Warwick purchases 186-acre Brady Farm

Property, costing $2.1 million, becomes 10th bought for its development rights. Warwick — The Town of Warwick can now add the 186-acre Brady Farm to its list of preserved land, closing on the deal Jan. 23. This is the 10th farm to which the town bought the development rights, and it may just be one of the most important to date. “This is an incredible purchase,” said Town of Warwick Supervisor Mike Sweeton. “It is critically located, abutting land owned by the Land Trust and across the Village of Warwick watershed. It’s a stone’s throw from the county park. That whole swath of ridge will never be developed.” This piece of property completes the preservation of the ridgeline stretching from Orange County Park to Warwick Turnpike. The property has been in the Brady family for over 150 years. The Brady family raises Angus cattle on their property, which overlooks the Warwick Valley. The town partnered with Scenic Hudson, the federal government, and Orange County in paying $2,116,493 for the farm. The town chipped in $337,252. The federal government, through the United States Department of Agriculture, paid $780,383; Orange County gave $570,360, and Scenic Hudson donated $428,498. Seymour Gordon, chairman of the Agricultural and Open Space Preservation Committee, wrote the grant that secured the funding from the USDA, part of the Farmland Preservation Program. Sweeton commended the Brady family for making this preservation possible. “I think the Bradys feel very satisfied with this and we commend them for all they have done,” said Sweeton. “We had a lot of parties to bring together on this, including the four Brady brothers. I can’t say enough about the Bradys and their commitment to preserving this farm.” This is the 10th purchase the town has made since passing a town-wide Purchase of Development Rights referendum in 2000, which allowed the town to use $9.5 million to buy the development rights to properties in an effort to maintain open space. This farm brings the total of preserved land in the town to more than 1,200 acres; several other development purchases are also in the works, including the Wisner Buckbee farm, and the Brown and Miller farms in Edenville. The total acreage of all the farms committed to the town’s purchase of development rights program is 2,300.