Hilltop Hanover Farm for Sale?

Westchester County bought Hilltop Hanover Farm in Yorktown in 2003, but the county legislature may consider selling it at an upcoming meeting.

Kenneth W. Jenkins, Chairman of the Westchester County Board of Legislators, said the county should consider selling the farm.

"We are looking at every discretionary program we have to determine what is the best investment for the people of Westchester," he said. "We are looking at every dollar possible to make sure we're keeping down property taxes."

If you look at the county as a corporation and taxpayers as shareholders, Jenkins said, then it is the county legislature's job to analyze all investments and see that they bring a good rate of return to the shareholders.

Jenkins represents District 16, Yonkers.

"We must be intellectually honest and look at everything," he said. 

Only 30 acres would be under consideration for sale. The other 160 acres are park lands. Jenkins said efforts would be made to ensure that the 30 acres are not developed.

"We could sell it to an environmental entity like a land trust."

The county spends $500,000 a year to operate it, Jenkins said, and could use the money from any possible sale.

"As far as I'm concerned, this is a nonstarter," said Michael B. Kaplowitz, who represents District 4 in the county legislature, which covers Yorktown.

He noted that Jenkins has brought the matter up for discussion by the legislature, but does not think that sale of the farm will get past the discussion stage.

The reasons for investing in the farm in the first place, such as environmental and quality of life considerations, are still evident, Kaplowitz said.

Hilltop Hanover Farm has been a farm since the 1780s. Over the years, it has been a cattle farm and a horse farm. Currently, the farm serves as an educational center and demonstration site for sustainable agriculture and good environmental practices. In addition, there is a farm stand on the property where the farm sells its own produce. The American Planning Association gave Hilltop Hanover its 2010 National Planning Excellence Award in Best Practices for Sustainability.

"The goal all along has been to appropriately maximize the revenue from the farm," Kaplowitz said. "We will continue to do that as a goal, but to sell the farm is short-sighted and far more costly in the short and long run."

He then used a farm analogy.

"It is like selling the seed corn to feed yourself one day, and then you can't plant and you starve next year," he said.