Patricia Driscoll and Geoffrey Hermanstorfer are resisting pressure from developers by ensuring the seven acres around their Ellicott City house remains woods and wetlands.
“We never considered it as an option,” said Driscoll of selling the land around their historic house to builders.
Instead, the couple is donating the land near College Avenue through a preservation easement program that protects parcels of land smaller than 50 acres from development.
Howard County government budgeted $200,000 this year for the Howard County Conservancy to promote the program and recruit donations. The money also will help offset some landowners? costs, such as property assessments.
Landowners can receive a federal income tax deduction for a portion of the donation.
Neighbor Michael Smith, who donated an additional two acres, also had no intention of selling his land to developers, he said, despite extreme pressures to develop.
“The development value of this property is substantial,” said Ann Jones, president of the Howard County Conservancy, who joined Howard County Executive Ken Ulman on Monday to announce the program.
When it comes to land preservation, the conversation tends to center on large plots in the rural west, rather than smaller parcels also threatened by development, said Joshua Feldmark, director of the county?s Commission on the Environment and Sustainability.
Preserving smaller plots helps curb infill development, which is squeezing new houses into existing neighborhoods. Neighbors tend to lament the burden on infrastructure and destruction of open space resulting from such developments.
However, “what is bad infill to someone is smart growth to someone else,” said Ulman, recognizing that the program is site-specific, and some plots are more appropriate for preservation than others.
Each property is evaluated for conservation elements, such as watersheds and wetlands, said Meg Schumacher, the conservancy?s executive director.
AT A GLANCE
» One to two smaller lots are preserved each year through easements
» Ten to 15 small lots are expected to be preserved this year through this program
» About 120 acres are being considered for easements, with plots ranging from two to 27 acres
Source: Howard County Conservancy
