A 59-acre family farm in Clifton Park, a heavily populated northern suburb of Albany, will be preserved as open space as a result of a purchase agreement transferring development rights to the town, according to the Times-Union. The Cloverdale Farm land has been in the same family for generations, according to the paper, and it's the third time in two years a similar action has been taken by the local government.
The family will remain the property's owners, and they can sell the farm in the future to another owner if they wish. The land will remain on the tax rolls, but by buying the development rights the town will be able to prevent the site from being developed into a subdivision of suburban homes.
A town Planning Board representative indicated the owners had previously sought to have 33 building lots on the site, but conversations with town officials led to the agreement to keep it forever green.
Read the full Times-Union story at:
http://archives.timesunion.com/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=8807324
