PDR is about preservation, not access
Councilwomen Jennifer Scutchfield and Kathy Plomin got it wrong in their comments regarding the Purchase of Development Rights of Castleton-Lyons farm.
The PDR is not about access. It is about the preservation of irreplaceable farmland; in this case 1,000 acres at the intersection of Newtown and Ironworks pikes.
My family owns a farm that was in the first round of PDR contracts and remains the largest in the program, yet it is not open to the public. That condition was never part of the discussion about criteria needed to qualify.
A recent comment regarding the Castleton-Lyons contract is apropos: The land is forever; the current owner is only temporary.
James Kemper Millard
Lexington
This story was originally published June 15, 2017 at 5:47 PM with the headline "PDR is about preservation, not access."