January 27, 2009

No Sanctuary From Economic Troubles

Investment banks and real estate developers aren’t the only ones reeling from the ups and downs of the economy. A dramatic case in point: the National Audubon Society’s 950-acre bird sanctuary on the Chesapeake Bay, which is quite suddenly facing an uncertain future due to its unique financial structure. Society officials say they’re committed to assuring that the spectacular site remains undeveloped, but the troubling bottom line is that they cannot keep the property because the funding needed to maintain it has collapsed. Read more

January 27, 2009

With Development Pressure Off, Townships and Open Spacers Flex Their Dollars

When DeLuca Homes bought 215 acres of farmland in central Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in the late 1990s, it drew up plans for Estates at Sugarmill and Victoria Park, two high-end subdivisions where homes would likely have sold for $600,000 to well over $1 million. Read more

November 19, 2008

Outsiders Target Indian Land for Risky Business

Deep in the foothills, miles above California’s Sacramento Valley, the 640-acre home of the Cortina Band of Wintun Indians lies empty except for six houses, a graveyard, and the spot where the band’s ceremonial roundhouse once stood. Read more

October 28, 2008

A Curious Process for Valuing Land in Loudoun County

Officials in one of the nation’s fastest growing counties defeated a plan to purchase nearly 100 acres of land, at a cost of more than $200,000 per acre, from the largest developer in the county after the Center for Public Integrity reported that the developer was simultaneously claiming the land was worth only about $35,000 per acre for tax purposes. Read more

August 20, 2008

Eastern Shore Homebuilder Investigated for Storm Water Runoff

The New Jersey-based homebuilder K. Hovnanian Enterprises is under investigation by the Department of Justice for possible violations of the Clean Water Act. Read more

August 06, 2008

An Uncivil War: The Battle of Loudoun

Civil War remains a reality in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Abundant historical and cultural touchstones of that era dot the landscape. Scores of villages that bore witness to battles remain, some nearly unchanged. Activists work to preserve the churches that served as hospitals and graveyards for soldiers during the war. Families tell stories of forbears who fought here, while descendants of carpetbaggers still possess antebellum estates. About 30 miles from Washington, D.C., Loudoun County was just far enough from the Union lines to feel a part of Jefferson Davis’s Confederacy, yet close enough that sections of the county changed hands repeatedly during the war. Read more

August 06, 2008

Route 15 Winds Through History, Development Target Zones

Halfway between the battlefield at Gettysburg and Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello, U.S. Route 15 passes through Loudoun County, an area that may be less known, but is no less steeped in American history. Read more

August 06, 2008

Residents and Developers Battle to a Draw in Bucks County

When the bullet smashed through the living room window of Rick Patt’s Bucks County farmhouse, he was asleep. He didn’t hear the gunshot. He didn’t hear the glass break. Read more

August 06, 2008

The Curative Challenge

If land planners in Buckingham Township in central Bucks County, Pennsylvania, had their way, the Village of Buckingham Springs, a 151-acre age-restricted modular home community, would not exist. The land where it sits would still be a farm. Read more

August 06, 2008

From Wye Island to Wye Mills: Suburban Maryland Sprawls to the Eastern Shore

James W. Rouse was an Eastern Shore boy, born and raised in Easton (pop. 14,000), the county seat of rural Talbot County. Read more