Cheshire
Land Trust

Cheshire Land Trust
Preserving Land as a Living Resource Since 1969

The Seymour & Emma Pelz Farm Preserve

Lee Pelz had several choices to make when considering the future of her land, including selling it for development.  Her choice, a very generous one, was to give it to the Land Trust. She has preserved the land and provided an enduring legacy for the Pelz family. 

“Sy loved this property and wanted it to stay the same. I wanted to honor his wishes. And for me it has been a very satisfying process because now I know the land will be taken care of.” - Lee Pelz - 2001

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Ives & Pelz Farm Aerials

CLT Properties

Open Space Map

Lee Pelz - 2001

Corn Tassels

Pelz Farm Preserve
Cheshire Street
Acquisition: August 2001
Acquisition Committee: Jeanné Chesanow, Pres., David Schrumm, Tim Slocum

Acreage: 13.1 acres - Adjoins 164 Acre Ives Farm

Public Access: No - this is a working farm

Description: 80% level farmland along Cheshire Street that gently slopes to the meandering Quinnipiac River. The property, with its sweeping view of Cheshire’s west ridge includes a hayfield, a cornfield, a farm pond and eight hundred feet of Quinnipiac Riverfront. The gift preserves the open views along Cheshire Street and will help protect the Quinnipiac River and the adjacent aquifer. The farm is adjacent to Ive Farm and the combined acreage represents one of the towns largest operating farms.

Lee Pelz, who was active in many Cheshire organizations, is a charter member and first secretary of the Land Trust. She is a past member of Cheshire Planning & Zoning and Cheshire’s Beautification Committee and Cheshire Garden Club.

The Trust and Pelz agreed to place restrictions on the deed to fully protect the land in perpetuity.

1. The land will remain undeveloped and will remain under cultivation.
2. There is to be no subdividing and no residential construction.
3. There is also no public access to the property for as long as Pelz lives at her house. 

Current Use:

The property remains under active cultivation by James and John Carmody. The brothers have enjoyed a long term arrangement with Lee Pelz to grow corn and hay. This agreement stands under an annually renewed arrangement with CLT.

The Pelz Farm Preserve is not open to the public. However, people like to drive by and look in at the cornfields. These photos are from September 2005 when this Preserve was brushmowed. You are getting the view from behind the wheel of this big New Holland tractor. You can get a good sense of the serene beauty of these fields and can imagine what Cheshire must have been like when more of our land looked like this.

Note: Diane Calabro, a past CLT Director, and her husband shown mowing brush for John Carmody who was busy attending to other duties at Carmody Farms. This is Dave on the New Holland.