Category Archive: Easements
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Rescue plan for Downtown’s Market Square is expanding
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, April 28, 2008The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation is tackling another building rescue project in Market Square, with the aim to further a transformation already under way in the historic Downtown public square.The South Side preservationist organization announced today it will take on restoration of the Thompson Building, a three-story structure adjacent to a trio of vacant buildings where it is spending about $2.5 million to convert into a mixed use complex known as Market at Fifth.Acquisition of the building will enable the foundation to expand its complex into that structure.
Plans for 439 Market St., 441 Market St., and 130 Fifth Ave. include a ground-level restaurant or retail store, seven upper-floor apartments and a rooftop garden.
In addition, the foundation also announced it was given an “easement in perpetuity that will protect the architectural quality of the Buhl Building, another structure on Fifth Avenue near Market Square.As reported, eight new shops have moved in — or will in the coming months — further rejuvenating the 224-year-old square.
Businesses there have credited an increased police presence to fight crime, reduce panhandling and efforts to clean up the city’s streets.
More recently, new programs have been introduced, such as the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s Paris to Pittsburgh program that is providing matching grants to help restaurants and other merchants renovate their buildings and expand their operations onto sidewalks — similar to venues popular with tourists in the French capital.
Ron DaParma can be reached atrdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907.
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Preservation group takes control of Market Square block
By Diana Nelson Jones,Pittsburgh Post-GazetteMonday, April 28, 2008The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation has joined forces with N&P Properties to control the development of almost a block of buildings on Market Street, between Fifth Avenue and Market Square, Downtown.
Two five-story buildings in that block are now shells in the process of renovation into seven apartments, and a third will join the other two as retail space on the sidewalk level.
The foundation last week bought the Thompson Bakery building, which now houses the restaurant Ciao Baby, and N&P bought the Buhl Building at the entrance to Market Street at Fifth Avenue and gave the foundation an easement in perpetuity to protect the architectural integrity and terra-cotta facade.
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Brighter days ahead for Wilkinsburg
By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, April 17, 2008Following a blueprint he used to help create Station Square and improve the North Side, philanthropist Dick Scaife pledged $500,000 Wednesday to restore old homes and revitalize Wilkinsburg.”We hope to show that Wilkinsburg is a good place to live, attractive to a variety of people,” said Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. “And we want to demonstrate that there are properties available, and they can be beautifully restored and make very good homes.”Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation will get the money from the Allegheny Foundation, officials from both organizations said.
The gift is Allegheny Foundation’s biggest grant in recent memory, said Executive Director Matthew Groll. The Downtown-based foundation is chaired by Scaife, owner of the Tribune-Review.
The Allegheny Foundation helped finance restoration of Station Square, the Mexican War Streets and Manchester, Groll said, and Scaife was inspired during a drive through Wilkinsburg several months ago to continue restoration efforts there.”People see a little spark happening down the street,” Groll said. “Hopefully, the enthusiasm spreads and the community as a whole will rise up to meet the new enthusiasm.”
About two years ago, Ziegler’s group started a program to restore four houses in Wilkinsburg’s Hamnett Place neighborhood. The Sarah Scaife Foundation and Allegheny County each granted $500,000 to pay for that project.
History & Landmarks acquires the homes, oversees renovation and offers the homes for sale. The Hamnett Place houses have been sold. Renovations are under way and should be finished in six to eight weeks.
Walter and Rachel Lamory of Regent Square bought a turreted duplex on Jeanette Street for $95,000, one of the four buildings renovated.
“I know the perceived drawbacks of the area, said Rachel Lamory, 24, who attended nearby St. James School. “But I always saw the potential there. When I heard we had a chance to save these beautiful old homes I always admired, I felt we had to be part of it.”
Jack Schmitt and his wife Erin Cunningham paid $70,000 for a Queen Anne-style house that received $195,000 worth of renovations during the project’s first phase. The house has a scalloped dormer and gingerbread trim on the front porch.
“We spent a lot of time driving around, paying attention to the neighborhood,” he said. “We didn’t feel any hesitation whatsoever.”
The couple plans to buy the lot behind their home and the house next to it. They would raze the adjacent house and plant a vegetable garden. They want to set up a food stand and sell their food with a neighbor.
State Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, praised Scaife’s gift as a boost to the community’s morale.
“It’s exciting when you see this kind of financial commitment,” Ferlo said. “It builds credibility for the economic restructuring and activities within Wilkinsburg that are aimed at revitalizing the core of the community.”
Bill Zlatos can be reached at bzlatos@tribweb.com or 412-320-7828.
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Roberts House stabilization begun
PHLF News
March 7, 2008We announced several months ago that we have acquired the Roberts House in Canonsburg, a rare Victorian structure in the Georgian Manor, exceedingly important in Western Pennsylvania.
We are acting as interim owners with the ultimate goal of transferring it to the newly formed Canonsburg Cultural Trust for an arts and community center.
In the meantime the building required immediate work and we have removed dilapidated wooden appendages that had been added to the building as well as installed temporary shoring to aid in the stabilization of the first floor joists and roof dormers.
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Restaurant, grocer signed for Cork Factory retail space
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Mark Belko,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe owner of the Clark Bar and Grill on the North Side and Caffe Amante, Downtown, plans to open a restaurant and cigar and wine bar as part of the Cork Factory development in the Strip District.
The restaurant is one of two businesses planning to occupy the retail space located directly across the street from the Cork Factory, a 297-unit apartment complex at Railroad and 23rd streets that opened in May.
A specialty grocery store also is in the works. It will occupy nearly half of the 45,000 square feet of retail space available in the 3.5-acre Cork Factory development.
Both the restaurant and the grocer have executed leases and are expected to open for business this spring, according to a news release issued yesterday by Cork Factory developer McCaffery Interests.
“This is a catalyst project that I believe is going to create great change, not only for the Strip but for Downtown Pittsburgh,” said Katie Pliscott, leasing director of McCaffery.
The restaurant will be operated by Angelo Lamatrice and his son, David. The Lamatrices currently own and operate the Clark Bar and Grill on the North Side near the stadiums and Caffe Amante in Fifth Avenue Place, Downtown.
Angelo Lamatrice did not want to talk about the Cork Factory venture yesterday, saying plans were still being finalized.
“It’s early,” he said.
But according to the developer, the restaurant will occupy about 10,000 square feet of space and will feature a “sophisticated” wine and cigar bar. There also will be VIP rooms, Ms. Pliscott said.
The operator of the specialty grocery store has not been identified. Ms. Pliscott would give few details about the store, but said it would be operated by a Pittsburgh businessman.
With the plans for the restaurant and grocer, only about 11,000 square feet of retail space remains in the complex.
Since opening last year, the Cork Factory has rented 87 percent of its units, which range from studio apartments to three-bedroom lofts. Rents run from $1,200 a month to $3,900 a month.
Besides the retail development within the complex, there are plans to develop a full-service marina on the Allegheny riverfront.
Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First published on January 30, 2008 at 12:00 am -
Farmers like option to ‘save’ agriculture
By Michael Aubele
VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
Sunday, December 2, 2007Butler County farmer Ed Thiele said he has no regrets about enlisting in the state’s Farmland Preservation program.
“I’ve had a lot of people tell me I was foolish for doing it,” he said. “But I did it to preserve the ground. We have to do something to preserve our farmland. We’re losing too much of it.”
The state paid Thiele $363,432 in 1996 for development rights on his dairy farm in Jefferson and Winfield townships. The easement guarantees the farm remains designated for agricultural use.
Thiele likely could’ve earned much more by selling his farm, or a portion, to a developer. But he said he has plans to keep the farm working and pass it on to his children.
The goal of the program is to conserve valuable farmland that can’t be reclaimed once it’s developed, That’s because the soil won’t be suitable for agriculture after it’s been so seriously disturbed.
Thiele and a few other Butler County farmers said the state’s program has been successful in reaching that goal. “There are always people stopping by, asking if I’ll sell them a portion to build a house or a church,” he said. “I tell them right off the bat that there’s a deed restriction on it.
“It’s a pretty big decision if you’re going to do it. If you’re going to do it, you’d better make sure it’s the right thing,” Thiele added. “If your goal is to make money, don’t get into the program. If it’s to preserve the land, then do it.”
Thiele said that once a farmer decides to sell development rights to the state, there’s no turning back.
“It’s not something you can get into and then get back out of again,” he said. “I’ve heard of cases where people tried to get out by paying back the money plus interest but couldn’t.”
According to the state Department of Agriculture, there are more than 100 farms in Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler and Westmoreland counties that are protected by the state’s program. About a dozen of those farms are in the Alle-Kiski Valley — the bulk of them in Butler County.
Agriculture department officials said more than 370,000 acres are preserved in the state, representing about 5 percent of the state’s farmland.
“Pennsylvania leads the nation in farmland preservation,” said Doug Wolfgang, director for the agriculture department’s Bureau of Farmland Preservation.
Wolfgang said it is unknown how many of the state’s farms would qualify for the program. The USDA, he said, has classified 7.65 million acres in Pennsylvania as farmland.
According to the American Farmland Trust, about 150,000 acres in the state have been developed over the last 10 years.
“Pennsylvania is blessed with a lot of good soil that’s better used in the long run keeping it farmland,” said Jim Baird, American Farmland Trust official. “There is other suitable land available to put buildings on to deal with growth.”
Ed Goldscheitter, who farms in Buffalo and Clinton townships, agreed and said that’s why he decided to protect his land through the state’s program.
“For 40 years I’ve been concerned about losing farmland to development and urban sprawl,” he said.
Goldscheitter has two parcels in the state’s program. He said he intends to pass the property down to family.
“We’re stewards of the land,” he said. “You just can’t keep putting up housing plans on it and continuing to destroy it. It’s not something we can let disappear because we don’t understand the value of it.
Goldscheitter said that when he decided to enter his second parcel into the program, he was one of the farmers forced to wait for funding to become available.
But he declined to say he felt any disappointment at having to wait. He said that’s the nature of the program.
“It is more difficult to get in now,” he said. “You make the assumption that farmers want to keep their land in the family and continue farming.”
Goldscheitter said he doubts farmers seek out the program to make money.
Fellow Butler County farmer Harold Foertsch estimated that he could earn three times as much money by selling his land to a developer than by selling development rights to the state.
Still, Foertsch said that didn’t dissuade him from applying this year for the program.
Foertsch farms corn, beans, wheat and potatoes and raises cattle. He said he’s seeking to have 100 acres protected and has been told his farm was accepted although he hasn’t been paid yet.
Like Thiele and Goldscheitter, Foertsch said his concern is watching good farmland turn into developed property that can’t be returned to agricultural use.
Farming for Foertsch is a family affair and he said he plans to keep it that way.
“It’s a way of life,” he said.
Michael Aubele can be reached at maubele@tribweb.com or 724-226-4673.
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Private, public groups encourage farm protections
By Bob Stiles
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, December 2, 2007Levi Miller’s straw hat and long, white beard moved from side to side as he shook his head at the notion of the Amish accepting government money to preserve farmland.
“I don’t think any of our people would go for that,” said Miller, 80, of Smicksburg, Indiana County, who has farmed for more than 50 years. “They don’t take pay for something they don’t do.”Amish farmers in the counties of Indiana, Somerset or Lawrence — areas with large Amish settlements — don’t participate in farmland preservation programs, according to preservation officials in those communities. But in Eastern Pennsylvania, Amish in fast-growing counties such as Lancaster and Chester have come to realize that preservation programs may be the best way to preserve farmland.
“I think part of it is, in southeastern Pennsylvania, it’s right in your face,” said Matt Knepper, director of Lancaster County’s farmland preservation program. “The conversion of farmland to other uses, we see it every day.”
With the preservation program, a farmer sells the right to develop the property, and receives a set amount of money per acre in exchange for keeping the land in agriculture. The amount varies from county to county, based on real estate values and the money available, agriculture officials said.
There has been less of a push with the farm preservation program in southwestern Pennsylvania than in eastern counties, where development is more rapid. The Amish in Western Pennsylvania also tend to be more conservative than those in the southeast, Kraybill said.“They won’t accept any money from the government,” said Susan Moon, assistant manager of Somerset County’s conservation district.
Pennsylvania’s Amish population of about 48,600 ranks second to Ohio’s nearly 55,000 Amish residents, according to the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Lancaster County. Amish settlements in Lancaster County, Indiana County and the New Wilmington region of Lawrence County are among the largest in the country, according to the college’s Web site.
Pennsylvania ranks No. 1 in the nation in farmland preservation, according to the American Farmland Trust. About $536 million has been spent through the state’s conservation easement program, preserving 344,465 acres and nearly 3,050 farms.
Knepper said time, more liberal thinking among some Amish religious leaders and a better understanding of the purpose of the money were factors in getting the Amish involved.
Betty Reefer, of Westmoreland County’s agriculture preservation program, said that’s helped encourage Amish participation.
“In the beginning in Lancaster County, it was very tough getting them involved in farmland preservation because it involved the government, but they were able to convince them it fit into their lifestyle, and it caught on,” she said.
Of the 694 farms preserved through the Lancaster County program, about 25 involve Amish farmers, Knepper said. Most of those became involved in the program within the last three years, he said.
Karen Martynick, executive director of the nonprofit Lancaster County Farmland Trust, said about 60 percent of the 273 farms preserved through the trust, or approximately 165 farms, involve the Amish.
She said her group’s use of private money appealed to more Amish than the government-funded preservation program, even though the Trust is paying about $800 per acre compared to the $3,000 to $4,000 per acre typically paid through the state-county preservation program.
“They see changes on the horizon, and they see more and more young people going off the farms,” Martynick said. “They want to see it stay in agriculture.”
The trust began accepting government funding in 2005. Martynick said that money isn’t used to preserve Amish properties if the Amish object.
Henry Beiler, an Amish farmer in Lancaster County who participates in the preservation program, said many Amish farmers didn’t understand how they could receive money for something they couldn’t see.
Donald Kraybill, professor of sociology at Elizabethtown College and a noted Amish scholar, said the Amish reluctance to participate with the government stems from an age-old conviction.
“In general, they’ve always drawn a line between the church and the state,” he said.
They don’t take out insurance policies, Kraybill added, because “they feel the church should take care of its members and its people.”
About 20 Amish farms are included in the more than 200 farms preserved through Chester County’s open space and farmland-preservation programs, said Bill Gladden, director of the county’s open space program.
He said efforts of public and private groups have met with the Amish and that has made a big difference.
A farmland-preservation arm of the private Brandywine Conservancy was formed a few months ago, and Patrick Fasano of the conservancy said two Amish farms have been preserved so far through the conservancy’s efforts.
Bob Stiles can be reached at bstiles@tribweb.com or 724-836-6622.
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Farmers line up to preserve land for agriculture
By Michael Aubele
VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
Sunday, December 2, 2007Pennsylvania’s Farmland Preservation program arguably is the leading program of its kind in the country in terms of money spent on protecting land and acres acquired.
Since creating the program in 1988, the state has invested roughly $1 billion in purchasing development rights — known as easements — from farmers who want to ensure their land remains dedicated to agricultural use.But even with the vast amount of money being spent on easements and success of conservation efforts, many interested farmers find themselves being told they have to wait for a chance to participate.
While the state has preserved more than 3,300 farms, about 2,000 farmers have their names on a program waiting list, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Meanwhile, the state ranks sixth among those losing farms to development most rapidly.
Agricultural experts say even though Pennsylvania’s farm preservation efforts could be considered a model program, more funding is needed to prevent prime farming land from being converted to housing, commercial or industrial developments.State leaders say finding additional funding might will be difficult and that there’s no guarantee throwing more money at the program will make it more successful.
“It is the nation’s leader, unquestioned,” Jim Baird, an official with the American Farmland Trust, said about Pennsylvania’s program. “But there really is more that needs to be done.
“The development pressure that is out there still is looming.”
The Trust, a nonprofit created in 1980, is lobbying Congress to allocate more money to farmland preservation and was involved in helping Pennsylvania create its preservation program.
The federal government spends money on protecting farms through the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program. But Baird said the bulk of money being spent on farmland protection is done at the state and county levels.
Farmers who enter the program voluntarily sell development rights to the state, which guarantees that the farms remain agricultural land. This is “for perpetuity,” according to the state’s agriculture department.
Through Pennsylvania’s program, easements are purchased from farmers through state, county or local dollars or a combination.
Farmers interested in the program apply through the county. They must meet criteria, such as soil type, acreage and location.
The program is competitive. Farms are ranked and then offers are made by the county through an appraisal process. Final approval comes from the state.
As for the farmers waiting for a chance to participate in the program, state and county officials said they keep confidential the names on the program waiting list.
The backlog, state officials said, is an indication of how well the program is working.
“The key to Pennsylvania’s success has been farmers’ willingness to participate,” said Doug Wolfgang, director of the agriculture department’s Bureau of Farmland Preservation.
State Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, said the state spent a record $102 million on easements last year when Growing Greener II was approved. In 2005, he said, the state spent from $35 million to $40 million on the program.
“That boost saved an awful lot of farm acreage that otherwise wouldn’t have been funded,” Ferlo said.
The state appropriated $40 million for this year, said Betty Reefer, Westmoreland County farm preservation administrator.
But, Reefer expects the appropriation to drop to about $34 million for next year.
“Whether or not there will be another effort for conservation that might be in the early stages of debate, I don’t know,” she said. “I’m thinking there will be a slight decrease in next year’s appropriation, but it’s not until February that the state announces what the appropriation will be.”
“It is likely to be less than this year’s allocation because the Growing Greener II bond monies have been obligated,” Wolfgang said.
Reefer said she’d like to see more money allocated because her county can only protect about 10 percent of the farms on her waiting list each year.
“The most applications we’ve gotten in one year was 65,” she said. “And in one year, the most we can protect is maybe five farms.
“We just don’t have the adequate funding to move ahead with it. I wish we had enough dollars to protect the farms of all the farmers that apply.”
She said some farms have been on the county’s waiting list for as long as 10 years.
“That shows that the level of dedication among farmers is very strong,” she said. “I’m sure there were opportunities that might have come along to subdivide or sell part of their farms.”
Reefer said now is the time to dedicate the funding to protecting those farms.
State Rep. John Pallone, D-New Kensington, sees it differently, however. While an ardent supporter of the program, he doesn’t believe that pumping more money into the program is the answer.
“The intent of the program is being met, based on my knowledge of it,” he said. “I think we’re meeting our goals, and I don’t know that throwing more money at the program will make it any better.”
Pallone suggested the state might be on the tail end of farms that would qualify for a preservation easement.
“It becomes a matter of whether or not it would be prudent to preserve these lands,” he said. “Obviously, we want to preserve as much green space as possible and as much farm land as we can,” he said. “But, and I say this with reservation, I don’t know that we should preserve 100 percent of our farmland. If we continue to do things at a reasonable pace, we can implement reasonable controls on development.”
Pallone said that, at the county level, officials are working diligently to review the applications and that throwing more money at the program could jeopardize how thorough the review process is.
Ferlo said that, at some point, the state might revisit how it funds its farm preservation program but that, right now, it’s not being discussed.
“We have to deal with the hand we’ve been dealt,” he said. “There are so many competing needs out there, such as infrastructure. I want to fund all of these programs, but it’s a question of whether or not the Legislature has the appetite for binding debt.”
HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS
The state’s Farmland Preservation program was developed in 1988 to help slow the loss of prime farmland to nonagricultural uses. The program enables state, county and local governments to purchase conservation easements (sometimes called development rights) from owners of quality farmland. Counties participating in the program have appointed agricultural land preservation boards with a state board created to oversee this program. The state board is responsible for distribution of state funds, approval and monitoring of county programs and specific easement purchases.
Eligible farms must be part of an Agricultural Security Area (ASA), which is a designation made at the local level based on several criteria. In addition to being part of an ASA, the farm is rated against other eligible parcels according to the following criteria:
• Quality of the farmland. State regulations require that easements be purchased for farms containing 50 acres or more. Parcels as small as 10 acres may be preserved if adjacent to existing preserved farmland or used for the production of crops unique to the area. At least half the tract must either be harvested cropland, pasture or grazing land and it must contain soil that meets the state’s quality criteria .
• Stewardship. Farms are rated on the use of good conservation practices and best management practices of soil nutrients and control of soil erosion and sedimentation.
• Likelihood of Conversion. Easements offered for sale to counties will be scored and ranked for acquisition based on a variety of factors, including proximity of farm to sewer and water lines; extent and type of nonagricultural uses nearby; amount and type of agricultural use in the vicinity; amount of other preserved farmland in close proximity.
Farmers can receive the proceeds from easement sales in a lump sum payment, installments up to five years, or on a long-term installment basis. Many farmers use the proceeds from easement sales to reduce debt loads, expand operations, and as a way to pass on farms to the next generation.
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
COMPETING WITH DEVELOPMENT
According to American Farmland Trust, Pennsylvania ranks sixth in the country among states losing prime farmland to development. Here’s a look at the top 10.
1. Texas
2. Ohio
3. Georgia
4. North Carolina
5. Illinois
6. Pennsylvania
7. Indiana
8. Tennessee
9. Michigan
10. Alabama
Michael Aubele can be reached at maubele@tribweb.com or 724-226-4673.