I’m proud to announce something very special this week – the latest properties purchased, preserved, and protected under the County of Rockland’s Open Space Acquisition Program. Those properties are located at 176 and 180 South Mountain Road in New City, totaling 14 acres. The newly acquired Park will be preserved as open space, with the potential to add hiking trails in the future.

In 1950, hundreds of farms sprawled across more than 17,000 acres in Rockland. Fast forward to current day; we only have a handful left on 400 acres and only 4% of land remaining to be developed or protected.

This is why my administration is doing what it can to preserve more land, irreplaceable resources, and the wildlife calling it home. 

I’d like to remind everyone that what makes this program so special is the collaboration involved in this program. 

The public first nominates the properties that are then vetted by our Open Space Advisory Committee made up of representatives from the Division of Environmental Resources, Department of Planning, Department of Health, and Finance Department’s Tax Enforcement Unit.

Field inspections are then done, and each property is scored using a point system based on their attributes which include: 

Connecting open spaces, preserving environmentally sensitive resources, protecting farms, preserving historic and cultural places, protecting the Hudson River, promoting opportunities for recreation, protecting rivers and streams, and protecting the watershed.    

When myself the County Legislature revived the Open Space Acquisition Program in 2020 the public nominated 16 properties comprised of 23 lots that were than narrowed down to 6 recommended for purchase to my office which ultimately decided to pursue purchasing the top four rated properties, encompassing 6 lots. 

There is one more property expected to be purchased in the last round of Open Space Acquisition nominations, totaling another 10 acres saved. 

I truly appreciate the partnership of the County Legislature and private citizens preserving this land and making Rockland a greener and more sustainable County and look forward to sharing more progress on this front in the coming months. With more funding added to our Open Space Acquisition Program we can guarantee that acreage will increase as we sort through a second round of properties nominated for preservation.

This is a weekly column by Rockland County Executive Ed Day