The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1941-05-15
Purpose OF Scenic Easements
Along Parkway Is Explained

the Ranger in your territory who
will be glad to do just that. But
since we keep getting requests for
a story on it in the News, once
again we sharpen our pencil with
some hope that we can make it
clearer than before.
The general idea behind the
scenic easement is simple enough.
lit allows the farmer to use the
land for farming and it prevents
his using it for other business.
The reason behind it from our
point of view is that we want the
farms as part of the picture and
we do not want factories or hot
dog stands or billboards. 1t means
that the land has been earmarked
for farm use. This is like town
coming, which guarantees to a
man who has just built a home
that a factory will not be built
on the next lot
From the States point of view
in buying the Parkway right-of-
way it was cheaper in most cases
than it would have been to buy
the same land outright.
Some see it differently, but we
have always believed the scenic
easement had good points for the
landowner too. It meant that he
could continue to farm just as he
always had, and often meant the
difference between leaving enough
land to make a farm unit or buy
ing the whole place outright.
The thing which keeps bother
ing the landowner above the ease
ment is the question of his rights
on his land, and it is important to
remember that as far as farming
and crops are concerned the land
is still his. When the States of Vir-
ginia and North Carolina bought
the scenic easements they bought
for us certain definite rights and
they are clearly stated in the
deed. All of them are for the pur-
pose of preventing unsightly de-
velopment within view of the
Parkway motor road. Taking each
one of these agreements in turn,
we have this to say:
The easement states that no
building, pole lines, or structures
shall be erected on such land
without the approval of the Gov
eminent. This prevents the land
owner from building a hot dog
shanty, a gasoline station, or any
building intended for a new use
or a new sort of business. We rea-
lie that when there are farm
buildings already on the land
they must be repaired from time
to time, and we expect that such
work will be done upon them. IT
such work is in the nature of or
binary repair and maintenance, it
is not necessary to obtain permits
sion from us or from the Ranger.
If, however, the landowner wants
to rebuild or add to the size of an
existing building, he should talk
to the Ranger about it. Unless we
feel that your plans will result
in a building which is unsightly
from the Parkway, you will find
that the Ranger will seldom OBJ
ject. While the scenic easement
intends that any new farm build
ings should be built elsewhere on
the farm than on the land covered
by the scenic easement, we can
see that a farmer may often have
a good reason for desiring to put
farm building on the easement
land, and there is no reason that
this cannot be taken up with the
Ranger. If such new farm build
ing would not be unsightly from
the Parkway, we would no doubt
permit it's construction. If, on the
other hand, the building would
blank out a view that we would