Rockland County Executive Ed Day and Rockland County Legislature Chairman Jay Hood Jr. announced two more parcels purchased and preserved under the County’s Open Space Acquisition Program since its revival in 2020.
The County purchased 176 and 180 South Mountain Road, New City, preserving another 14 acres from development. The newly acquired Park 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,” explained County Executive Ed Day. “With more funding now added to our Open Space Acquisition Program we can guarantee that acreage will increase.”
“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,” said Legislative Chair Jay Hood Jr.
In total, 16 properties consisting of 23 lots were nominated. Of those, six were recommended for acquisition by the committee 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 Open Space Acquisition nominations, totaling another 10 acres saved. This is not including the latest nomination round which kicked off in 2023. All properties nominated are vetted by our 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.