Project
Barbara Siebens' Gift
At the very end of 1996, Mrs. Barbara D. Siebens of Pylesville donated forty acres of land along Deer Creek to the Harford Land Trust. This beautiful property with steep slopes, mixed deciduous trees (mostly chestnut oak and sassafras), and understorey of mountain laurel is based on large rock outcrops that an early owner described as "The Castle of Desolation".
Mrs. Siebens' total property contained 65+ acres with twenty acres conveyed to two adjacent owners without any development rights and five acres for Mrs. Siebens' home. The Trust's forty acres contain all the seven unused development rights.
The Trust is extremely pleased to have Barbara Siebens' gift
of this beautiful, peaceful land. In December, while preparing
to survey the property, it was memorable just to see and
hear the snow falling in those woods.
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Photo:
Harford Land Trust
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The Maryland Park Service has conservation lands some distance upstream, the so-called "Hidden Valley" of Rocks State Park, and the County Department of Parks & Recreation has Eden Mill Park downstream. The Trust hopes that other owners in the area will want to sell or donate conservation easements for the preservation of their heavily wooded lands along Deer Creek, a State Scenic River.
Photo:
Harford Land Trust
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Mrs. Siebens donated the land without restriction, but if the Trust conveys the land to another owner, public or private, it will do so with development prohibited.
Michael E. Leaf, whose firm was a Corporate Associate of the Trust, again represented the Trust in preparing deeds for this transaction and Frederick Steinmann, Baltimore, represented Mrs. Siebens.
The Trust retained Federated Environmental Associates, Inc.,
Baltimore, to prepare a Phase One Environmental Assessment
to make sure that no hazardous materials were present on
the property. Yes, this was "looking a gifthorse in the mouth",
but the Trust always does this, whether it buys or receives
a gift, to demonstrate that it has showed due diligence
in trying to detect hazardous materials that could have
been left there by previous owners and for which federal
law would hold the Trust legally liable.
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Mrs. Siebens had told HLT in late 1995 that she wished to
give this land for conservation. HLT, with the professional
assistance of Edwin O. Weaver, licensed land surveyor, Bel
Air, applied for a minor subdivision plat to divide this
property into four parts: 5+ acres and the the owner's home,
the Trust's 40 acres, the 20 acres to be combined with one
neighbor's larger
>>> A Rare Look of Summary of Expenses
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