Land Sale in Harrison

What is the effect on land preservation of the recession and the difficulty towns are having balancing their budgets? One answer can be found in Harrison, where the town wants to sell 14 undeveloped acres it owns to raise cash. This is from today's Journal News:

The town wants to sell land on Old Orchard Street to cope with a $2.8 million revenue shortfall, a proposal that has outraged residents who fear a townhouse development will ruin their bucolic road.

Harrison Mayor Joan Walsh said the town has been hit hard by a decline in mortgage- and sales-tax income and building fees. The 14 acres, in an area known as Quarry Heights, would be divided into eight lots for townhouses. The other 6 acres would be preserved as wetlands."

You can read the whole story here.