Trust Completes Sale of 45.5-acre Edgewood Property For Permanent Stewardship
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On September 3, 2004 the Harford Land Trust transferred stewardship of the former Gertrude E. Parks property in Edgewood to the Harford County Department of Parks & Recreation. The Trust had acquired the property from Mrs. Parks in November 2002 to hold until a permanent way could be found to preserve its woodland, wetlands and quality farmland. The Parks & Recreation Department's purchase was made possible with grants of $495,000 from state and local Program Open Space funds [See Harford Land Trust News, Summer 2004]
The former Parks property lies along Willoughby Beach Road in the Edgewood area. It adjoins Otter Point Creek in the Winters Run watershed emptying into Bush River. Much of it is in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area within 1,000 feet of tidal waters.
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This land is contiguous to the Izaak Walton League's 350-acre Bosely Conservancy, the National Estuarine Sanctuary's 250 acres, and Harford County's Leight Estuary Center's 93 acres across the river, to which in 2001 HLT had added 32 acres of woodland and waterfront after purchasing them from Victor B. Hirshauer for $695,000.
About this purchase, Joseph Pfaff, Harford County's Director of Parks & Recreation, commented: "Our Department is very pleased to have another opportunity to partner with the Trust.
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photo: HLT
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It enabled the County to address current needs and future demands for recreation services while at the same time protecting an environmentally sensitive parcel. The preservation of open space in this heavily developed area is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
The Trust had hoped to impose a perpetual conservation easement on Gertrude Parks' former land and to sell the fee simple interest to the farmer already renting its high-quality tillable soils as part of his family's thriving agribusiness. The uncertain status of the adjacent 50 acres, also rented by this farmer, however, precluded his buying the Trust's land because of the risk that the unprotected adjacent land could be developed for housing and leave it and the former Parks property hopeless for successful agriculture.
Parks & Recreation is especially pleased to have this predominantly natural property at Otter Creek, on the south side of the Bush River, because it could help to serve the environmental programs of the Anita C. Leight Estuary Center on the north side of the Bush River. Presently, in order for groups at the Leight Center to investigate the natural qualities of the Bosely Conservancy and Otter Creek, they must paddle or power for about one mile before they reach their destination for study. In the future, Parks & Recreation could construct a launching and retrieval area for canoes and kayaks on the former Parks property, enabling the groups to move more easily and quickly to the most interesting natural areas. Also, the excellent farm soils there can continue to be farmed under a lease and, if needed in the future, some of the level land could be converted to ball fields.
At present, the Department's land at Edgewood Park on Trimble Road exceeds the local demand for recreational space for those kinds of public recreation. As is usually required in purchases with POS funds, the County and the Trust's deed with the Department stipulates:
"PROGRAM OPEN SPACE The deed to any tract of land purchased under a State grant from Program Open Space (POS) shall contain a clause setting forth the following restrictions on its use. It is understood and agreed that the land acquired under a State Grant from Program Open Space may not be converted to any other use than public outdoor recreation and open space use without the prior written approval of the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Secretary of Budget and Management and the Secretary of the Maryland Department [sic] of State Planning. Any conversion in land use may be approved only after the local governing body replaces the land with land of at least equivalent area and of equal recreation or open space value. In order for any conversion of land acquired or developed under a State Grant from Program Open Space to occur, the appraised monetary value of land proposed for acquisition shall be equal to or greater than the appraised monetary value of the land to be converted. The Secretaries of Natural Resources, Planning, and Budget and Management, in their sole discretion, shall determine the relative recreation and open space value of the properties, considering the fair market value, usefulness, quality and location of the properties and/or facilities." In addition, this deed also stipulates "The restriction of the use of the land only to public outdoor/open space use shall run with the land and shall be independently enforceable by the Grantor [i.e., Harford land Trust, Inc.], its successors and assigns.
During the purchase and management period of this 2001 to 2004 transaction, the Trust incurred expenses totaling about $497,311. This effort was possible with grants totaling $85,000 from four private foundations, a loan of $225,000 from HLT's Johnston N. Hegeman Land Fund, and a commercial loan of $225,000 from Mercantile County Bank, then called Forest Hill Bank. The Purchase Price had been $450,000 and the Trust's related expenses were $47,311, for a total of $497,311.
Two years later, the H. C. Department of Parks & Recreation paid $495,000 to HLT for the land, plus some of HLT's related expenses of this sale. After paying the $225,000 principle of Mercantile County Bank's loan and repaying $225,000 to HLT's Land Fund, HLT accounted for $14,850 in interest-income lost by the Land Fund during this two-year period, plus incidental expenses, all totaling $468,949. Thus, HLT at the end of this second phase had net receipts of $30,040.
Consequently, thanks to the proactive financial support of the four foundations, by the end of this three-year process the Trust was able to end up with the net-receipts of $67,729 going to the Hegeman Land Fund for future purchases of land in Harford County.
To read the Summary of Income and Expenses >>
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