The town of Clifton Park has grown from around 33,000 to 38,000 residents in the more than two decades that Phil Barrett has been supervisor.

Barrett talked with NewsChannel 13’s Mark Mulholland and Subrina Dhammi about how the town has been able to preserve open space while growing through smart planning.

“That was to preserve as much open space as possible through our open space planning – the farmland protection plans, which has resulted in 2,000 acres being permanently preserved and an exponential increase in our parks and recreational network,” Barrett said.

The town still has working farms, according to Barrett. In addition, the town worked to redevelop the Exit 9 area and bring in hundreds of dollars of new investment. At the same time, they have thousands of acres of parks and nature preserves and over 17 miles of trails.

“So, there’s so much to do here. You have vital services close to home – great place to shop and have fun, but you can also recreate in a lot of different ways,” he said.

The population growth has been slow, but steady. Barrett said that the town has implemented new zoning and planning requirements that would reduce future housing growth over the years.

“You have less housing units over time, but each housing unit is worth more,” said Barrett. “So it was all about growing value and making sure that we maintain our spot as one of the lowest tax towns in New York state,” he said.

The town’s healthy retail sector has helped keep taxes low, according to Barrett.

Clifton Park has also been able to offer new amenities such as a new playground at Clifton Common and 10 new pickleball courts, he said.