The balance between “agritourism” and community. Some may have heard of the term agritourism before, but it is generally “a form of commercial enterprise that links agricultural production with tourism to attract visitors onto a farm... for the purpose of entertaining and / or educating visitors while generating income” to help sustain the farm. A once bustling farming community with dozens of dairy farms and sprawling landscapes of wide open fields, Warwick has transformed over the years to a diverse town with far more than just farms and farmers. With the decline of the dairy industry and steep competition with Midwestern and even multinational corporate farming enterprises, the challenge of maintaining a traditional farm in New York, and Warwick, has turned unsustainable for most. Seeing the consequences of losing our farming community and landscape, the town board, with the assistance of local volunteers, fought to establish a Community Preservation Fund to help preserve farmland and open space to limit overdevelopment. This program, though voluntary and in no way forced property owners to sell development rights on their properties, was widely successful town-wide. Since its inception, the CPF and PDR program in the town of Warwick has preserved nearly 5,000 acres of open space and parkland within our town. Although development has occurred in Warwick, the CPF and PDR program has preserved much of our landscape forever and allowed farms to continue operating despite the challenges described earlier. The process of preserving a farm or open space does not stop there. With the rising costs of operation and an ever increasing tax burden, farms must continue being creative in keeping their farms operational. That’s where we see the advent of agritourism — a way to sustain local farms in a time where the typical “farm operation” is no longer sustainable. The town board acknowledges the impact agritourism has on traffic, development and home prices, but at the same time must also acknowledge the fact that it is a necessary component to keeping Warwick bucolic and protected from overdevelopment. Many farms have not opted into the PDR program and if not sustained, could easily sell to a developer where new homes will fill our countryside. This year, the town board has secured another 200 acres of farmland through PDR that will never be developed. In addition, we have partnered with the Orange County Land Trust to protect another 500 acres. We will continue doing everything we can to preserve Warwick’s character long into the future, just as those before us have done so well.
Tax payments
Ana Kanz, Receiver of Taxes, is accepting taxes on behalf of the various school districts within the town of Warwick at the Warwick Town Hall, 132 Kings Highway.
September 1 – September 30 – No penalty
October 1 – October 31 – With penalty
Partial payments will be accepted during the month of September. Please contact the Tax Receiver at 845-986-1120, ext. 6, prior to the penalty period. Partial payments are not accepted, if taxes are due to the Commissioner of Finance.
Credit cards are accepted for online payments. (A Convenience Fee will apply.) Only checks and cash are accepted for in-person payments.
For more information, log onto egov.basny.com/warwick or townofwarwick.org.
Jesse Dwyer, Supervisor
Town of Warwick