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Putnam Agricultural District Hearing Draws Standing Room Only Crowd
County’s Agricultural District grows by 506 acres
by Margaret Sternberg
On December 28, 2006 the Putnam County Legislature held a public hearing regarding the Putnam County Agricultural District. The discussion ranged from the inclusion of several individual farms to the more general topic of the importance of farming to the county, the country and whether farming helps or hurts the watershed and the environment.
Legislators faced a standing room only crowd, the majority of whom had come to support various farms for inclusion in the District as well as to support the Agricultural District itself. From among approximately ten speakers, only one raised any concerns about farms having a protected status, and his concern was based upon damage that may be done to the Great Swamp and the Watershed.
Seven parcels were scheduled to be voted on for inclusion in the District; their inclusion, one speaker said, would add approximately 500 acres to the District and bring in approximately $200,000 to the county. Statistically, she added, farms bring in more in taxes than they use for services; for every tax dollar brought in, 29 cents is used for services, whereas residences use $1.26 in services for every dollar paid in taxes.
James Utter, Project Director of the Friends of the Great Swamp, the lone speaker to raise any doubts about the Agricultural District, questioned whether farms were helpful in preserving the Watershed - a position with which most of the subsequent speakers vehemently disagreed, citing stringent oversight of properties by the DEC and DEP. Utter later responded to those speakers, acknowledging their position that they had abided by procedures that were environmentally sound, but requesting that the inclusion of additional farms be delayed until a plan could be developed that would ensure governmental oversight going forward in order to guarantee compliance with procedures that would protect the Watershed.
Legislator Tony Hay questioned the inclusion of land parcels from the Town of Patterson, citing a perceived conflict between their inclusion in the Agricultural District and “Home Rule” with the Town.
Hay noted that the Town had raised objections on most of the parcels scheduled for inclusion that night. He said that if the parcels became part of the Agricultural District, the Town would lose any type of jurisdiction over the farms, and the farms would no longer need to address the problems cited by the Town. Hay explained that once the farms are part of the District, Agriculture and Markets has jurisdiction and can override local zoning laws if they feel the farm is engaging in activities that are acceptable farming practices.
Despite Hay’s objections, the Legislature voted to include the three parcels in Patterson in the Agricultural District. Legislator Robert McGuigan also voted against their inclusion. Three farms in Putnam Valley, Mclaughlin, Adorno and Correia, in addition to the one farm in Southeast, were unanimously voted into the District. Legislator Regina Morini was absent for the vote.
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