Unintended consequences from Crebilly
Many people hailed the news that Westtown Township entered an agreement to buy a part of Crebilly Farm, but that was then. Now though, two working farmers are concerned for their livelihood after learning more about the deal.
Toll Bros. is out of the equation for developing Crebilly’s 320 acres, and the township wants to raise enough money through grants to buy 208 of those acres. Natural Lands is writing the grant applications, but those grants are for open space and prohibit agricultural use.
Robin McCardell of Exton has been farming Crebilly for years. He pays the Robinson family — the legal owners of Crebilly — to do that, leasing the land for $15,000 per year. He also maintains the perimeter of the property. But he’ll lose some of his income if the grant-funded acquisitions go through without any changes.
McCardell is not the only farmer concerned about what might happen. According to Randell Spackman of nearby Thornbury Farm in Thornbury Township, his crops could be in jeopardy. As he explained, the grants Natural Lands is writing for Westtown to buy Crebilly would make his crops fine dining for a growing deer population.
“With the extra grass there, the deer population would explode, and they’d come eat my crops here,” Spackman said. “We’ve come so far to protect open space and farmers, but we’re losing one of the main goals here.”
Chadds Ford Live asked Spackman whether the same thing could have happened had Toll Bros. developed the farm property as it originally intended. He said it could have, but the deer population would not grow as much under that scenario because there would be less grass for the deer to eat there.
Now, though, “They’d come to my farm for the good stuff, my tomatoes and corn,” Spackman said. “What we need is an agricultural easement.”
Westtown needs $20.8 million to buy the 208 acres, and the grants total $19 million. After that, taxes would be raised for the rest and to maintain the property.
Kirsten Werner, the communication director at Natural Lands, acknowledged in a telephone interview that the current grants prohibit agricultural use. She said that the state and federal governments don’t want grant money going to commercial enterprises, including farming.
“These grants all stipulate what kind of land use is permitted, including permanent protection, public access, and responsible stewardship. Some of the grantors would require a scaling down of row-crop farming over several years on the 208 acres planned to become a township park. Farming would be allowed on the conservation easement lots, which total about 104 acres. …The bottom line is that, without these grants to purchase the property, Crebilly Farm will likely be sold to a developer. In that case, there would be no farming, and also no meadows, forests, scenic views, hiking trails, or public access,” Werner said in a follow-up email.
While McCardell, who also leases land from Westtown, prefers not to comment, Chadds Ford Live has learned that he’s been in touch with state Rep. Diane Herrin, D-156. Herrin confirmed McCardle contacted her office and said in a telephone interview that she plans to get back in touch with him but doesn’t think too much can be done to change things.
But, she added, “I suppose a conversation could be had with DCNR (the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources). That’s one of the grants that restricts the use. Whether it’s possible to make an exception in this case or any case, I don’t know.”
Under the current plan, the 208 acres would be a publicly accessible park. And there would be four other parcels totaling 104 acres that would initially be conserved through Natural Lands but then could be sold to a private individual who could farm them but not be able to develop those acres.
For now, though, Herrin — who said she’s always been in favor of preserving Crebilly — said people would have to accept the current status and adapt to that fact if it can’t be changed.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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