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The Ithaca-based nonprofit purchased 101 acres containing Shotwell Brook, a key tributary for Skaneateles Lake, for $3.3 million from Dr. Marc Pietropaoli in October. The Victory Sports Medicine and Orthopedics owner proposed building an athletic complex there a decade ago, but instead opted for the town of Sennett after residents voiced concerns about traffic, protecting the brook and more.聽

For that reason, Finger Lakes Land Trust President Andy Zepp and Director of Stewardship Chris Olney weren't surprised by the standing-room-only turnout at Thursday's presentation.

"It's your drinking water," Zepp said.

Zepp and Olney explained that the land trust plans to develop more than 2 miles of walking trails in what it's calling the Shotwell Brook Conservation Area, with scenic overlooks, wildlife viewing areas and an interpretive kiosk. A half-mile trail in the northern part of the area will be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Another mile will be a 6-foot-wide path for walkers, joggers and strollers.

The land trust also plans $100,000 in habitat restoration efforts, protecting and enhancing the wetlands and grasslands by planting native flora and targeting non-native pests and plants.聽

Zepp said Shotwell Brook is a unique project for the land trust, which has conserved more than 33,000 acres throughout the region, because it includes agricultural, residential and commercial properties.聽

鈥淗ow do you provide public access and not mess it up?" he said. "We want this to be a place where people of all abilities can go.鈥�

Zepp thanked Holland Gregg of聽West Lake Art Conservation Center聽for helping the land trust connect with Pietropaoli. Through VSM Enterprises, the orthopedic surgeon proposed building a state-of-the-art 61,000-square-foot medical facility, 90,000-square-foot training complex, 250-car parking lot and two turf fields on the property. But he wasn't the first developer to eye Shotwell Brook, Zepp said.

鈥淭here was a strip mall proposal and a bus depot proposal,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here was no shortage of plans: Municipal plans, county plans, state plans. They just didn鈥檛 agree on what to do with it.鈥�

The land trust made the purchase with a loan from its Opportunity Fund. Supporting it is a $1.3 million grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation鈥檚 Water Quality Improvement Program,聽$50,000 from the town of Skaneateles' Land and Development Rights Acquisition Fund and private donations, including聽$150,000 from the CNY Community Foundation.

Olney said there are other ways to help the land trust besides donating, and encouraged those in attendance to visit to learn how to volunteer with preserving land and water across the region. 

鈥淭he land trust doesn鈥檛 get involved with other issues,鈥� Zepp said. 鈥淲e spend time with landowners over generations, so an area cherished by the community doesn鈥檛 become a strip mall.鈥�