Town buys rights to Myruski farm

First PDR acquisition in Florida school district Warwick — Add the Myruski Farm to the growing list of farms whose development rights have been purchased by the Town of Warwick. The town closed on the purchase last week, making it the 13th property, including the town beach, to be preserved by the town’s Purchase of Development Rights program which was first initiated in 2000. With this 181 acres, more than 2,000 acres of land have been preserved. According to Supervisor Michael Sweeton, the town acquired the development rights at a cost of $1,631,986. The town paid $1,121,146; Orange County contributed $510,840. “The protection of this farm property, along with a pending closing on the contiguous Quackenbush farm, will preserve 335 acres of viable farmland and form the nucleus for a critical mass of protected farmland in the Florida area of the town of Warwick,” said Sweeton in his announcement. “In addition, the Myruski farm has significant wildlife habitats which the Wildlife Conservation Society has surveyed and as a result have stated, ‘this is a top-tier farm worthy of significant conservation resources’.” Aileen Myruski owns the farm and her son, Steven, is the sole operator. Steven grew up on the farm and worked it all of his life, first with his grandfather, John Janiak, then with his uncle. The town has made open space preservation a priority. After approving a $9.5 million Purchase of Development Rights referendum in 2000, last year voters again said yes to a 0.75 percent transfer tax on all real estate transactions throughout the town, which went into effect April 1. The money from that tax will go into a Community Preservation Fund and will be used for future purchases of development rights to preserve open space.