Friends of Historic Glasgow (Delaware)

Going, Going, Gone? (3/26/04)

Newark Post article

By Katie Dowling

Like a sky full of stars, open space in New Castle County is disappearing overnight.

Approximately 10,000 acres of farmland has been developed between 1992 and 1997, but a handful of motivated locals dedicated to slowing development have vowed to rally around a historic Glasgow farm to prevent any of its 240 acres from development. However, their efforts may be coming to a head as plans to develop the property near the northwest corner of routes 896 and 40 loom on the horizon.

According to Susan Arday, the granddaughter of the farm's owner, the property paints the picture of Delaware history. Native American arrowheads and axe heads, dating from as far back as 10,000 BC, have been uncovered. What is believed to be remains of bunkers from British and Hessian Revolutionary War troops sit within property lines. The house, built in 1815, appears on the National Register of Historic Places, as it was the stage for early vaccination research.

To Arday, the farm known as La Grange or the Barczewski farm represents the history and growth of a community, a state and a nation, something too valuable to lose.

While British and Hessian Revolutionary War troops once did set up camp on the property, commercial development could soon be a permanent fixture.

Original owner, Anne Napolski Barczewski still controls 85 percent of the property rights, and, according to Arday and others, she remains opposed to development. Under typical situations, as the owner with the largest percent, she should rule with an iron fist, development opponents argue. However, since her diagnosis with Alzheimer¹s disease, other family members have different thoughts.

Barczewski's two sons, who refused to comment for this article, both own 5 percent of the property rights, and are considering selling some of the land, according to family members. One of the brothers still lives on the property.

On the other side of the fence lies Barczewski's daughter and Arday¹s mother, Joanne Lewis, who owns another 5 percent of the property. Determined to keep the property as a farm, Lewis and Arday, have launched a campaign against selling La Grange, but remain hesitant to air family differences in public.

The Barczewski family dispute is not unlike what other farm families encounter. The debate over whether to sell or not is often difficult, especially in a growing area such as Glasgow. On one hand, selling could ensure a family's financial future. On the other, the land is forever lost and likely never to be open space again.

While there are rarely public supporters of development, there are plenty of opponents.

Open spaces rare in Rt. 40 area

Close family friend and former Glasgow resident George Haenlein said he is willing to testify before a court that Barczewski never intended for her property to be developed. He remembers in the 1970s when the Delaware Department of Transportation sought to expand Rt. 896, which would have overlapped with the farm¹s boundaries.

"She really caused a storm," Haenlein says of Barczewski. "We got busy taking pictures of relics found on the property." The duo took their photographs and documents to Dover where La Grange received approval for a place on the historic register.

To this day, Haenlein is convinced Barczewski hasn¹t changed her mind, although she can no longer voice her concerns.

Earnie Davis has made saving La Grange his own personal mission.

He believes Glasgow needs to save open space before it runs out.

"In this area, land is going quickly," he said. To support his argument, Davis likens Glasgow to Rehoboth of the 1930s. He pulls out a map of the town from that time. On it, a dot the size of a pencil point represents each house within the city limits. There are few dots, to say the least, and of those they all follow the major roads like a reversed game of connect-the dots. The map is of an era before neighborhoods hit the beach town, a relic from a time when the area was still dominated by farms.

"We know how Rehoboth looks now," he said. "That's what could happen here. We need to act now to keep some farmland, while we still have it."

The future of La Grange may be up in the air, and largely out of the hands of the public, but Davis said even if this property is developed, he will continue to fight to keep urban sprawl at bay.

"The road to hell isn¹t paved with good intentions, it's just paved," Davis said.

Houses are the last crop

Farm and agriculture industry experts say there are very few working farms left in the Rt. 40 and Rt. 896 areas. New Castle County has saved some properties from development, including the under-construction 291-acre Glasgow Regional Park, on Rt. 40, just east of Rt. 896.

Part of the decline of the farming industry in Glasgow is also exemplified by the closing a few years ago of a large feed and grain facility on Rt. 896.

Families struggling over the decision to sell or not might find a solution with the Delaware Department of Agriculture. The department heads the state-funded Delaware Agricultural Lands Preservation Program.

Michael McGrath, chief of planning for the department, said the program aims to help sustain one of Delaware's most significant industries, agriculture, by buying farm development rights at "competitive" rates.

In the program, the original property owner retains the deed in their name, but a clause is added forbidding the development of the property. So far, nearly 65,000 acres in Delaware are permanently protected, but none located north of the C & D canal.

McGrath says La Grange would make a good candidate for the program, but the decision rests in the hands of the Barczewski family. Owners must contact the DDA themselves.

There are critics of the program.

Bill Powers, a local farm owner, says that the rates paid out through the Farmland Preservation Act are marginal at best. With the high property value in New Castle County, it¹s nearly impossible for the DDA to compete with developers. "Houses are the last crop," he said.

While Powers will not sell his family farm, he said he can't blame other farmers for making that decision. "You hear about preserving a farm," he jokes, but it's more about preserving the farmer."

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