Macerich Adds Farm Conservation to Upstate NY Mall Project

The upstate New York town of Wilton, population 17,300, has to decide whether to add apartments to a failing Macerich mall and preserve a 124-acre family farm in the process.

So far, its answer is no.

The town supervisor, John Lant, told the Times Union he is opposed because apartments would require more services. “There will be more kids in the school system and taxes will go up,” he said. “People are tired of paying taxes.”

He is backed by town board members. One, John McEachron, asked at an Oct. 5 board meeting, “[What] does Wilton get out of the project?”

It might have been a rhetorical question, but the Times Union reported that the benefits now include $800,000 from the developers, Macerich Corporation and Paramount Development, to preserve Wilton’s last operating family farm in perpetuity through a conservation easement. The partners have proposed transforming the nearby mall by adding nearly 400 apartments.

Saratoga PLAN, a nonprofit dedicated to green conservation, is leading the initiative to save the farm. The developers’ contribution would cover about half of the easement’s cost.

The proposal to redevelop Macerich’s struggling Wilton Mall, which requires rezoning, has drawn strong reactions from the community and become a political lightning rod in the upcoming election. Lant’s opponent, a Democrat, supports the project.

The owners of the Vincek Farm believe selling the development rights is the best path to keeping the farm operational forever. Joshua Vincek, who runs the farm, said the family could have sold it a long time ago, but ensuring it remains a farm means more to them.

In a letter to the town, the Saratoga PLAN argued that it would be better to develop the mall’s “greyfields” than the farm’s “greenfields.” The farm buffers a source of drinking water, provides a local food source and reduces flood risks, the nonprofit wrote.

The town board is expected to take up the discussion again today.

— Holden Walter-Warner