The state has purchased the development rights to the Bomba Farm so that it will remain as farmland.
“This means everything to us,’’ Eugene Bomba said Monday after Gov. M. Jodi Rell toured the 62-acre farm, which is perched on the top of Great Hill Road and has a stunning view of Long Island Sound.
“This also means that the farm will keep going when we are gone,’’ said Bomba, 77.
Rell said the farm would be protected under the state’s farmland protection program. She said Connecticut has one of the oldest programs in the country and developed rights for its first farm in 1979.
The Bomba family, Eugene, Ed and Anne, will receive $865,000 — or $13,956 per acre. By selling the development rights, the land can never be used for non-agricultural purposes. The state Bond Commission is expected to approve the funding at its meeting on March 16.
This is the first farm in Seymour to get this status. Nearby, Jones Family Farms in Shelton has been in the program since the early 1990s.
Rell said the state’s goal will be to preserve 130,000 acres of farmland, with 85,000 acres dedicated to growing crops. To date, about 268 farms, totaling 35,518 acres have been preserved or approved for preservation.
“The farmland preservation program offers families, such as the Bombas, an opportunity to preserve their legacy as well as their land,” Rell said. She said in the past, farmers were forced to sell their land because of high production costs.
“Sadly, that the trade-off has turned pastures into parking lots. That will not happen under this program,’’ she said.
Ed Bomba, 81, said the agreement will keep the farm around for generations to come and enjoy.
“It’s taken a long time to get to where we are now, but we have saved the farm,’’ he said. Bomba said they have been working for the past seven years to get into the program. He said now they will be able to continue raising cattle, pigs and vegetables.
First Selectman Paul Roy said the agreement is good for the town. “We won’t have to worry about houses being built on the land. If that were to happen we’d have to build a new school. Now the land will be saved for generations to come,’’ he said.
