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Farmland Preservation in Suffield
The history of Suffield is rooted in agriculture. Farming activities and associated farmland continue to give Suffield its sense of place. This is evident to anyone who drives around town especially in West Suffield. The 1999 Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) set the stage for farmland preservation and the desire to protect our rich agricultural heritage and rural character. This desire still persists today and is evident in our 2010 POCD as this document clearly demonstrates the Towns’ desire to preserve as much of our remaining productive farmland as possible.
Currently, in the Town of Suffield, there are over 3,400 acres of protected or managed open space. This accounts for approximately thirteen percent of Suffield’s land area. Of the 3,400 acres, approximately 2,100 acres are protected farmland. This includes farms that were preserved by the State without town participation back in the 1990’s. The town has worked with the state in the preservation of approximately 1,300 acres of prime farmland. Our open space goal is to reserve and conserve enough land so that, forever after, a minimum of 55 percent of the residentially zoned land in Town will be permanently protected open space.
Our latest project includes working with the State Department of Agriculture and the Bielonko Brothers Farm Trust to purchase the development rights to approximately 58.4 +/- acres of the farm owned by the Bielonko’s at 190 East Street North. We had a town meeting on November 1, 2012 to get approval to spend approximately $201,000 from the Open Space Account for the town’s portion of the purchase price. The folks at the town meeting approved the expenditure of these funds with UNANIMOUS support. For more information on this project click the link to the recent newsletter below.
It is clear that the residents of Suffield support farmland preservation and I implore you to support funding for open space through the yearly budget process. As always, if you have any questions regarding farmland preservation or Suffield’s other open space initiatives don’t hesitate to contact me.
Bill Hawkins, AICP – Town Planner 230 C Mountain Road, Suffield, CT 06078 Phone – (860) 688-3848 bhawkins@suffieldtownhall.com
SUFFIELD AGRICULTURE NEWSLETTERS
November 2012 Newsletter
For additional information click on any of the following links:
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