FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE05-10
April
4, 2005
Contact:
Ian Michaels
(718) 595-6600
DEP,
Westchester Land Trust and Lewisboro Team Up To Preserve 386
Acres
Commissioner Emily Lloyd of the New York City Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) announced today that New York City has joined
with the Town of Lewisboro to protect 383 acres of land in Westchester
County. Almost 200 acres of the property, which is owned by the
Bell and Reifenheiser families, is within New York City’s
Croton watershed. The deal was brokered by the Westchester Land
Trust.
Under the deal, the DEP will pay the Town of Lewisboro approximately
$1 million for a conservation easement on roughly 90 acres of the
property that is inside the watershed. The amount was determined
to be the fair market value of the easement, under terms established
by the 1997 Watershed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). As part of
the conservation easement, the DEP will pay in perpetuity full
taxes on the easement portion of the property, including school
taxes, which equal about half of the property taxes for the unencumbered
90 acres.
Lewisboro expects to acquire the property later this year from
the current owners, and the City expects to acquire the conservation
easement from the town in late-2005, as outlined in the purchase
contract. The entire property will be managed as a protected park
by the Town under conservation easements owned by New York City
and the Westchester Land Trust. Hiking trails and passive recreation
will be principal uses.
“It doesn’t take long to see that although the term
'win-win' may be overused, it clearly applies to this project,” said
Commissioner Lloyd. “About 190 acres drain into the Cross
River Reservoir, one of the most important in the Croton system,
and shielding that is important to our watershed protection efforts.
“The fact that DEP will be paying a portion of property
taxes should make local residents happy. And the fact that the
public will be able to access and enjoy all 393 acres as a protected
Town park will hopefully be beneficial for everyone," said
Lloyd.
Lewisboro Town Supervisor James Nordgren said, "With the
support of the DEP, the Westchester Land Trust and private citizens,
we have been able to leverage Lewisboro's open space fund and protect
this most important property. We are not only protecting Lewisboro
residents' drinking water, but the water of millions of other New
Yorkers as well. We also hope that by working together we have
helped the DEP protect more of the watershed than they could have
done working alone."
Eric A. Goldstein, urban program co-director at the Natural Resources
Defense Council, said, "This critical property, which includes
200 acres of land in the highest priority for watershed protection,
will now be rescued from potential development and protected for
future generations thanks to the efforts of Lewisboro elected officials,
the Westchester Land Trust and the New York City Department of
Environmental Protection. We are especially grateful to the Bloomberg
Administration for committing 25 million new dollars to watershed
land protection in the Croton system and for devoting one million
dollars from that fund specifically for the Bell property acquisition.
By lending financial support to this acquisition, the City has
demonstrated long-term vision and recognized the benefits of partnerships
between watershed communities and the City of New York when it
comes to advancing smart land use decisions.”
Westchester Land Trust Executive Director Paul Gallay said, "Mayor
Michael Bloomberg and the DEP are proving to be proactive and dynamic
partners in the campaign to preserve key Croton watershed lands
like the Bell property. We really couldn't preserve Bell without
them and we're very grateful for their help."
The City's Land Acquisition Program has been working since 1997
to purchase or acquire conservation easements or buy lands in fee
simple or under easement, and to date has secured over 53,000 acres
throughout Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess Counties and in five
counties in the Catskills. Additional acres have been secured with
City funds through the Watershed Agricultural Council. Landowners
of significant watershed properties who may be interested in selling
land or easements to the City are encouraged to contact (800) 575-LAND.
The Westchester Land Trust is a non-profit corporation dedicated
to preserving land and community character throughout Westchester.
Since November 2000, the Land Trust has helped 15 municipalities,
including the town of Lewisboro, establish over $34 million in
land acquisition funding reserves. WLT has protected 2,900 acres
in 23 different local cities, towns and villages, since its founding
in 1988.