The way in which the Patrick Farm gets developed will directly impact the property values of the surrounding communities.

Property values represent the amount of money that a home can be expected to be resold for. When a community is highly desirable and the number of homes available for sale in that community remains low the property values increase. Our homes are substantial investments; therefore, we natural want new development in our community to add to and not detract from perceived desirability of the neighborhood.

The primary allure of Rockland County is the beauty and charm of its rural character in close proximity to New York City, Westchester and Connecticut. The Town of Ramapo attracts professionals from all over the tri-state area who are attracted to the bucolic nature of our area as a place to raise families on spacious private properties that reflect this spacious rural character.

The Town of Ramapo has the Route 59 corridor – which is business oriented – and the higher density housing of the neighborhoods are generally and appropriately clustered along this corridor around infrastructure and the areas serviced by the commuter rail lines and bus routes. This is part of good planning and a main component of “Smart Growth.”

Any development of the Patrick Farm property should be in keeping with the other low density homes in the area so that new home sales support the investment home owners have made in their homes based on quality of life, community character and their belief and confidence in the fact that their neighborhood and surrounding communities will continue to consist of low density, single family homes.

The ripple effect being caused by homeowners in the neighborhood reducing their resale values to sell their homes in the face of this impending over development will in turn cause the resale value of other homes in the area slightly further away to go down and so on and so forth reaching out for miles in all directions.

The idea that a single developer would be selling hundreds upon hundreds new homes at below market prices that look nothing like the existing housing stock that will only serve to depress home values in the surrounding area is not a good business model for anyone, especially the Town of Ramapo itself.

So what do you do? Some people say they want to just sell and move on. Give up and get out. Well that’s exactly the what not to do.

ROSA believes that if we compel the developer and the Ramapo Planning Board to follow Local, State, and Federal laws the end result will be an honest discussion of what is sustainable for the aquifer, wetlands, and wildlife of the Patrick Farm Property and for the character of the surrounding community. Once this discussion begins, we will be able to mitigate the impacts of any proposed development of the Patrick Farm and influence the project in a way that results in development more in keeping with the surrounding neighborhood, and thereby reduce any negative impact on community home sales.

Please support ROSA’s efforts to address this issue. You made an investment in your home, please invest in our effort to maintain your property values.