Clifton Park residents had the chance to give input on how the town can help protect local farmland and open spaces on Monday.
There was a steady stream of residents in the Clifton Park Senior Community Center Monday. They turned out to read the results of recent farmer and resident surveys, and give further input on how they’d like to see the Saratoga County town develop into the future.
“These farm resources are part of the character of the town and for the past 20 years Clifton Park has been a leader in open space protection and protected over 2,000 acres of preserves and farmland either in permanent easements or acquisitions,” said David Miller.
David Miller is the chair of the town’s Open Space Trails and Riverfront Committee.
In 2024, Clifton Park was awarded a $25,000 New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Municipal Farmland Protection Plan Grant. That funding was then matched by the town, which has been working on a comprehensive protection plan since.
“Today, we have garnered town resources and state grant funds to do a complete analysis of the farmlands remaining and what protections they need so they will be here for many years to come. This farmland preservation strategy study is critical to get state grants, to get state resources, to get local programs and zonings reviewed so that farmland is here to stay in Clifton Park,” said Miller.
Agatha Reid sits on the town board and owns a horse-riding farm in town. She said the large turnout will be vital to guiding the town’s future preservation efforts.
“We have a lot of support for the agricultural sector but now it’s asking where do they see things going? Where do they need the support, what’s important to farmers? How can we help them to continue farming in Clifton Park? And what’s important to residents? Wht kind of farms do they want to see, what can they do?” said Reid.
In 2024, Saratoga County’s annual Open Space Preservation grant program was able to fund $600,000 in applications, up from $400,000 the year before, including 47 acres of farmland in Stillwater, 75 acres in Northumberland, and 81 acres of mixed forest property in Moreau.
Jen Viggiani is the town’s Open Space Coordinator. She says as support for land preservation continues to build, it’s important to get stakeholder input.
“Well I think we’ll see what—how people are prioritizing the challenges that we have and also the opportunities and then we can turn that into actions. That’s the idea of this plan is to set forward a vision and goals and actions. So, look for some low-hanging fruit as well as some larger goals we can work on. So, things that don’t cost a lot of money and maybe things that will cost a little bit more money,” said Viggiani.
Nan Stolzenburg is the principal consulting planner at Community Planning and Environmental Associates. She’s not all that surprised by the feedback so far.
“Well, we see a lot of the same issues related to agriculture in a lot of places, a lot of challenges, and a lot of ideas. But constraints, you know, time, money, personnel. We have an aging farmer population, there’s a lot of things going on that makes it very difficult, but the toolbox is big so we just have to find the right tools for Clifton Park,” said Stolzenburg.
Behind her there’s a series of posters where residents place stickers next to the challenges they view as being the most important facing local agriculture.
“We’re getting old. We’re getting old and the people who are coming here come from totally different lifestyles. We’re the only ones that are here that are going to try to protect what’s here,” said Linda Conpropst.
Linda Conpropst has been living in Clifton Park for 54 years. She’s one of many residents who’ve indicated “development pressure” is one of the more pressing challenges to preserving farmland.
Conpropst supplements her grocery shopping with as much local produce as she can get — but she knows local farmers, who have been in town for generations, need more support.
“We’ve got too many places that are being buried in concrete and we need to maintain our agriculture and there’s nobody here to do it. The people that have been here, that are here now are having a very difficult time trying to farm. We used to be the biggest dairy farm in southern Saratoga County. And it’s basically turned into houses. It’s not good,” said Conpropst.
The results from Monday’s input session will be reviewed at the next town Agricultural and Farmland Protection Advisory Committee meeting later this month.
