SoSara

Clifton Park buys farm’s development rights

CLIFTON PARK (Oct. 5) — Cloverdale Farm has been in the same family for 4 generations. But 3½ years ago, it looked like that would change when the family went to the town of Clifton Park with a proposal for a 33-lot development on the property.

Not that the family was enthusiastic about giving up the farm.

“The main thing my wife wanted was to keep it nondeveloped agricultural land,” said Paul Baillargeon, who owns the farm with his wife, Sandy.

Thanks to the Clifton Park’s open space fund and the Saratoga County Farmland and Open Space Protection Program, that’s what’s going to happen. The town purchased the permanent development rights on the 59 acres for $325,000 — $225,000 coming from the town fund and $100,000 from the county program.

“When it goes from 33 lots to a fully protected open space farm, it really is a victory for the people of Clifton Park,” planning board chairman Steve Bulgar said.

“They really wanted to see this protected,” Clifton Park Supervisor Phil Barrett said about the Baillargeons. “And they can keep their property.”

Even if the family decides to sell the farm in the future, the town retains the development rights. And the property remains on the tax rolls.

Cloverdale becomes the third farm the town has protected in the past 2 years through permanent conservation easements. The other two are King Crest Farms (41 acres on Grooms Road in May 2007) and Riverview Orchards (87 acres on Riverview Road in December 2007). And that’s just a small amount of the open space the town has preserved.

“By next spring, we will be at 1,000 acres and counting of open space that is permanently protected,” Barrett said. Among the open space program’s benefits he cited are promoting smart growth, preserving the town’s agricultural heritage, protecting scenic vistas and maintaining area for wildlife.

“It’s a program that has received tremendous support from the residents,” Barrett said.

Now the Baillargeons hope to find someone to farm the land like it was when Sandy Baillargeon’s parents — Ben and Helen Heckman — grew vegetables there.

If someone is interested, “they can look me up in the phone book,” Paul Baillargeon said.

For more information:

• Clifton Park’s open space program