Simsbury Officials Consider Sale of 40-acre Pharos Farm

The town of Simsbury will hold a public hearing on December 10 to find out what residents think about the possible sale of Pharos Farm.

Pharos Farm is a 40-acre parcel of prime farmland between Terry's Plain Road and Quarry Road near the Farmington River. The land has been farmed by George Hall along with another 10.6 acre parcel located at 180 Old Farms Road in West Simsbury for nearly 40 years.

A proposal submitted by Charles Howard, president of the Simsbury Land Trust, to the Town of Simsbury requests consideration of the sale of Pharos Farm to George Hall for $480,000, the amount determined by a recent appraisal. Town officials approved the use of $3,000 to perform its own appraisal on the land.

Hall has farmed the land organically since the mid-1970's and has been certified organic for approximately 25 years, according to the proposal.

If the town agrees to sell the land, the trust plans to purchase a permanent agricultural easement encumbering both the George Hall Farm and Pharos Farm properties. In turn, the trust will pay Hall $550,000 for the two properties which will give him enough money to purchase Pharos Farm.

The trust plans to use grant funds to make the purchase.

"Both would be preserved for agricultural purposes," Howard told the Simsbury Board of Selectmen during a Nov. 26 meeting. View the full meeting on SCTV.

The board voted to approve the public hearing which will be held Monday December 10, 2012 at 7 p.m. in the main meeting room at town hall.

For more information or to view the Simsbury Land Trust proposal visit the town website.