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July 18, 2002Conservancy deal will protect farm- Leelanau will buy 90 acres, state will purchase 222 acresBy STACEY SMITHRecord-Eagle staff writer GREILICKVILLE - In its largest farm preservation project ever, the Leelanau Conservancy has brokered a deal with an Elmwood Township farm family that will prohibit development on more than a third of its 600-acre farm and restrict it on another portion. The conservancy has been working with the John and Jerry Stanek families for about two years to find a way to infuse cash into the fourth-generation farming business while protecting portions of the farm, said Brian Bourdages, land protection specialist. Under the deal, reached between the conservancy, the Staneks and the Michigan Department of Agriculture in mid-June, the conservancy will buy 90 acres of the Stanek farm and the state will buy the development rights to another 222 acres. By purchasing development rights to the 222 acres, the state is ensuring that land will remain in farming forever, said Rich Harlow, state farmland preservation program manager. The Stanek brothers, who now grow apples, peaches and cherries on the land their ancestors settled in 1883, can still sell the land, but it must be sold to someone who plans an agricultural use for it. The land cannot be left as open space and must be farmed, Harlow said. For the Staneks, the decision was strictly business, Jerry Stanek, 54, said. The brothers were looking for a way to bring some money into the family business after several difficult years for cherry prices, Stanek said. "We had been exploring for about five years the different things we could do to generate cash flow for the farming operation," he said. In the past few years, cherry growers have faced low prices due to a glut in cherry production. This year's crop was nearly destroyed by freezing spring temperatures. Local farmers also confront tough competition in the apple market from other states, which drives down the price farmers can get for their apples. The Staneks applied to the state to sell their development rights in 2000, Stanek said. The brothers learned just last month their application was one of 12 to be accepted. More than 300 applications were received by the state, Harlow said. The conservancy helped the Staneks with the application and also put up a 50 percent match for the purchase. This made the Staneks' application more attractive to the state because it meant the state would pay less, Harlow said. "Part of the thing that caused the Stanek property to stand out is the participation of the conservancy," Harlow said. Harlow and Stanek said the property has not been appraised yet by the state, so a dollar amount for the purchase has not been determined. When purchasing development rights, the state pays the difference between the property's value as ag land and its value as a development, Harlow said. Larry Mawby, chairman of the newly created Leelanau County Farmland Preservation Board and a local grape grower, said he expects to see more farmers sell their development rights to either the state or the county. "There are lots of other farmers in the county who are in the same situation (as the Staneks) and would like to get some of the value out of their real estate without losing their real estate," Mawby said. Soon, Leelanau County may have an ordinance in place to allow the county to purchase development rights, Mawby said. The farmland preservation board has drafted an ordinance to allow such purchases and county commissioners have scheduled a public hearing on the proposed ordinance at 7 p.m., Sept. 24, at the Horticultural Research Center in Bingham Township. That's good news, Harlow said, because the state wants to funnel that money for development rights purchases to local units of government. The other 90 acres bought by the conservancy will be resold, Bourdages said. The conservancy will resell the land to one or two buyers who will agree to leaving 80 acres undeveloped. A maximum of two homesites will be allowed on the land, he said. Stacey Smith is the reporter for Leelanau, Manistee and Benzie counties. She can be reached at (231) 933-1408, or at ssmith@record-eagle.com |
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