Town Board also approves Glassbury sales price
The Philipstown Town Board on Thursday (Aug. 7) agreed to poll residents about implementing a tax on property sales in which the proceeds would be used to protect open spaces, wildlife habitats and other natural resources through land purchases and conservation easements.
Ted Warren, the public policy manager for the Hudson Highlands Land Trust, informed the board that revenue for the Community Preservation Fund would be generated through a transfer tax of up to 2 percent, paid by buyers on the portion of a property purchase exceeding the median price for home sales in Putnam County. That is, if the median price is $500,000, a house that sold for $700,000 house would be taxed on $200,000. People buying homes for less than the median price would be exempt.
Philipstown took the initial step toward the fund by in August 2023 by adopting a Community Conservation Plan. But Supervisor John Van Tassel said then that the idea of a new tax during the pandemic “did not settle well” with the board. In addition, said Warren, a survey of Philipstown residents conducted by the Trust for Public Land showed “a lot of ambivalence” about a fund.
On Thursday, Van Tassel said the “time is right” to revisit the idea, with the goal of having a referendum ready for the 2026 general election. “There have been several parcels that this fund could have really secured for conservation protection,” he said.
Under the Hudson Valley Community Preservation Act, a state law that gives municipalities in Putnam and Westchester counties the authority to create conservation funds, the money would be administered by a five- or seven-member advisory board of volunteer residents.
Proposals to create funds in other towns have faced opposition, usually from the New York State Association of Realtors, said Warren. He said the tax could be considered an “investment” for people buying property in Philipstown.
“It’s a very small amount, compared to what they’re probably paying for that home,” said Warren. “It is a way of saying, ‘You know, we’re moving to this community and this is our little investment in allowing the town to have this flexibility.’ ”
Glassbury Court
At its Aug. 7 meeting, the Town Board approved a maximum sales price of $547,558 for one of the 10 Glassbury Court units set aside as affordable housing. It also agreed to waive a requirement that the buyer be approved by an “affordability consultant.”
Under Philipstown’s approval of the Quarry Pond Planned Development District for the construction of Glassbury Court, the maximum price at which the affordable units can only be sold is capped by a formula, and buyers must be approved by the consultant.
Because the town does not have an affordability consultant, it agreed to allow the owners of 11 Revolutionary Road to sell to any buyer.
State parks letter
A letter approved by the board will be sent to state parks and the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail raising concerns about the safety of hikers who use Fair Street and Route 9D to walk from the Cold Spring Metro-North station to the trails in the Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve.
A draft written by Van Tassel originally accused HHFT of “directing the general public to walk along the shoulder of Route 9D.” He agreed to change the wording after a board member, Jason Angell, noted that advisories to visitors about construction-related closures do not use those words, and that there are alternative routes.
According to the letter, titled “Dangerous Condition on Route 9D Caused by HHFT,” the closure of the Breakneck train station and parking north of the tunnel, and limited parking at the Washburn trailhead lot, means more visitors catch Metro-North to Cold Spring and walk through the village to the trails. Van Tassel reiterated his proposal that the state and HHFT install sidewalks on Route 9D.
Nat Prentice, one of two candidates running unopposed for seats on the Town Board, said he and other volunteers at the Visitors Center on Main Street “get the request 50 times, if not 100 times” from people asking for directions to the trails on weekends. “And we say, ‘It’s easy. Just take the second street up, which is Fair Street, just keep on going and be careful when you get to the main road,’ ” he said.
When Van Tassel mentioned construction at Mayor’s Park reduced walking room on Fair Street, Prentice said: “Well then, we’re guilty as can be, because that’s exactly what we tell them to do.”
South Mountain Pass
The Town Board scheduled a workshop for Aug. 20 on the use of South Mountain Pass by drivers to bypass a construction project to raise the Annsville Circle.
Angell, who lives on South Mountain Pass, said drivers who would typically use the Goat Trail have turned the dirt road into a “major commuter cut-through” that sometimes “looks like standing traffic.”
Van Tassel said that residents along South Mountain Pass have been invited to the workshop, which will focus on ideas for limiting traffic and maintaining the road in the face of constant erosion. “Without a doubt, if that were made to be an overly comfortable road to travel, I think it would be utilized by a lot of people avoiding the Goat Path,” he said.
