In 2001, the American Farmland Trust (AFT) conducted a Cost of Community Services (COCS) study in Kent County as part of the Delmarva Farmland Strategy, with the purpose to “bring new tools to communities that are struggling with how to accommodate change and growth while retaining a profitable agricultural sector.”
AFT is a non-profit conservation organization founded in 1980 to stanch the loss of productive farmland and encourage environmentally sensitive agricultural practices.
Fourteen years later, the issues seem the same.
The results revealed that for every $1 of revenue from residential properties, Kent County spent $1.05 providing services to those lands. For $1 from commercial and industrial land uses, the county spent 64 cents to provide services. And, for every $1 from farm and open land uses in the county. Only 42 cents was spent providing services.
The study’s intent was to “change the dialogue in a community from speculation to projections and from emotion to analysis.”
Yet, in continuing discussion generated in the Mid-Shore counties of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties about development versus open space, the economics of preserving farmland seem muted—unless I’m not listening.
Before readers think I oppose residential development, I don’t. Like many, I like planned unit developments, where in most cases the land is used efficiently, with open and recreational space included in the design. Like many, I also support in-fill development in towns and cities.
Forty years ago I lived in Columbia, MD, a new city developed by Jim Rouse, an Easton native. It epitomized the best aspects of a planned community in its inclusion of residential, commercial and industrial development, along with plentiful open space, walking trails, recreational amenities and use of trees and landscaping.
What I disdain is what I observed this weekend driving to and from Philadelphia through Middletown, DE, where I see little evidence of appropriate and thoughtful land use development. Instead, uncontrolled, ugly development, consequently spawning more and more shopping centers, self-standing emergency departments, churches and other facilities catering to the needs of an ever-increasing population, strikes this passerby as irresponsible.
At the risk of sounding self-righteous, I drive frequently through Middletown. My adverse reaction only grows. In the spirit of full disclosure, I do enjoy stopping at the WaWa; the service is notable.
When I talk with friends in Talbot County, I discover that many others share my disgust at the utter changeover of what was a small town serving an agricultural economy. We all hope that what happens in Delaware stays there.
It’s to state the blindingly obvious that most of live on former farms. My wife and I do. We live in Easton on the former Brookletts Farm owned once upon a time by Dr. John Earle. It’s easy to forget that we Americans live on farms that once raised crops instead of houses.
In often heated discussions about development versus preservation of open space, primarily farms but also forests, one can forget that housing developments import people who contribute their voices and talent to a community. We can’t and shouldn’t close our doors.
I started off citing statistics pointing to the intrinsic economic value of agriculture. The culture and history of our Mid Shore counties are tied to farming and cultivation of productive soils. And farmland demands far fewer services than does a residential development in terms of educational, infrastructural, police and fire and emergency services.
The tension between development and preservation of open space will never dissipate. Perhaps, however, we can consider the economic value of retaining agricultural land, while seeking non-sprawl development opportunities in our towns and cities.
Middletown, DE is a thriving example of development gone amuck. I so enjoyed returning home this weekend to Easton through the farm fields of Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties.
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