Council Will Consider Question to Help Preserve Open Space, Farms in Rocky Hill

The Land Acquisition and Farmland Preservation subcommittee recently approved a motion by a majority vote to send a question to the council, which asks residents to allow the town to appropriate $10 million for acquisition of land or to purchase development rights for farmland preservation and open space.

Subcommitee member Frank Szeps opposed the motion.

The resolution originally called for $20 million to be budgeted by the town, however Land Acquisition and Farmland Preservation Chairwoman Barbara Surwilo said she did not think that amount would be passed by the voters of Rocky Hill at the July 2 meeting. She even recommended that the amount budgeted be reduced to $5 million.

According to the 2001 Rocky Hill Plan of Conservation and Development, residents surveyed either "agreed" or "strongly agreed" with the town doing more to preserve open space. The survey also stated that people would be willing to pay higher taxes to preserve that open space.

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Szeps was in favor of question, however he wanted the amount to be at least $20 million, if not higher.

"I won't budge on the $20 million," he said. "We need to have our bank account prepared to preserve the farmland in Rocky Hill."

Szeps said that he has been talking with "conservative" minded residents and they "absolutely" agree with passing this resolution, even after a last month. If the resolution passes, it could help control the population growth in town and possibly, keep taxes down, he said.

"They think it is a necessity," Szeps said. He added the information from the Plan of Conservation and Development backed up his viewpoint.

Szeps stated there is after the on Brook Street, which includes 144 housing units and 5,750 square feet of office space.

"This (resolution) puts Rocky Hill at the cross roads of continuing to be a small, rural town," he said. "If we do not do this, we are going to see Rocky Hill transition in the very near future." 

The council will discuss the resolution at its meeting Monday at 7 p.m. in council chambers at . The public will be able to comment on the resolution before it is discussed by council members. If approved by the council, the question will be added to the November ballot and the residents will determine if the money will be appropriated.

"That is the highest number that we will get for an election and that will give us a true reading of the people who are for supporting land acquisition," Surwilo said about the presidential elections.  

The resolution states the following benefits of open space and farmland preservation:

• Does not add the cost of town services such as schools, as well as police and fire protection
• Attracts investment into a community
• Revitalizes cities and towns
• Boosts tourism
• Prevents flooding
• Protects farms and ranches from sprawling development
• Promotes sustainable development
• Provides an important source of land for farmers and local food production
• Safeguards the environment 

Surwilo said state statute states that $10 million is considered a "small referendum" and the funds could be broken into multiple portions, instead of being used in one large chunk. 

The town and volunteers have a point system to determine the best pieces of land for Rocky Hill to acquire, Surwilo said.

"You cannot buy every piece of land," she said.

According to the Courant, Rocky Hill has not been involved in buying open space or development rights since 1999 when the town purchased 51 acres of lot at the end of France Street through a $1 million bond.

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