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Hankins Family Donates 43 Acres to Land ConservancyBy Amber Lester Kennedy Wednesday, August 03, 2011
The Hankins family donated 43 acres on the Kiskiack Golf Course property to the Williamsburg Land Conservancy.
Three siblings — Howard Hankins, George Hankins and Mary Henley Thompson — decided to donate the land for preservation, rather than develop it for timeshares as previously planned. The land has been in their family since Englishman John Hankins was given a 200-acre land grant in 1657. Williamsburg Land Conservancy Chairman Rich Krapf announced the acquisition during an afternoon celebration at the Kiskiack Golf Course Clubhouse, overlooking the wooded area that will be preserved. The announcement prompted an enthusiastic cheer of “Yeah!” from several members of the crowd. The Hankins family was first approached by Traditional Golf Properties to build a course 15 years ago. Howard, who still lives in the family farmhouse called Moss Side, had first envisioned a golf course when he began clearing the land as a 23-year-old in 1977. The family agreed, and further set aside some acreage approved for the development of 500 timeshares. But a bad economy for new construction and a change of heart pushed the family to preserve some of the wooded area. Howard’s friend, Mark Rinaldi, was a member of the Land Conservancy’s board of directors and encouraged him to meet with the Land Conservancy and consider donating the property for preservation. After more than a year of negotiating the details, the land was passed and Howard agreed to create a mulched nature trail, with a small parking lot near Moss Side Lane and a historical marker, that will allow visitors to enjoy the wooded spot. The land is a mixture of mature pine and hardwoods, and a home to deer, turkey, raccoons, possums, birds and reptiles. Krapf said conserving the land would preserve natural open space, scenic viewsheds and the watershed; it will also contribute to maintaining the water quality of Skimino Creek watershed. Since 1990, the Land Conservancy has acquired more than 3,000 acres of natural, scenic, agricultural and historic land in the James and York River watersheds. “The key for us is that we’re protecting conservation values,” Conservancy Executive Director Caren Schumacher said. “We’re so pleased to add more permanent greenspace.” |
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Comments
The one item missing from the papers is that Mr. Hankins is a developer, one who makes money from development, a noble profession. I bring this up since the word "developer" has been thrown around in our community like a 4 letter word. If you look at most, if not all the land the Conservancy has received for easements, you will notice it has been donated by the development community. I would ask just what donations are being given by the people who dissent to everything? I would encourage the members of a very vocal group to take their homes out of trusts and donate them to the conservancy. I would also encourage that they leave enough money behind for the demolition of their piece of development, and return their property to nature. This would also be a kind and noble deed, follow the example of the development community and preserve and protect.