Residents in the Dutchess County town of LaGrange approved a ballot question on Election Day that authorizes their town board to borrow up to $2 million to purchase farmland development rights, or to buy the land outright, in order to preserve open space and the quality of underground water, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal. If the total authorized funding is borrowed, the cost to homeowners with a $400,000 assessed property value is reportedly $25 annually, for the life of the bonds.
The paper quoted local resident Jessica Daly, who voted for the open space proposition, as saying, "I think the development in this town - since I moved up here in 1999 - has been crazy."
With a population of more than 15,000 residents, LaGrange is a fast growing town in a fast growing county. Covering land along both sides of the Taconic State Parkway, the largely suburban town also includes rural areas with country character, and is located about 70 miles north of New York City just east of the City of Poughkeepsie.
