Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano and County Legislators Lois Bronz and Tom Abinanti say that county government must move to help finance the acquisition of the property in order to protect one of the largest open space parcels in Southern Westchester County.
"As we have done with the Gaisman property in Greenburgh, Hilltop Hanover in Yorktown and Davids Island in New Rochelle, we will work in partnership with local government, the state and others to preserve this environmentally sensitive property for future generations," Spano says. "This is an especially important piece of land because it is one of the last really large parcels in what is a mostly developed area of the county. We should not miss out on an opportunity to save this property from development."
The property, which county officials claim is a "haven for amphibian, reptile and dozens of species of birds," is on Taxter Road bordered by Route 9 and is owned by the Unification Church.
The Trust for Public Land and the Westchester Land Trust have taken an option on the property through the middle of 2002, but area residents, who have so far raised more than $25,000 to help preserve the property, fear that it will be developed if a permanent arrangement is not negotiated soon, county officials say.
"Preserving Taxter Ridge is crucial to the continued environmental health of Greenburgh and all of mid-Westchester, adds County Legislator Abinanti. Development on the Taxter Ridge site would also add to the traffic woes on the already "overwhelmed" Route 119-Route 9A intersection, he charges.
While no purchase price has been released for the property, Spano notes he is hopeful that an agreement can be negotiated in a similar fashion as previous open space preservation deals that have closed recently in Westchester County.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
John Jordan
John Jordan is a veteran journalist with 36 years of print and digital media experience.
