and assessors are working on making CR/APR records more accessible; the committee agreed to pursue a cross‑reference project and bring a draft outreach criteria back to the next meeting.

What’s next: the committee will cross‑reference the 2024 assessor extract with its five‑acre list, annotate parcels that already have Chapter 61 status or recorded CR/APR, and reconvene with draft outreach criteria at the next regularly scheduled meeting.