Amsler farm protected from development
Owners get tax breaks through Bethlehem preservation program
Bethlehem
The Amsler Family Market used to be a staple in North Bethlehem for decades. It was a place known for the pumpkins and vegetables sold on a lush piece of land.
Now, the historic property will be protected forever from development as part of the town’s conservation easement program.
“(The Amslers) really came to this program wanting to conserve this land in honor of their father, who had enjoyed working and farming the land,” said Karen Shaw, open space coordinator for the town.
The protection of the Amsler Family Farm’s 41 acres of meadows and forest makes it the largest piece of property to date to remain undeveloped in Bethlehem.
The town’s conservation easement program first began in 2014 and is one of only a handful such programs in the state. According to Shaw, Bethlehem is the only Capital Region municipality to offer the program.
If approved for the program, private landowners can choose the amount of time for their land to be protected from development — starting at 15 years and extending to forever. In return, they can receive county, town and school tax breaks ranging from 50 to 90 percent.
The application process takes about a year, going first to the Conservation Easement Review Board, which recommends qualifying proposals for approval from the town board. The review board, Shaw said, takes into consideration the size of the land — which must be at least five acres — and the risk of it being developed, in order to make sure the land protection is worth the tax breaks owners would receive.
“You have to weigh that, yes, it is a bit of a sacrifice to the community, because the community does pay for it to some degree,” Shaw said. “So you have to make a judgment call there.”
The Amsler property is particularly significant, town officials say, because the land is surrounded by other developments and subdivisions, and could easily be developed too. Its visible location on Blessing Road was another incentive for the town to opt to protect the land.
“People will be able to drive by and enjoy the beauty of it,” said Town Supervisor David Vanluven. “It’s just a wonderful conservation success in a time where we mostly just see land being gobbled up by developments.”
Through the program, the town has so far been able to conserve nearly 100 acres of land with five protected properties.
Part of the goal, town officials said, is to also hopefully renew agriculture and active farming on the land, as the program protects the quality of farmland soil.
“Once farmland soil is covered with houses, you can never go back,” Shaw said. “To lay a conservation down on prime farmland, for me, is protecting a jewel in our community, so that there’s an opportunity to farm it later.”