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Orange County approves $272,569 local match to preserve Warwick family farm
Summary
The Orange County Legislature approved a $272,569 local match to acquire a conservation easement on a 166-acre Warwick farm, leveraging a 75% NY Farmland Protection grant; the easement will be monitored by the Orange County Land Trust.
The Orange County Legislature voted unanimously Dec. 5 to provide a $272,569 local match to acquire a conservation easement on a 166-acre farm in the Town of Warwick.
Alan Sorensen, Commissioner of Planning, told the legislature that the property is owned by Michael Morazewski and is located at 190 Little York Road. He said the county’s Open Space Fund, reauthorized in summer 2024 with a $1 million capital appropriation, reviewed two applications this fall and recommended this farm as the top candidate. New York State’s Farmland Protection Implementation Grant is expected to cover 75% of the project cost; the county’s contribution is the remaining 25%.
Sorensen described the parcel as prime agricultural soil in the Pine Island black-dirt region and said the family farm produces hay, straw, sweet corn and duck eggs. He said the easement will be a purchase of development rights and that the Orange County Land Trust will monitor compliance with easement terms.
The public hearing on the proposed conveyance was opened after the clerk read the formal notice and closed with no members of the public signing up to speak. The subsequent resolution authorizing the county’s acquisition of an undivided interest in the conservation easement was put to a roll-call vote and recorded as carried (19 ayes).
The county clerk’s office retains copies of documents related to the proposed conveyance for public inspection.
