Warwick's PDR program acquires its 12th - and largest - farm yet

Warwick — The 336-acre Wisner dairy Farm, which stretches from Bellvale to the Village of Warwick, is the newest addition to the town’s growing ranks of development rights purchases. The Town of Warwick purchased the development rights to this property on Wednesday for just over $2.3 million. Funding came from four sources: The state kicked in $1.3 million, the federal farmland protection fund contributed $350,000, while the county gave $436,000, leaving $238,000 from the town’s Purchase of Development Rights fund. “This is one of the oldest farms in the Town of Warwick and one of the oldest in the county,” said Seymour Gordon, chairman of the town’s Agricultural and Open Space Preservation Board. This is the largest acquisition of development rights for the town, whose program has been in existence since 2000. Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton said the farmland abuts the Ray Mabee farm, which in turn abuts the Buckbee farm, both of which are also preserved farms. The 336 acres extends from Bellvale to the Warwick Grove/Homestead Village property in the Village of Warwick to Lower Wisner Road, abutting the Town Hall property. “This will protect one of the largest underground aquifers that provides drinking water to the Village of Warwick,” said Sweeton. “It is pretty impressive.” The closing on Wednesday went well, according to Sweeton, although the process has been a long one. Two generations were involved, and multiple parcels, which made things a bit more complicated. 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. This is the twelfth farm to which the development rights have been purchased by the town. This brings the total of preserved land in the town to about 1,836 acres.