Asphalt to Asparagus

by Steve Cartwright



Route 1 Damariscotta Walmart / Farm location.

 

In a back-to-the-land twist on development, a 68-acre parcel set for a Super Wal-Mart will instead become a working farm.

The Damariscotta River Association has teamed with the Maine Farmland Trust to launch a campaign to protect the Phillips Farm in Damariscotta. Five years ago, the world’s biggest retailer was all set to build a mega-store on these rolling hay fields and woods alongside busy Route One. Instead, under the leadership of two energetic women, townspeople voted by a strong margin to impose a size cap on big-box stores, effectively defeating Wal-Mart’s plans build a mega-store in this quaint and historic mid-coast village, home to many locally owned small businesses.

Damariscotta-based Reny’s Department Stores was a major player in the successful campaign to enact a 75,000 square-foot cap on big-box stores.

The river association and farmland trust are expected to close on the purchase of the Phillips Farm for an undisclosed price, probably around $400,000. A survey showed the parcel is somewhat smaller than the advertised 75 acres. The concept is to then sell the property for about half-price to a farmer willing to grow local food.

The terms of the deal will ensure that the land remains agricultural and essentially undeveloped through an easement. There will be provision to build a house and barn. The only existing building on site is a rundown roadside stand that could be fixed up to sell produce from the farm.

A farmland trust flyer declares that “Now, the community has the opportunity to make sure the Phillips Farm will be farmland forever.”

Stephen Hufnagel, who heads the river association, said the farmland trust will purchase the property from owner Jim Phillips, while his organization will hold the easement that protects it. He still hopes to raise some $100,000 from the public and both groups are seeking donations. The farmland trust has applied for a federal grant to offset costs.

Hufnagel praised the partnership with the trust and called the Phillips property a “gateway parcel. It’s buy-protect-sell. It’s a great way to keep land in farming and make sure it’s affordable.”

At a recent campaign kickoff party, Hufnagel said protecting Phillips farm supports the values of water quality, habitat, scenic views, and agricultural productivity. Those values “would be threatened by its conversion to residential or, more likely, commercial uses, and the specter of a big box store still hangs out there every time I pass the For Sale sign.”

He credited Karen Kleinkopf of Damariscotta for sending a late-night email urging protection of the property. That got things rolling. Kleinkopf also has worried about the potential for sprawl on the Phillips land.

Kleinkopf has been a leader in connecting farms with schools and bringing local food into school programs, including having children grow their own food. She is co-founder of Focus on Agriculture in Rural Maine Schools.

Saving the Phillips Farm is “the next chapter after Wal-Mart, with a happy ending,” said Hufnagel, who lives in Damariscotta and supported the campaign to ban big-box stores.