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[Filed Under: “Only In Sudbury…”]
Some Sudbury residents face a troubling question: What should they do with their pitchforks now?
The Liberty Ledge/Sewataro Advisory Committee has committed the most shocking, scandalous act in the history of local municipal governance: they did exactly what they were told to do.
For months, the rumor mill has churned with delicious, dramatic certainty. The narrative was set. This committee, residents were assured by social media, was hopelessly biased. They were secret agents of development, placed on a committee to ram a pro-housing agenda down residents’ throats and pave over a beloved summer camp.
But then came the September 10, 2026, meeting, and with it, a devastating blow to conspiracy theorists across town. The committee members took the public input they were charged with collecting and (shield your eyes) they actually used it to guide their recommendations on the future uses of the property.
The sheer audacity began when staff member James Goudie-Murray presented the results of a community survey that garnered 710 responses. (Results HERE) If this was a rigged operation, the committee forgot to rig the data.
The results showed that continuing the summer camp was the overwhelming top priority, securing a weighted score of 1,992 points. Open space and passive recreation came in a comfortable second with 1,775 points, and active recreation took third with 1,106.
And what of the dreaded, allegedly pre-ordained housing agenda baked into the “biased” survey? Affordable housing limped across the finish line with a weighted score of 171, while market-rate housing garnered a mere 126 points. When asked directly if the property should be developed as housing rather than a summer camp, a staggering 87.6% of respondents strongly disagreed.
Just look at some of the comments on the Town’s Facebook page when they shared the survey:
One resident actually commented “I wonder whether this survey was created by the consultant whom voters explicitly declined to fund with $20,000 in taxpayer money at Special Town Meeting. The Town Manager then “found” the $20,000 elsewhere and proceeded with exactly what voters had rejected. Democracy in action?”
A truly biased committee would have looked at these numbers, gasped, and immediately buried them in an bomb shelter (which, for the record, the committee is also meticulously tracking on the property). Instead, committee member Granger Atkeson looked at the data and stated the obvious: the town undeniably supports the camp moving forward.
The rest of the meeting was a masterclass in the agonizingly boring reality of good local governance. Instead of plotting a massive housing subdivision in the dead of night, the volunteers spent their time painstakingly debating how to ensure Sudbury children get better priority enrollment and more transparent, affordable fee structures before the 2028 camp season. They explored the finer points of ADA compliance self-evaluations. They discussed the proper Town signage required to make sure the public knows the property and its trails are open to them. They even discussed wayfinding throughout the property.
But wait, what about the housing conspiracy? Surely it must exist somewhere! It does, but you’ll have to squint to see it. The committee’s grand, devious real estate scheme amounts to a single recommendation: exploring the conversion of the already-existing, currently vacant property at 213 Haynes Road into an affordable single-family residence. The house is currently used as a form of affordable housing: it’s reserved for camp employees, to be provided as a perk of employment at no cost.
And just to twist the knife into the hearts of the outrage machine, the committee actively debated how to carefully draw the property lines for this one house to ensure it wouldn’t encroach on the camp’s horse pasture or parking lot.
Horses, parking lots and driveways had a really good night, all things considered.
While a segment of the community campaigned and pressured these volunteers for allegedly pushing a biased housing agenda, it turns out the committee members were fulfilling their mandate from the Select Board, and that mandate didn’t have a hidden housing agenda. They endured the vitriol, collected the public’s opinion, and mapped their draft recommendations directly to the will of the people.
Those draft recommendations, in the near term, include exercising the final five-year extension with the camp operator and expanding programming that doesn’t interfere with the camp. They have yet to discuss long-term recommendations, but have indicated in recent discussions that a long-term arrangement for the camp operation is favored. And they’re also going to host another public input session once they have a complete draft report that can be refined with further public input.
It is a dark day for Sudbury’s municipal drama enthusiasts. We wanted villains, and instead, we got a group of honest, dutiful volunteers who care deeply about signage on municipal land and camp access for Sudbury’s kids.
How on earth will the town ever recover from this level of competence?
