To keep their property undeveloped after their death, Staunton couple have donated their property development rights to the Valley Conservation Council
Martin Lightsey and his wife live on the outskirts of Staunton on two pieces of land that add up to almost 250 acres of peaceful, undeveloped land.
They want it to stay that way even after they are gone.
Lightsey, who used to own and be in charge of Specialty Blades, Inc. in Staunton, said, “We started to worry about development moving in on where we were.”
Lightsey and his wife are both over 80 years old. So that their land doesn’t get built on, they gave the rights to develop it to the Valley Conservation Council (VCC). This is an organization that protects land from development and keeps open space in the Shenandoah Valley by getting permanent conservation easements.
Adam Schellhammer, the executive director of VCC, said that the easements let landowners limit the type or amount of development on their land while still owning it.
Schellhammer said, “It doesn’t mean that nothing can ever happen on that land, but it does make sure we talk about it.” “The first step is to understand how things work. Many people think it’s a change of ownership, and I think some people are worried about giving up their land rights.
Since 1990, VCC has been using easements to protect the diversity of plants and animals, the quality of the water, and the land that can be used for farming in the Valley. VCC checks on the land every year to make sure it is being used according to the terms of the easement and that it is not being built on in a way that is not allowed.
Landowners can give or sell their land, but depending on the easement on the deed, what can be built on the land is limited. In the Valley in 2022, the VCC was in charge of almost 70 easements, 30 of which were in Augusta County. Schellhammer said that the conservation council saved 1,909 acres of land this past year, which was the most it has ever done.
Over time, many farmers didn’t have any children, so they had no one to leave their land to when they died. Other farmers couldn’t make enough money from their land. As more land became available, the Lightseys started buying it from farmers who were getting out of farming. Eventually, they bought up to 380 acres. Since then, they have sold 127 acres, but they still own about 250 acres.
The Lightseys could have split the land into large 5 or 10-acre plots where they could have built large single-family homes. That would have made a lot of money, but they decided they’d rather have a lot of open space than a lot of houses.
So, instead of building on the land, they gave the development rights to VCC. This made it impossible for the Lightseys or anyone else to ever build on the land again.
Lightsey said, “It’s a lot of land.” “Many people like to live in old homes in cities, but we liked the idea of living in the country and seeing a lot of wild turkeys and deer every morning when we woke up.”
Taking care of so much land is a lot of work. Lightsey said that he keeps gravel roads in good shape, takes down broken trees and branches, and mows the grass. In the end, the land will go to Lightsey’s two daughters. They don’t live in Staunton, but they agree with what he and his wife did. One daughter lives in Nashville, and the other lives in Charlottesville.
Schellhammer and Lightsey said that a conservation easement could help that land stay a farm for future generations because it would never be built on. Lightsey said that he is doing his best to let people know how good it is to give development rights to the VCC.
He said, “I think it’s important to keep some forests around.” “I think it’s important to give the animals a place to live, and this is a good spot for them.”
Contact the VCC at (540) 886-3541 or valleyconservation.org to find out how you can work with them to protect family farms, open space, and water through land conservation easements.
