Rockland buys 2 New City parcels for $1.8 million

Rockland County has purchased two more parcels under the Open Space Acquisition Program since its revival in 2020.

Acquisition of 176 and 180 South Mountain Road in New City preserves 14 acres from development. The land will be preserved as open space, with the potential to add hiking trails in the future.

“This purchase is in addition to 25 acres of land protected in 2023,” County Executive Ed Day stated. “With more funding now added to our Open Space Acquisition Program we can guarantee that acreage will increase.”

The property at 176 South Mountain Road cost $1.2 million; 180 South Mountain was purchased for $593,633, according to the County Executive's Office.  Since last year about 40 acres were purchased for about $7.2 million.

“It’s thrilling to use funds in such a way that it really gives back to the people, and we are excited to save even more property from development for our residents,” Rockland Legislature Chairman Jay Hood Jr. stated.

 Sixteen properties consisting of 23 lots were nominated. Of those, six were recommended for acquisition with the county ultimately deciding to acquire the four top-rated. There is one more property expected to be purchased in the last round of nominations, totaling 10 acres . This is not including the latest nomination round which kicked off in 2023. 

All properties nominated are vetted by Rockland's Open Space Advisory Committee made up of representatives from the Division of Environmental Resources, Department of Planning, Department of Health, and the Finance Department’s Tax Enforcement Unit. Field inspections are then performed, 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. 

Once scored the top-rated properties were presented to the county executive’s team to review and decide which parcels to purchase based on the Advisory Committee ratings.

Robert Brum is a freelance journalist who writes about the Hudson Valley. Visit robertbrum.com to read his work.