Woodstock LZ and farm may be for sale

[Joe Schad]

Patrick Terry posted on the CHGPA Facebook site that the old LZ land may be for sale. It is not yet in the MLS system. Let's buy the farm.

Joe

[silverwings]

I agree that we should purchase it if at all possible. Even the FreeFlight foundation might be helpful. We were very naive when it went for sale in the past and assumed we would still be able to continue landing there.

[mcgowantk]

Wow. This is very interesting.

Tom McGowan

[markc]

Holy Cr@p!

While I cannot contribute time, research, etc......

I can/will contribute monetarily, if a viable purchase plan materializes.

In the past, there have been discussions of purchasing with the goal of putting the land into a conservation easement. Or involving the Sierra Club. Or developing a portion of the land to pay for the LZ portion.....

There are all *kinds* of options, and if something solid happens, I would kick in a decent chunk of cash. If 10-20 others did too, there's a realistic chance of obtaining that property!

[thermalup]

....
Fascinating news. I will be happy to contribute to a Woodstock LZ funding effort.
I am guessing there are other out-of-state pilots willing to do the same.
...::Jim G.

[PTerry]

An Update: We have confirmed that there are private discussions taking place about the property. We are following up and making it known that there is interest in acquiring the land and securing the open fields landing zone into perpetuity.

[Joe Schad]

I spoke with Patrick Terry/ CHGPA President this morning and learned more. There was a breakfast meeting, Saturday Sept. 15 among the Woodstock Town Staff ( person in charge of Easements and or Head of tourism) and the land owner.

I believe all of the hang gliding and paragliding community needs to be aware of discussions about the property ahead of time and I would hope this information can be shared with club members before any decisions take place. I personally feel it is in our best and future interest to purchase the entire farm or just the landing zone . I intend to contact and talk with to the Woodstock Town Monday Sept. 17 and learn more about sale of the property. And if necessary contact and speak with the owner of the property. I will convey my conversations to Patrick and will post on this site.

Several folks have indicated to me, they would be willing to put up a chunk of money toward the purchase of the land. Let me know and let's get the club behind us to make this happen. I don't think we should let this slide by, we need to act now for the future of HG and PG sites .

[Eric]

Yes! If the opportunity does present itself, and the club does decide on some sort of group ownership purchase, I’d be interested in hearing the details.

[silverwings]

Joe, count me in for putting up some cash.

[Joe Schad]

Hello everyone,

I learned today that the Woodstock LZ property is likely going on the market through two realtors in the next month. I hope to have more information tomorrow and will post when I get some details. So everyone interested in supporting the purchase of the LZ evaluate the level of your support because we may have to move quickly to get the site. The current owner paid $687,000 for the property in 2015.

For those of you who do not look at the club facebook page please start looking at the Facebook page as well. I will make this post there as well.

Joe
Date Sept 16, 2018

[markc]

700k is a heavy lift.... I was thinking the other day that if 20 people could each put up 25k, then we'd have a half-mill. Obviously that would be well short of the 2015 purchase price (and, assuming we could even get that level of support). Hmm.

Is there any way to involve the club *without* an outright purchase? Eg, the club has landing rights, but enables some sort of tax advantage, perpetual access rights to owner and heirs, etc-etc-etc?

Just blowing smoke, I realize, don't know a damn thing about mixed-ownership/multi-ownership/state-tax-advantages/or-what-have-you. But sure hoping I can contribute in some way.

If time is short, and we need to act fast, the club might not be the best option? Maybe the landing field by itself could be had for less than 700k? After all, susceptible to floods and such, building on that section isn't the smartest idea...... Maybe we should just get "N" people to commit, and work out the details after the fact? (I know, I know, that's just asking for trouble, sigh)

But regardless: I would contribute 25k toward such a purchase, and perhaps more depending on the details.

[thermalup]

...
Just another thought that most Virginians probably already know about:
Virginia law allows for eligible open space, forested, and agricultural land to be taxed based on the land's value in-use (use value) as opposed to the land's market value.
---------------------
Significant tax reduction for putting up with a few cow pies or hay cutting.
..::Jim G.

[Joe Schad]

Hello everyone,

I was able to obtain a copy of the deed of sale for the Woodstock LZ along with the Deed of Easement for the property. I will get an attorney to review the easement. The easement seems to clearly state that the land is solely for agricultural or forestal purposes and not for building or development. The easement applies to 86.537 acres of the 95.4 acres of the farm. The easement property shall not be subdivided so the entire farm will be going on sale. The 2015 assessment of the property on the deed was $940,700. I have a hard time believing the property evaluation is accurate given the extensive restrictions in the easement.

The spoke with the property owner who said he will be asking for something in the $800,000 area. I know of one local land owner who is interested in the property.

I also spoke with Patrick Terry about the above and agree we need a group of PG/HG folks looking into the options to purchase or otherwise get use of the Fishburn farm LZ once again.

I spoke with Jenna French, the Shenandoah County Economic Development person about our interest in the property. As you already know, they are supportive of our activity but have no money to help us purchase the property.

Lets figure out a way to get the property.

Joe
9/17/2018

[silverwings]

The old LZ with the Fishburns house (2497 Moose Road) and the area adjoining the river was sold for $687,000 in 11/20/2015 to William T Parsons. The total area was 70.452 acres and is 4 parcels. The actual lz part is approx 18 acres. The approx field did not include surrounding areas of trees, etc. Also included in the original sale was a mostly wooded area that is an additional 22.389 acres which is west & north of the the house and along the river and goes to Moose Road (except 1 parcel 2419 where a nice brick house was built in the center).

I believe when Parsons purchased the land, they had thought they could get the easement changed/dropped so that they could build in the LZ.

[Joe Schad]

I believe you are correct about the land owner thought he could get the easement change/dropped. The raparian easement along the rivers edge may not be in the 70.452 acres you mentioned. The current deed held by Mr Parsons states 95.4 acres.

[markc]

Given the riparian easement..... Wouldn't a seller be "happy" to have a buyer, such as CHGPA, for a portion of the property that cannot be developed in the first place? Cash for that 18 acres, which nobody can build on anyway?

[garys]

Another option to throw in the mix; Hubbel French is an HG pilot from a few years back. He has a farm a couple fingers north of the main LZ but is looking for more land to lease and farm. If he leases any of the fields (for sale) for farming in the future, he would be good with us landing there. Might be a way to help pay a mortgage.

[John Dullahan]

I believe a long-term lease or landing rights to be in the best interests of the club. However, if we have no other option than a purchase, I am good for up to $30,000.

[dbodner]

Here's a listing for the old LZ.

https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/va/ ... _27197100/

[markc]

The old HG primary is definitely the better property, friendly to new pilots and to single surface gliders. Would be wonderful if we could secure access to the easement portion of the land in some way, if purchase is simply out of the question.

[PTerry]

UPDATE: CHGPA was not the winning bidder for the 24acre North Parcel. The LZ Action Team has engaged the new owner to secure a LZ agreement.
Auction: The Hill Family Farm (aka, Bridge Field)
Nov. 6, 2018 Result: ~$670K winning bid for the entire 73acre property.