Lower Heidelberg farm owner ordered to remove perfectly good farmhouse

by Steve Reinbrecht

A Lower Heidelberg landowner must remove a beautifully restored farmhouse because he violated a deed restriction when he built a new house on the property.

The owner, Leonard Leibman, has publicized his plight with a sign at the property at 190 Evans Hill Road. He bought the bucolic 83-acre farm for $960,000 in May 2010 and has renovated a large barn as well as building a new home behind the existing farmhouse.

The trouble is, Berks Nature, a conservation agency, decided the new house violates the terms of a deed restriction from the 1970s, said Tami J. Shimp, vice-president of development and community relations.

Leibman was aware that the land was permanently protected when he bought the land, she said.

Leibman told me he fought to keep the house but put the sign up about six weeks ago when he realized he was beaten. Few have shown interest. He said he spent $90,000 five years ago to renovate the farmhouse, close to the road. He hopes somebody will pay him $20,000 for it and can move it or rebuild it somewhere. He said he spent $400,000 renovating the barn.

The farmhouse tenants moved out two weeks ago, reminding Leibman he'll be losing $24,000 a year in rent.

"They would have stayed there forever. They loved the place."

Berks Nature takes every restriction seriously, Shimp said.

“We commit to protecting it in perpetuity as the land owner requested.”

If the agency gave in on cases like this, it would compromise the entire program, she said. The Berks Nature board voted to uphold the deed, she said.

At first, Leibman said, Berks Nature staff assured him the second house would be permitted, so he paid $40,000 for the plans and tests required to build.

He filed a lawsuit when the conservancy reversed itself and prohibited the second house. But a lawyer told him the matter could take years to resolve, and Leibman wanted to move into the new house.

“We decided we’ll rip the house down and be done with it.”

Shimp expects Leibman to remove the house, and the sign seems to indicate his intentions.