Our Last Chance to Preserve Farm Creek...

Quickly, quietly and before our very eyes, Rowayton, as we know it, is disappearing. Open space is being replaced by one house built after another. As a result fewer birds, fish, crabs, and marsh animals are breeding here. We are covering their homes with ours. But we now have an opportunity to make sure that a major section of Farm Creek, our calm, water-ringed oasis of undeveloped semi-wild nature, does not disappear. The Campaign for Farm Creek Preserve, initiated by the Norwalk Land Trust, is under way to protect sixteen acres right in the heart of Rowayton.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), symbol of the Campaign for Farm Creek Preserve

Part One of this campaign is to protect, by conservation easement, the ten-acre parcel of untouched forest and tidal marsh which was once part of the Hart estate. The Hart Peninsula is a nursery and feeding ground for numerous birds and animals, and contains dozens of grasses and plant life which are quickly disappearing with all the building going on along the coastline. We are delighted to report that on March 13, 2007, the Norwalk Common Council voted to place a conservation easement on this parcel which is owned by the City of Norwalk. It will now stay pristine and untouched.

Part Two of the campaign is the acquisition of the old Hart property at 34 Sammis Street. The current owner has given the Norwalk Land Trust an option to purchase the two-acre property for $4.3 million. The property offers quiet, peaceful views of Farm Creek and its tidal marshes leading out to Wilson Cove. There is nothing else like it in Rowayton. We must purchase this property... and now we need your help.

This two-acre property with walking pathways to benches overlooking the water will be restored to its natural state and the stone barn will be used as a small nature center.

Part of what makes Rowayton such a desirable place to live is its relationship with water. The Five Mile River, Long Island Sound, Farm Creek and Wilson Cove – all create a very special kind of “open space” which works its magic into our very souls. As good citizens and stewards of this town we must each do all we can to protect and enhance such space.

Past generations had occasion to do that – protecting and enhancing Rowayton – and we bless them for giving us Pinkney Park, Bayley Beach, the Town Dock, and the grounds surrounding the Community Center. We all enjoy these open spaces, actively or passively, and benefit tremendously from their existence.

That was then; this is now. The Farm Creek Preserve is our chance. Please join us today.

Page 2: About the Hart Property