Under current Massachusetts law, cities and towns are allowed to exercise their right of first refusal of agricultural and recreational land when a property owner seeks to sell or use it for non-agricultural or recreational purposes. This bill would extend the existing time period for a municipality to exercise its right of first refusal and fulfill a purchase and sale contract, as well as establish a 30-day timeline in which the seller may accept the purchase and sale agreement.

The effects of the existing law for these transactions largely falls on communities who have a town meeting form of government. The timelines our municipalities must abide to are short and make it difficult for them to effectively conduct the required due diligence of a potential land acquisition. This bill would lengthen the time municipalities have to make decisions about agricultural lands to better reflect the timeframes necessary to work through municipal requirements, giving our communities more flexibly and influence in how their communities grow.