‘Bedford’s backyard preserve’
By JEFF MORRIS //
The town of Bedford held a ribbon-cutting ceremony July 24, celebrating the culmination of a years-long effort to preserve and provide public access to the 87-acre Buxton Gorge property in Bedford Hills.
The property had been on the town’s radar for more than 20 years. It is a forested area that lies between Buxton Road, the Rome Avenue apartments, and state Department of Corrections property. It surrounds a spectacular natural gorge formed by glaciers and erosion over thousands of years.
Last November, the Bedford Town Board approved the expenditure of $1.5 million from the town’s open space fund for the Buxton Gorge purchase.
Town officials said the ribbon-cutting ceremony July 24 was held both to celebrate this significant recent addition to Bedford’s open space and to honor volunteers and community partners who contributed to the success of the acquisition and who will help secure its ongoing preservation and community benefits.
“With the property’s 22-year tenure on the town’s high-priority open space acquisition list, the Bedford Town Board has picked up the work of past supervisors, the Open Space Acquisition Committee, and dedicated community partners to realize this next piece in the puzzle resulting in an environmental treasure for residents to protect and enjoy now and in the future,” said Bedford Town Supervisor Ellen Calves.
She added, “This land is now protected for the benefit of the environment and the enjoyment of our residents, making Bedford an incredibly desirable town in which to live and underscoring the value we place on sustainability and wellness.”
Calves stressed that the preserve is in walking distance to the town’s most diverse neighborhoods, “illustrating the ability to provide inclusion, equity and access to all residents through open space acquisition. Buxton Gorge is Bedford’s backyard preserve, open for all to enjoy.”
According to town officials, the preserve is home to 16 species of mammals, 73 species of birds, 11 species of amphibians and reptiles and 193 species of plants and trees. The preserve is also “a lovely place for a shaded walk in the woods,” they noted.
In addition to existing Bedford Riding Lanes Association trails on the property, the Recreation and Parks Department has blazed a new family-friendly, moderate difficulty, 1.25-mile trail that loops around the preserve with views of the gorge. The department also plans to develop a trailhead area with six parking spots off Buxton Road. Parking is also available for hikers and horse trailers at the Bedford Community Church on Bedford Center Road.
After the brief ceremonial ribbon cutting, Bedford Recreation and Parks Commissioner Christopher Soi led a hike on the town’s new trail. W. Grant Gregory, chairman of Lakeover Development Company, hosted a reception after the hike and shared his vision for community collaboration and engagement in conservation.
Years in the making The first portion of the town’s purchase was negotiated in 2019 between then-supervisor Chris Burdick and Gregory; Lakeover Development Company had acquired the property in 2003. Members of the town’s Open Space Acquisition Committee worked to encourage Gregory to make the sale. The town board approved the purchase of 56 acres that included the gorge in April 2020, and began efforts to establish a trail system with multiple trailheads that were safe, accessible and convenient to the public.
When Burdick, who was subsequently elected to the state Assembly, looked back on his time as supervisor in December 2020, he cited the purchase of Buxton Gorge Preserve as one of the highlights of his tenure —the largest open space acquisition in the town’s history.
Over the next several years, town officials and community members were able to work together to facilitate access to the property, including completing a four-party agreement in November 2020 between the town, the Bedford Community Church, the Westchester Land Trust and the BRLA. Jeff Osterman, then-planning director, said the BRLA trails provided “the first simple, easily available access into the park.”
In 2021 and 2022, Soi worked on further improvements, including additional access points, trailheads and a town trail system. Then in August 2023, George Bianco and Wendy Belzberg of the town’s Open Space Acquisition Committee asked the town board to consider purchasing additional parcels of land adjacent to the preserve. Bianco noted it had taken 18 years of negotiations to achieve the initial purchase, with the owner given the ability to subdivide three lots, and the committee having right of first refusal on those lots. The committee negotiated to buy the lots.
The Open Space Acquisition Committee was formed to advise the town board on potential acquisitions using funding provided by the town’s Open Space Tax Levy, which was approved in a referendum in 2000 and renewed in 2017. At the August 2023 meeting, Calves said the open space fund balance was roughly $2,450,000. Since the balance increases every year on account of the tax levy, “we don’t have to borrow too much to effectuate this acquisition,” the supervisor said at the time.
With the additional funds approved last November, the town was able to purchase 30 more acres to link the original parcel to the Bedford Hills neighborhood, which Calves said would benefit from being able to “just walk down the sidewalk into 80 acres of a beautiful preserve.”
At the July 16 town board meeting, Calves said the fund balance from the open space levy stood at $1.1 million.
Also at the meeting, the town board indefinitely tabled a plan to establish an additional land preservation fund using a graduated property transfer tax on sales above the county median price.