Rural Legacy Area Expansion Postponed
The Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust postponed a request of St. Mary’s County government to expand the Mattapany Rural Legacy Area.
Rural Legacy Areas preserve large tracts of undeveloped land for natural resource, agricultural, forestry, and environmental protection uses. The Mattapany Rural Legacy Area runs south of NAS Patuxent River along the Chesapeake Bay. The district is significant, extending across Route 235 down to Route 5 and reaching St. Mary’s City.
The expansion would extend the area to buffer Webster Field, expanding the legacy area. Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust’s proposed expansion of the Mattapany RLA boundary is intended to limit future development in the areas surrounding the Navy’s Webster Field Annex. Parcels of six acres and larger within a legacy area may participate in the Rural Legacy program, but are not required to participate.
The Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust will be gathering input from the community in the coming year and address any inquiries or concerns from property owners after a meeting last month drew 100 citizens. People who own property and expressed interest in seeking a conservation easement in the proposed boundary can apply pending formal approval of a boundary change.
Rural Legacy Areas are designated by the state after they’ve been requested from land trusts and local governments. Owners of larger parcels within a designated area are eligible to apply for a conservation easement, restricting development on their property in exchange for compensation. This allows property owners to maintain ownership of their land while ensuring that large tracts of land will always be rural. Applying for an easement is voluntary.
A Rural Legacy Easement is different than being included in a Rural Legacy Area. An Easement involves application, meeting minimum criteria, and funding availability
Each year, property owners with sufficiently sized parcels in an RLA may apply for a perpetual easement to be placed on their property. The St. Mary’s County commissioners review the land trust’s application on behalf of these property owners and, if they are in favor of the easement, write a letter of support.
The application, along with the county’s support letter, is submitted to the Maryland Rural Legacy Board, which considers applications once a year. This year’s Rural Legacy application was due Feb. 6, 2016.
There are two state-designated Rural Legacy Areas in St. Mary’s County: The Huntersville RLA is in the northern end of the county and the Mattapany RLA is located just below and surrounding Naval Air Station Patuxent River.
Both areas protect rich farmland, forests, wetlands, historic sites, and wildlife habitat. Conservation within the RLAs provides water quality benefits to the Chesapeake Bay and the St. Mary’s River watershed, which has been described by the Smithsonian as the most beautiful and pristine estuary on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay. Protection of property in this area also creates an open space buffer to reduce residential and commercial encroachment on the naval air station.
For information, call Donna Sasscer in the St. Mary’s County Department of Economic Development’s Agriculture and Seafood Division at 240-309-4021.
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