Undeveloped land is being gobbled up in Aiken. Look at the massive apartment complexes being built on the Aiken-Augusta highway. Look at the duplexes and single family homes popping up on Bettis Academy Road. And each time this is done, the land is clear-cut. Animals lose their habitats and monocultures of grass take the place of the diverse plant species.
Thank goodness we have the Aiken Land Conservancy, whose motto is “Protecting the Places You Love.” And thank goodness that Rose Trace, a 132-acre wooded area between Richardson Lake Road, Pine Log Road, and Casaba Dr., was given to the Aiken Land Conservancy for that protection.
Except that it’s not. The Aiken Land Conservancy is selling off Rose Trace.
There is no conservation easement on this property, no legal restriction protecting this land from further development. Apparently, there are deed restrictions, but even these allow this valuable woodland to be sold in 15-acre lots. Attempts to contact the Aiken Land Conservancy about this have gone unanswered.
One Spring morning in 2020, a local birder counted 17 species of birds in Rose Trace, including American Goldfinch, Northern Parula, and Summer Tanager. Add to that number nocturnal birds such as three native owl species, Whippoorwills, and Chuck-will’s-widows. I’ve seen evidence of fox, coyote, and deer in addition to a wide variety of reptiles and amphibians.
What will happen to these animals?
This land is also home to a variety of plant life, including Dwarf Iris and Sand Hills Lupine. The Longleaf Pine in this area make it attractive habitat for endangered Red-cockaded woodpeckers as juveniles seek new territory from nearby Hitchcock Woods.
What will happen to these plants?
This pocket of undeveloped habitat needs our protection, protection that the Aiken Land Conservancy was supposed to provide.
Does the Aiken Land Conservancy have the right to sell off this valuable habitat? Yes.
The better question is, should they? And should the Aiken community continue to support them as a conservation-oriented entity?
I think you know my answer.
Beth Eberhard
Aiken, SC
March 22, 2023
All this is just about GREED MONEY. WHAT IS HAPPENING IN AIKEN IS A DISGRACE TO ALL ANIMAL LOVERS AND RETIREES WHO CHOSE AUKEN BECAUSE OF THE BEAUTIFUL GREENERY AND ANIMAL LIFE. THERE IS NOTHING LEFT NO LAND NO ANIMALS. ONLY HOUSES, APTS, THAT ARE CREATING MORE TROUBLE. THE SIGHTS ARE HORRIBLE. DO YOU REALLY THINK GOD IS PLEASED WITH MAN DESTROYING HIS LAND BECAUSE MONEY MONEY. THAT’S THE BOTTLE LINE IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY. STOP THINK DO YOU REALLY FEEL THAT’S RIGHT TO KILL OFF THE ANIMALS THEY HAVE NO PLACE TO LIVE NOR FEED THERE ARE NO TREES. WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE FUTURE FOR THE GRANDS AND GREAT GRANDS? STOP BEING SO GREEDY AND REMEMBER THIS IS GOD’S WORLD WE ARE THE CARE TAKER. WE ARE TO TAKE CARE OF GOD’S LAND NOT DESTROY IT. GOD IS NOT PLEASED AND YOU WILL ANSWER FOR ALL THE WRONG BEING DONE. READ THE WORD.
Why has this area in particular become a “HOT SPOT” to mow down, clear cut without any consideration of the eco systems? We did not move here to look at vinyl housing. Our prior home was set up high in a canyon and a bird sanctuary.
“Sanctuary” you folks need to wake up and know how valuable this earth is. Being old school and naive is not the state of this nation. This shrewd good old boy mentality has to stop. Stealing the cookies out of the cookie jar and lying about it. This good (bad) old boy mentality needs to go. Why does everything fall on “DAFT” ears in this community? Not everything is valued based on what one can sell it for! Listening to woodpeckers, seeing deer and being surrounded by an amazing eco system seems not to be a priority here! The ALC should be investigated and FOIA’D till they cough up the truths. Disgusting, Despicable and beyond disappointing. Wake Up Aiken County your good old boys are sleeping with the enemy.
We are with you in your concern. This is not custodianship as would be expected of a Land Conservancy and as abutters iI would hope you would join in the efforts to stop the sale!
The Aiken Standard ran a story in its weekend edition that only sought the ALC side of the story. Here is my response to that story on the Standard’s FB page:
“ The Aiken Land Conservancy (ALC) has every right to sell the property. But it is also raised funds by virtue of owning the property, and it is an organization with deep ties to local government. So the organizational aversion to openness and full disclosure in this case is not an attractive look; and ALC President Larry Comegys seems to dig a deeper hole with every effort at damage control.
His latest claim to the Aiken Standard that his organization is “underfunded” is an ill-advised and lame excuse. According to its Calendar year 2021 tax filing, this charitable organization had revenues of more than $200K and assets totaling $8.0 million that included an investment and security account with a $3.2 million balance. (The Rose Trace property was listed as a $1.3 million asset, but was advertised for sale at $0.7 million).
The ALC is asking people to believe that a conservation organization with millions in assets needs to sell its top property asset in order to better manage its reduced land portfolio. It sounds like somebody on Wall Street wrote that story.
The fact is, many people who have donated to the organization were outraged at finding out about this land sale through Zillow or other real estate sites, instead of from the organization they believed was managing the property for future posterity. The Standard did not bother to contact anyone who are raising objections and gave the ALC the only voice in its story.
Although there was an admission that the donation was unrestricted, there was no indication when it acquired the land that a future sale was being contemplated. (See https://conserveaiken.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/february_2015_newsletter.pdf for the announcement of the property acquisition, and https://web.archive.org/web/20221206104757/https://conserveaiken.org/protected-lands/rose-trace/ for the last time the property was listed as an asset on the ALC website, before being quietly removed.)
https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/news/local/rose-trace-under-contract-to-be-sold-by-aiken-land-conservancy/article_514bdc3c-c991-11ed-ad51-b3e00dd1bb9c.html
Shame on the Aiken Land Trust! Shame on them! They should remove the word “Trust” from their name. Such a horrible money grubbing thing to do, and for the local self-proclaimed preservationists who endorse this, shame on you too! We know who you are and you should all be ashamed to show your face in public! You’ve hit a new low.
Correction: “Aiken Land Conservancy” not “Aiken Land Trust” but the facts remain unchanged. They should all hide their heads in shame, and they should be legally investigated!
Today, Larry Comegys, president of ALC, sent the following letter to members of Augusta-Aiken Audubon society:
Sale of Rose Trace
In 2014 the Aiken Land Conservancy received a generous and unrestricted gift of approximately 132 acres (Rose Trace) located in the City of Aiken. Accessible only through the Huntcliff subdivision, which is on Richardsons Lake Road, the property is largely surrounded by existing development. It was intended that ALC would sell the property and use the funds to support our operational needs, particularly to add fulltime conservation staff to our team. We are now proceeding with a sale.
In selling the property we are mindful of the need to protect it from the level of development that is permitted in the city under the current zoning. Therefore, it is being sold with significant restrictions on any future development and is not being sold to a developer. Those restrictions, combined with the challenging topography of the property and its limited access, constrain its future use. Finally, selling the property removes a significant liability concern for ALC due to the high level of unauthorized trespass that occurs on the property.
In order to fulfill our mission to protect the watersheds, historic properties, forests and farms of Aiken County, as they come under increasing development pressure, hiring additional staff is essential. In addition, as a land trust we are obligated to regularly monitor the properties we protect through conservation easement. The proceeds from this sale will be used to help support our work and our permanent obligations.
Larry Comegys, President
This email contains several inaccuracies: . 1. The email implied that the land donation was intended to be sold. Yet in the Winter 2015 ACL newsletter, donor Phyllis Rosen said, “Our intention is to preserve these wonderful woods and protect them for the future.” In the same article, Larry Comegys is quoted as saying, “The Rosens have a long history in Aiken and we are honored to take over the reins of this beautiful property. Donating land with conservation value is one of the finest gifts that a person can leave for future generations.” At the time of the donation, it is clear that this donation was made to protect the land, something that ACL gladly accepted. 2. In the email to Audubon members, Larry Comegys said that the money was needed for “funds to support our operational needs” to pay for additional staff. It makes no sense to sell off land intended for conservation to meet operational needs. This money won’t last forever. How then will they pay their staff? 3. In his email Mr. Comegys says, “Finally, selling the property removes a significant liability concern for ALC due to the high level of unauthorized trespass that occurs on the property.” This is wrong. There is no signage posted anywhere on the property that states “No Trespassing.” According to SCDNR, Title 16 Law 16-11-600, signs must be posted in order for trespassing to occur. Furthermore, in 2021, I received verbal permission from one of the ALC trustees at the time, Jim Cunningham, in which he agreed that pedestrians could walk the trails, which I do (or did) regularly. I can tell you that there is not a high level of trespass going on. Few people walk the trails, and I have seen no evidence of anyone using the woods in a manner that would be a liability, cause damage, or reduce the value of the property.
Thank you, Beth, for following through with a response to Larry Comegy’s letter. Your words very much echo my own thoughts after reading the letter.
Backdropped by the Aiken Land Conservancy’s (ALC’s) own published history on Rose Trace, Mr. Comegy’s statement, “It was intended that ALC would sell the property and use the funds to support our operational needs , particularly to add full time conservation staff to our team,” does not ring true. It does not reflect the Rosen’s statement on the preservation of this property.
It is also unfortunate that, after using Rose Trace to establish the legitimacy of ALC and for fundraising purposes over most of the past decade, that the ALC would then sell the property. A land conservancy of 9 years is nothing to crow about, so I it makes sense they’d want to disappear it from their website.
My question is, why did ALC dodge providing answers on this sale? And why weren’t the terms of the sale published on the website for, if nothing else, the benefit of those who, inspired by the story of Rose Trace, became donors and frankly have the right to know about this? If all were above board, one would expect sunlight, not secrecy.
Your perspectives as a pedestrian in the woods are also appreciated.
Aiken Land Conservancy’s decision to sell this property due to an alleged, “high level of unauthorized trespass” doesn’t ring true, nor does it speak well of an organization, whose stated mission is the preservation and protection of property, that their response to unauthorized trespass would be to sell the property to be developed. Nor does it ring true that they would need to sell their most valuable land asset in order to pay staff.
When you look up Aiken Land Conservancy Rose Trace a page about it comes up in the search but when you click on it …..it no longer exists …….
Here is that search results
Rose Trace – Aiken Land Conservancy
Aiken Land Conservancy
https://conserveaiken.org › protected-lands › rose-trace
This exceptionally attractive, mostly wooded property is located near Richardson’s Lake Road and the Huntcliff, Gem Lakes and Southwoods subdivisions. The …
Here is what the page says when you click on it
Sorry! That page doesn’t seem to exist.
But a further search found this article from 2015 in the Conservation Chronicle
https://www.larleeconstruction.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/aikenconservancy_clarkbarn.pdf
here are the some highlights…
By: Katie Roth, Executive Director, Aiken Land Conservancy
“I feel as if we’ve saved a life”, said Phyllis Rosen. Phyllis and her husband,
Paul, have chosen to leave a legacy in their beloved Aiken by donating a
special tract of land to the Aiken Land Conservancy (ALC). “Our intention is
to preserve these wonderful woods and protect them for the future.”
In December 2014, the Rosens donated “Rose Trace”, a 132-acre tract of
wooded land located near Richardson’s Lake Road and the Huntcliff, Gem
Lakes and Southwoods subdivisions. The property, referred to as a “mini
Hitchcock Woods” was purchased by the Rosens in 1982 and was used for
riding and recreation. ALC is developing a management plan for Rose Trace
over the next few months which will determine public access issues.
“The ALC is honored that Paul and Phyllis Rosen have chosen us to become
owners and stewards of Rose Trace,” said Larry Comegys, ALC President.
“The Rosens have a long history in Aiken and we are honored to take over the
reins of this beautiful property. Donating land with conservation value is one
of the finest gifts that a person can leave for future generations.”
The Rosens now reside in Wellington, Florida,
and it gives them comfort to know that Rose Trace
is in the hands of an organization that shares their
conservation values and will take care of the property
as they would. “Properties like Rose Trace are a big
part of what makes Aiken so special,” said Phyllis.
“We wanted to do our part to preserve the beauty,
character and open space that drew us here in the
first place.”
Wow, feels kinda like the local Preservation foundation pimpin a Bomb Plant Lab for a federal contractor on Newberry St using the taxpayer funded Failed Project Pascalis properties.
Thanks for this information, Kelly. Disappearing sites like this (and I refer to both the Rose Trace Land Trust and to the Aiken Land Conservancy’s former web page extolling the value of this extraordinary gift) help one to realize the value of screenshots and webpage archives.
According to the archive of the ALC webpage on Rose Trace, https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://conserveaiken.org/protected-lands/rose-trace/ this gift was “unrestricted.” I understand the meaning of this term with regard to financial donations, but I’m not sure how it applies to land donations. Maybe others could enlighten.
Certainly as Phyllis Rosen stated, their intention was to “preserve these wonderful woods and protect them for the future.” So it does seem odd that, having gifted this to the Aiken Land Conservancy, the page on this gift would have outright disappeared from the site, rather than been updated with information on the Aiken Land Conservancy’s disposition of this property.
This sadens me to read. I am a long time friend of the Rosen’s. Does Phyllis know what’s happening? I can imagine there are complications concerning the position of the property. I remember I had to drive through Hunt Cliff to get to the house. Is the house still part of the property or was it sold separately? I remember someone living in the house and having use of the stables and paddocks after the Rosens moved to Florida. If it was sold separately, a proper entrance to the property now owned by the ALC may not exist, except on foot or by horseback. I remember the Rosen’s speaking of having a nice hack around.