It was quite a study session last Tuesday, as the council heard presentations for and against the city developing a plan to investigate saving a small farm near the corner of Grant Road and Levin Avenue.
As neighbors who have lived two blocks away from the farm for over 22 years, we have enjoyed watching the seasons change there and having the opportunity to buy local produce. I spoke in support of the precise plan option at the council meeting.
In the lobby after the meeting, a woman who is on the other side of the issue, grabbed my arm and commented through clenched teeth something along the lines of why didn’t I just buy the five acres at millions of dollars apiece. Then she moved on without waiting for an answer. I don’t know this woman, but I thought it was a good question. It’s led me to write this letter. The reason I am not offering to buy the farm property is that I don’t have that kind of money.
When I started thinking about how the farm could be saved, of course the first thought that came to mind was purchasing the farm. Talking to some friends about it led me to other residents who thought preserving part of our agricultural heritage was a goal worth pursuing.
The first step was to try to figure out how much the property was worth. Experts argue about the exact amount, but basically the answer was tens of millions of dollars. As an active community member, I am accustomed to taking part in all sorts of fund-raising efforts through PTA, Friends of Steven Creek Trail, Girl Scouts, Leadership Mountain View and a whole host of other great causes that many of us work through in the process of raising our children. In those efforts, our goals are usually on the order of hundreds of dollars, or at the most tens of thousands of dollars — far from tens of millions.
So even though we were daunted by the prospect of raising tens of millions of dollars, we thought it was worth investigating whether there were other ways for the current owners to get the return on the investment of this land which they have held for so long. Getting reasonable return on the land investment was the crux of the matter. Our investigations brought us to the concept of easements for open space preservation and the tax implications of charitable giving. The usefulness of charitable deductions depends on the financial situation of the individual, but in this case they look promising.
So, arm-grabbing neighbor, that’s your answer. I would have been glad to talk to you at the meeting, and I will be glad to talk to you if you contact me. I’m presuming that you are a neighbor and share my desire to preserve and enhance the quality of our neighborhood, even if we don’t see eye-to-eye on the best way to do it.
Pat Showalter lives on Levin Court.
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