Three
communities in central Westchester scored major open space preservation
achievements in 2005, with the acquisition of 257.5 acres of land along
a ridge that rises above the Hudson River.
Greenburgh and Tarrytown, with major contributions from Westchester
County and New York State, acquired the 200-acre Taxter Ridge property
in March 2004, securing the largest piece of undeveloped, unprotected
land in the county south of Interstate 287.
The effort to protect the land began four years ago and concluded with
a $10.9 million deal with the owner, the Unification Church. Greenburgh,
the state and the county each contributed $3.63 million toward the purchase;
Tarrytown bought a small piece of wetland, for about $30,000.
Citizens for Taxter Ridge, led by Danny Gold, worked tirelessly to build
support for acquisition. Westchester Land Trust provided essential organizing
and strategic help, including professional studies of the property's
unique environmental value.
"Without the Land Trust's organizational and strategic help, this
acquisition would not have succeeded," Gold said.
The Trust
for Public Land and the Open Space Institute negotiated the deal.
Near Taxter Ridge, Tarrytown preserved 17 acres as part of a 9-house
subdivision. During subdivision review, the Planning Board persuaded
the developer to preserve 15.5 acres by clustering houses closer together
and through a gift of land to the village. The village also will buy
an additional two-acre lot flanking the Old Croton
Aqueduct State Historic Park for $250,000.
Officials plan to turn part of the property, near a small pond on Route
9, into a park.
Further south, Irvington put together a deal to protect the 40-acre
Westwood property. Irvington contributed $1.5 million from its open
space fund, which voters approved in 2000, plus 13 acres of village-owned
land.
Westchester County contributed $3 million, the Trust for Public Land
and Scenic Hudson contributed $500,000 each and New York State contributed
$330,000. The village is seeking additional state funding to prevent
the sale of a small part of the property.
When combined with the county's Macy Park, Taxter Ridge and Westwood
are part of 540 acres of protected land along the ridge, which runs
north-south between the Hudson and the Saw Mill River.