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The $1.7 Million Purchase Along Old Stone Road In Valley Cottage Follows Several Failed Attempts To Develop Scenic Property
Rockland County is under contract to acquire about 21 acres of land off Old Stone Road in Valley Cottage owned by the Blinn Family Trust to preserve as open space.
The $1.7 million acquisition is dependent upon the Clarkstown Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals approving a subdivision of a larger parcel of land, the bulk of which would be sold to the County. The remaining parcel, in the Clarkstown’s R-160 Conservation Zone, contains a house owned by the Blinn family.
The sale follows several failed attempts by the Blinn family to develop the land into a residential subdivision, first, for six houses, then scaled back to four houses. Both plans failed to secure the approvals needed from Clarkstown’s land use boards after a Visual Impact Study revealed that the homes would be visible not only from Hook Mountain—a popular hiking destination—but also from the Hudson River and neighboring municipalities.
An effort to sell the land to the Town of Clarkstown in January of 2023 also failed.
The County is purchasing the land to preserve as open space. It is adjacent to parkland already owned by the Town of Clarkstown. The two parcels contain scenic hiking trails with views of the Hudson River and the New York City skyline.
The Long Path currently skirts the Blinn property, and hikers must walk along Christian Herald and then onto Route 9W before entering Rockland Lake State Park property to ascend Hook Mountain.
“The goal is to reroute a section of the Long Path—a premier 400-mile hiking trail that runs from New York City to the Adirondacks—over West Hook Mountain,” said a spokesperson from the County Executive’s office.
Plans include moving the Long Path along the south side of Old Stone Road in Valley Cottage, then through town-owned land on West Hook Mountain toward Hook Mountain.
“Finalizing this rerouting will require one additional parcel along Route 9W, which is being donated to the Town of Clarkstown by a developer in exchange for zoning changes related to a separate project in New City.”
The developer of the Vanderbilt Grande, a proposed 100-unit senior housing project with preliminary site approval, located on five acres along Route 304 in New City, is donating more than eight acres of land to Clarkstown on the west side of Route 9W, 700 feet south of Brittany Court in Valley Cottage. The donation was made to secure approvals for the development of the New City senior housing project.
There are several steps that must be completed before the sale can take place. The Blinns must appear before the Clarkstown Planning Board for approval on its subdivision plan. They must also secure a variance for “maximum development coverage” for the remaining parcel from the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals. The donation will leave the Blinns without enough land for the remaining parcel to be zoning compliant.
Also, buffer zones around existing wetlands on the property need to be mapped and approved by the NYS DEC. The DEC has approved changes to its regulations which greatly expanded NYSDEC’s jurisdiction over freshwater wetlands in the state. The new regulations affect how the DEC determines the appropriate buffer around the boundaries of areas adjacent to State-regulated freshwater wetlands.
The new regulations do away with the longstanding NYS Freshwater Wetlands Maps, and property owners need to apply to NYSDEC for a jurisdictional determination to ascertain whether their property includes a State-regulated freshwater wetland. The determinations are made on a case-by-case basis and a delay in reviewing the plans may delay approval of the subdivision.
Other acquisitions of open space by the county last year include the $2.9 million purchase of 32 acres at 101 Old Route 304, and about 15 acres along south South Mountain Road in New City for about $1.9 milllion.
Acquisition of the Old Route 304 property, known as the DePew farm, protected and preserved a 1750’s farmhouse and barn, and plans include the restoration of more than 10 acres for agricultural use. It also protects vital wetlands that feed into our drinking water source at Lake DeForest.
The closing on the Blinn property is expected later this spring, following the completion of the subdivision process.
