From: DavidA788 Date: Saturday, February 5, 2005 8:56 AM To: chale@delawareonline.com Subject: Re: Developer buys Glasgow farmland Your article contains distortions and omissions, perhaps due to Mr. Ferry, who is a master at spinning the tale that he thinks people want to hear. Perhaps you will consider writing a more detailed piece with more of the facts included. You can verify most of the following by contacting Friends of Historic Glasgow, Dan McCollom, or Joanne Lewis. FALSE: Nichols agreed to preserve a farmhouse and 10 acres around it as part of the deal signed late Thursday. TRUTH: Joanne B. Lewis, Anne Barczewski's daughter, asked to have Nichols place within the sales contract a written promise to preserve the historic farmhouse and surrounding land. Nichols refused, and Mr. Ferry threatened to sue Ms. Lewis on behalf of her two brothers, in order to force her to sign the sales contract anyway, whereupon she capitulated. (Ms. Lewis claims her capitulation is due to a current illness, leaving her unwilling to continue fighting for preservation.) To my knowledge, Nichols has only made vague verbal promises to consider whatever the local zoning and Historic Review boards will require of him to preserve any parts of the property. There is no guarantee, at present, that anything will be preserved. FALSE: He [Ferry] said the family needs the money to pay for Anne Barczewski's nursing home expenses. FACT: Ferry's clients, Steven and George Barczewski, have limited assets, but there are additional, sufficient sources of assets to cover Anne's care expenses, as she is currently in hospice care, and has a limited life expectancy. FALSE: David Ferry, an attorney for two of the four property owners, said Stephen J. Nichols has paid $14.25 million for the Barczewski farm, located along U.S. 40 near Del. 896. FACT: A sales contract has been signed for that amount. However, Mr. Nichols may fall back upon several clauses within the contract to either reduce the sales price or withdraw his offer prior to closing, if he finds he cannot develop the land to his satisfaction. PARTIAL TRUTH: Ferry said his clients wanted to sell the property to the county in hopes of seeing it preserved as a park, but they could not reach an agreement on the price. ACTUAL TRUTH: His clients never wanted to sell the property to the county. Only Joanne Lewis did. The county made a fair offer last summer, but Ferry worked to thwart it by publicly claiming that developers would offer more. While the county rightfully refused to be extorted, the county also refused to negotiate and promptly withdrew their purchase offer, which was fine with Mr. Ferry and his clients. OMISSIONS AND ADDITIONAL FACTS: 1) The farm abuts and overlaps two other historic district overlays, along its east side. 2) The 1815 federal style manor house and nearby granary building are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The granary is also listed on the Historic American Building Survey. (Although this should afford these structures some degree of protection from destruction, developers typically allow historic structures which stand in their way to be neglected, and deteriorate to the point that they lose their structural integrity. Such "demolition by neglect" allows owners of historic properties to thwart preservation regulations. The roof of the La Grange farmhouse is currently in disrepair, having been neglected for several years by the current farmhouse tenant, George Barczewski, who has long favored developing the property. The County has considered filing formal demolition by neglect charges against the Barczewski family, but has not followed through.) 3) There are two archaeologist documented Native American encampment sites on the La Grange farm (the Butterworth and the Barczewski sites). To comply with existing policies, a level II archaeological investigation (including excavation) may be required prior to any development. 4) In the farm's woods are authenticated, intact remains of British and Hessian earthen trenches from the September 3, 1777, Revolutionary War battle of Cooch's bridge. The surrounding acres would also warrant protection from development. 5) There is also documented evidence on the farm of Benjamin Latrobe's venture to build a feeder canal in 1804 (New Castle County Historical Marker NC-59). 6) The New Castle County Historic Review Board has stated that it is opposed to allowing any development on the property. The Board would have to approve any development plans before they could be undertaken. 7) The New Castle County Land Use Office is strongly opposed to re-zoning any of the property to allow commercial, industrial, or high density residential construction. 8) Major areas of drainage and wetlands crisscross the Barczewski farm property. Eight distinct and separate areas have been designated as national wetlands. Seven distinct areas have been designated as state wetlands. The total state wetland areas are larger than the total national areas. A quarter of the water recharge area for Glasgow is on the Barczewski farm. These wetlands warrant protection under existing environmental regulations. 9) There is significant community opposition to development of this farm. A grassroots organization, Friends of Historic Glasgow, has gathered over 1,000 signatures opposing development. Continued community opposition might have an impact on any proposals to remove or modify the existing protections on the property, or to obtain any re-zoning. But without such opposition, the farm no longer has any chance of being preserved.