Doylestown Twp. in Pennsylvania agreed to seek appraisals for easements at two farm properties for inclusion of bike and hike trails, but the proposal has been met with some resistance. After numerous attempts to reach the owner of the Fordhook Farm property, a recent letter from the property owner’s attorney rejected the township’s proposal.
“It’s not a positive letter,” Bike and Hike Trails committee member Tom Kelson told The (Doylestown) Intelligencer. “But it’s a letter and it opens the door to communication. That will allow us to hopefully negotiate with those property owners. I think there is a commitment to continue talking to these individuals as best we can and hopefully resolve the issue as best we can.”
The appraisals are for an easement along the edges of the Fordhook Farm property costing $1,300 and $1,200, respectively.
Township Manager Stephanie Mason said the easement is far away from the structures at Fordhook Farm, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, with part of the main house dating to 1798.
“I think they are concerned about the impact on the property and that it would detract from their historic property,” Mason said. “However, if you have seen our trail system, we have been able to make it quite beautiful with landscaping.”
According to Kelson, the Emmell easement would be part of the Neshaminy Greenway and connect to the trail leading to the New Britain train station. The Fordhook Farm easement would help connect an existing trail from the Central Bucks Family YMCA in Doylestown to a trail at the Delaware Valley University farm market.
“They both involve existing trails in new segments,” he said. “We have been negotiating and discussing with property owners for the past few years about acquisitions of easements along the edge of the road. These are just two that we are not making any progress with.”
Board chairman Barbara Lyons said the appraisals will allow the township to offer “fair and just compensation for those property owners,” should it be necessary.
“Since 1992, we have never paid for an easement,” Mason said. “It’s new that these two property owners are requesting compensation.”