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.
Question 1: Why can't the town get the USDA money directly? Question 2: Why shouldn't the town go to open bidding on the farm property if it is to be disposed of to ensure the best return. Question 3: How much does Mr. Hall pay to lease the farm per year now? My sneaking suspicion is that the Land trust is being used by adjacent landowners to increase the value of their properties in a tax deductible way. None of these properties are being used for parks or other places with public access, but only being made "non-developable". This eliminates public access as well as future tax revenue from any property being developed.
Regarding Q1 I would like to know if it is possible for the Town to get the USDA money. Perhaps the program just exists for organizations such as land trusts. If you've ever looked at federal programs, grants, etc. you will realize the limitations. You may look at a federal program that looks great and you read and read and it says something like "For cities, towns and municipalities with < 12,000 residents" that puts ones organization on the outside. Regarding Q3 Yes, when i was reading the article I thought it would be nice to know what the lease amount is now.
1. The town, the land trust and George Hall set up a deal to get government money. 2. The town sells the land to George hall contingent on the rest of the deal being approved. 3. The USDA gives the Land Trust $270K to fund conservation of the formerly town owned property. 4. The Land trust gives George Hall $550K to fund the town land purchase and grant development restrictions to the Land trust 5. George Hall gets 40 acres of public land for nothing. Where do I sign up for this deal. It looks like property flipping with a straw buyer except the buyer is real but his money is someone else's. This seems to be scam to defraud the federal government and enrich a single individual (and the town). Pretty sleazy
The land trust does publish this guide, but in this case we are talking about conservation and development easements, not title transfer to the land trust. So the land owner is not obliged to allow public access. I've lived in town 30 years and with my dogs and family go about every day on state and town land. I am consistently amazed at how few people are out on the paths and trails compared to other parts of the country. This always makes me think the prime motivation for open space advocates is to preserve their view and restrict population growth in town.