D2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 31,1981
Maryland puts its money on preserving farmland.
BY JOYCE BUPP beyond their typically-tight young
Staff Correspondent farmer budget.
WALKERSVILLE. Md. In 1977, the Maryland legislature
Robert and Cookie Ramsburg can had authorized the creation of ag
smile about it now, looking back, districts, and made provisions for
But for awhile, James, their the purchase of development
younger son, has had an awful easements as funding was raised,
worry on his nine-year-old mind. Administration of the program is
He was afraid the family, which by the Maryland Agricultural
also includes big brother Michael, Land Preservation Foundation,
17, was going to have to move off county governing bodies and an
the farm. agricultural preservation advisory
James doesn’t worry about that board within the county five of the
any longer. In late August, the n hi® state board members and
Bams burgs became Maryland’s three of the five county board
first fanner tenants to purchase members must be farmers,
their landlord’s farm, with the help Minimum size for an ag distort is
of the sale of development 100 acres. Seventy percent of that
onwmonta must be Class I and II sous, and be
Their 216 acres of gently rolling located in agriculture zoning.
Frederick County ground is Monies for easement sales are to
productive, growing high yielding come from general or special stale
crops of com and hay for the dairy fund appropriations, and by grants
herd of 100 Holsteins, plus young ° r transfers from government or
S tock. private sources.
But another crop dots the Half of the state funds are
surrounding area creeping allotted to all counties, and the
suburbia spilling over from the other half is then distributed to
city of Frederick, just a few miles counties with matching funds, at
west And just one farm out the the rate of 60 percent state monies
road, the housing development to 40 per cent county monies, and
Discovery looms, peopled largely limited to .a maximum of one
with urban-weary escapes from million dollars to any one county,
the metropolitan areas of A local subdivision also could
Washington, D.C. transfer open space monies to the
Since 1971, the Ramsburgs had Foundation, which in turn could be
been leasing this operation, plus an used only to purchase agriculture
additional 140 rented acres in the easements within that subdivision
valleysouthof Walkeraville, where Stauffer, who’d entered the real
the first heights of the Appalachian estate business following his
Mountainsdotthehorizon. retirement fromi active farming ui
As early as 1973, they’d men- f 96 ®* recognized the ag distnet
tioned to farm owner, Stuart easement plan as a possible
Stauffer their interest in pur- method to realize his investment
chasing the farm. At that time, from the land. With the deveicp-
Stauffer wanted to maintain ment potential sold to the Foun
ownership of the operation, and dation, the remaining agricultural
was satisfied with the tenancy of value of the farm just might be
the Ramsburgs. The arrangement within reach of the young farm
continued for several years, with couple.
Bob and Cookie, at their own Thus, the Stauffer farm became
expenses and with Stauffer’s Frederick County’s first to start
permission, adding a farm shop the lengthy procedure toward
and calf bam to the outbuildings. selling development easements,
“Buying a farm was about the and keeping the land in hay rather
farthest thing from my mind,” Bob than homes,
relates of the mid-summer day of Ffrsl st*P> though, was to have
1979, when Stauffer unexpectedly the farm declared an ag district,
offered them first chance at That application, had to be ap
purchasing the farm. proved by local, county and
Both Bob and Cookie were finally, the state board. And to
deeply involved in community pass the county’s planning and
activities, especially with the zoning approval, a potential ag
Maryland Farm Bureau, where district must first fit into the
both were serving in leadership county’s 25-year comprehensive
roles with the organization’s young land use plan,
farmer program. They’d even “We are especially happy that
reduced the size of the milking the two non-ag members of the
herd because of the time they were 'county’s board were the ones to
devoting to organization respon- move and second the approval for
sibilities. our ag district application,”
As intensely as they wanted the recalls Bob. Another area farm
farm, both knew the purchase district applicant was not so for
price, with the land located as tunate. His application was
development potential even though rejected because the land was in a
zoned agriculturally, was simply section listed in the long-range
The Ramsburg’s explain their reasons for Farm Bureau information director, Jack
favoring the use of calf hutches to Maryland Matthews, right.
One of Maryla s newest farm-owner .levation daughter, .om are Robert,
families pauses for a moment with a favorite Cookie, James and Michael Ramsburg.
plan as having development
potential.
Walkersville, just north of the
Ramsburg farm, was, at the same
time, annexing “open space” land
into the borough, in a move geared
toward systematic development at
some open-ended period of time. A
38-acre panel of the Ramsburgs’
was included in that annexation,
most of it designated flood plain
and therefore not geared to homes.
It remains largely pasture land for
the Ramsburg ' dairy herd,
although extremely heavy rains
occasionally put the flat, stream
bordered piece under muddy
water.
After passing local and comity
boards, the ag districting approval
came from the state level late last
summer.
Butthe battle was only half over.
Now It was time to go back to the
local level, starting all over in the _
'procedure, to secure easement
sale approval.
And that took nearly another
year.
Finally, early this past summer,
a “yes” came down from the
Foundation on the easement
purchase.
Values are set on a formula that
takes into consideration me land’s
proximity to roads and
metropolitan areas, soil types,
slope, and acreage. Because each
easement situation is a new one,
every case must be taken into
special study to determine just
what the easement is worth.
In late August, legal surveys
searches had been complete the
Foundation had set aside a chunk
of Frederick County against
development, and Bob and Cookie
were bonafide members of the
farm mortgage-paying set.
For the next 25 years, the
Ramsburg farm is locked into
agriculture use. That is the sole
deed restriction, recorded on- the
legal titles to the farm.
“We had to sign papers stating
that we would comply, tjrould
maintain it for ag use,” adds Bob.
“Other than that, we can do almost
anything with it but build houses
there.”
There are no restrictions on
posting the land to keep the public
out, since easement sales, me'law.
states, grant the public no.access
rights.
The plan also allows for the
original landowner who sold the
easements to construct a home for
himself and one for each child, but
that permission will be granted per
owner and children only once.
And housing constructed for
tenants, at the rate of one home per
100 acres, is permitted.
Condemnation rights' are in-,
eluded in the ag preservation law.
According to Maryland Extension
Leaflet 88, a summary of the law,
“any state or county agency may
acquire by condemnation land
which is under an agricultural
preservation easement. The
agency, however, is required to
pay the landowner fair market
value less the amount paid to the
landowner for the easement.”
' After the 25-year period, the
landowner at that time may call
for a termination review if he
wishes out of the land preservation
program. The Foundation will
have 180 days to study an opt-out
request, and must do an on-site
inspection, plus hold a public
hearing. As in the other steps to
sign-up preservation land, the
state board can give approved only
after the county would have ap
proved termination..
If termination is' approved, the
landowner can buy back the
easements at fair market value,
based on an appraisal for which he
would pay. If a landowner fails to
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repurchase the easement within
six months, he must wait another
five years before again applying
for a termination.
Will the ag district and easement
route guarantee that farmland will
stay cropped and not paved? Or, is
it a method of buying time, with
landowners a quarter-century
from now ready to buy back
easements in order to sell for even
higher development returns?
Neither the Foundation, nor the
Farm Bureau which worked long
and hard for the legislation, nor
Bob and Cookie Ramsburg, really
care to venture a guess.
And right now, that’s the least of
the Ramsburg’s concerns.
“I’m not sure how our sons
would get it out at that time,”
speculates Bob, “But I do know
that if we hadn’t gotten it signed
up, they’d never have to worry
about that problem, because we
simply would never have gotten
the farm.”
The Ramsburgs have special
praise for the efforts of - Royd
Smith, chairman of the county’s
land preservation committee.
Before Maryland even thought
much about a land preservation
system, they say, Smith was
working privately by his own
convictions toward saving far
mland.
As of July 1981, 287 Maryland
farms, representing almost 41,400
acres, were signed up in ag
districting. Of that group, 49 had
sold easements, representing
nearly 7,900 acres, and 16,906 acres
in 104 farms were applying for
easement sales.
Carroll County leads the sign
ups, with 78 properties in *ag
districts, 30 sales of easements,
and 36 easement sales pending.
Second is Anne Arundel with 38 ag
districts but only one easement
sale, and a dozen pending.
Most of ag district sign-up ac
tivity is takings place in areas
adjacent to the~ cities, with
Baltimore, Caroline, Frederick,
Howard and Washington counties
also setting aside several thousand
acres for agriculture’s future.
iHs