A new homeowner's take on the Community Preservation Fund

To the editor: My family and I moved down to Warwick one year ago from the Minisink area. I would like to bring a new homeowner’s perspective to the controversial Community Preservation Fund (CPF). The CPF buyer’s fee of three-quarters of one percent would not have affected our decision a year ago on purchasing a house in Warwick. Actually, we feel CPF is a good thing, which could help enhance the value of our investment. As a new homeowner, we feel it is a small price to pay for what you are getting in return when you become a part of this community. Urban sprawl is a national problem and New York State reportedly loses an average of 174 acres each day to development. Where were we going to run? We chose Warwick because it is a special place to live and raise our daughter with a master plan in place for future development. Warwick is known for its strong community involvement and highly regarded school systems. Even though we are 60 miles from N.Y.C., Warwick still has a sense of small town USA. Since 9/11 we are all looking for a better quality of life. People are willing to make sacrifices and commute farther. A sense of place and community has become critical in this ever-changing & fast-paced world. Take a look around, other cities and towns are becoming homogenized with commercial strip malls, box stores and McMansion subdivisions. They lack that very core that truly makes our town unique and interesting. Warwick offers a community rich in agricultural history with picturesque farms, small-personalized shops, unique restaurants, and neighborhood homes with mature landscaping, personality and history. Preservation is the business of saving special places and the quality of life they support. Sprawl devours historic landscapes and drains vital community resources away from established neighborhoods to subdivisions away from our town centers and services. The way we shape our community has an impact on how we feel, on how we interact with our neighbors and how we live. Sprawl touches us all and we pay for it with a loss of open space and farmland with higher taxes for extended services and with a loss of our quality of life. Economics may be the driving force behind development but our rural landscape is irreplaceable and priceless. We all must do what we can to preserve Warwick’s open space and commit to a smart growth plan. Both the new and long time residents can work together to keep Warwick a unique and special place to raise our families for generations to come. Wendy Donohue Warwick