Tourist Attraction and Farmland Trust
Quickly Preserve Land Near Railroad
By Ryan Robinson
Lancaster New Era

Lancaster County, PA - Four days before a Ronks farm was sold at public auction, it became the first to be permanently saved from development under a landmark initiative between the Strasburg Rail Road and Lancaster Farmland Trust. Charles and Janet Leaman’s 90-acre crop farm is believed to be the first in Pennsylvania — and perhaps the nation — to be preserved partially by funds from a private business’s daily ticket sales. “The Strasburg Rail Road runs through farmland that looks very much as it has for a century or more,” said railroad president Linn Moedinger. “This is really exciting.”

But it almost didn’t happen. When the trust learned on Sept. 9 that a farm along Route 741 near the railroad was for sale, the trust’s Caroline Novak made a house call the same day. She convinced the Leamans to sell the permanent land development rights for their 180 Cherry Hill Road farm before the public auction Monday. But there was still a problem; it generally takes about six months for the trust to complete all the necessary steps to preserve a farm. The record was three weeks but this time, the trust had less than two weeks to complete the process.

“All hell broke loose” the Monday after Novak’s visit, executive director Karen Martynick said. Trust staff worked quickly to conduct a title search, negotiate a payment with the Leamans, take photographs of the farm and plot its buildings for baseline documentation. A survey necessary for the Leamans’ tax purposes could wait until after the deal. The trust’s board approved the farm’s preservation Sept. 15 and a week later the deal became official.

On Monday, the Leaman property sold for $1,425,000. “This farm was the most important in the Strasburg Rail Road corridor because it was our first,” Martynick said. Losing the farm to houses “would have been a tragedy.”

The Paradise Township farm is zoned agricultural, which allows one house to be built on every two acres. “We were concerned that probably a developer may buy it,” Mrs. Leaman said. “We couldn’t see how good farmland should be put into houses.”

In June, the Strasburg Rail Road agreed to give five cents from every ticket it sells, excluding Thomas the Tank Engine events, to the trust to save farmland along the railroad. It amounts to about $15,000 a year. Martynick said the railroad will pay about $5,500 to cover the transaction costs with the Leaman deal. The final costs for the property have not been determined, she said. They are in line with the trust’s average spending of between $500 and $600 an acre for development rights. Up to half of those funds will come from matching funds from the county, Martynick added.

Martynick said the trust is working on various outreach programs in the Strasburg Rail Road corridor, so preserving the next farm does not have to be an 11th-hour race. The trust wants to preserve as many of the 20 farms in the immediate view of the railroad line as possible. The farms comprise 1,100 acres. Martynick said she knows of no other similar business/farmland preservation partnership in the nation.

The trust’s executive director said a second “major business” will likely announce in November its intention to follow the railroad’s lead and commit a steady stream of funding to saving farmland. A press conference announcing the Leaman farm preservation was held today at the farm and a picnic is set for Friday at the railroad. The farm has significant road frontage along both Route 741 and Cherry Hill Road and is close to both urban growth and village growth areas.

But adjoining farm owner Jack Coleman, who bought the Leaman property for over $15,000 an acre, said he plans to continue to farm it. He has rented the acreage for crops since 2000. “It is a perfect connection to my farm,” he said today. “I will double-crop it.” Coleman’s Cherry-Crest Farm is well known for its Amazing Maize Maze.

Coleman said he needs acreage for the spreading of manure from a nearby hog operation. Also, his daughter may move into the historic house on the Leamans’ property, he said. The stone house, which has 22-inch-thick walls, was built in 1747. “We’re glad the farm went into the trust,” he said. “I don’t think anybody in this neighborhood wanted to see houses built.” Charles Leaman grew up on the farm, which his grandparents purchased in 1895. In the past, the Leaman family kept cattle, laying hens and brood sows on the farm, and grew corn, soybeans and some hay.

Charles and Janet Leaman bought the farm in 1960 and opened a bed and breakfast visited by thousands through the years. Their three children were not interested in farming, so the Leamans sold their farm animals in 1988. They are moving to Willow Street. Mrs. Leaman said she always enjoyed the railroad as a neighbor. “You can see the track from my kitchen,” she said. “We’re going to miss hearing the whistle every half hour.”