By Cody Mello-Klein | cmelloklein@alextimes.com

Note: This article was published prior to the news on Thursday that the five American Horticultural Society board members in support of selling River Farm has resigned from the board. Updates to follow.

When the American Horticultural Society put the historic River Farm property that serves as its headquarters up for sale in September 2020, the community was shocked. Suddenly, the future of the Potomac River-side site once owned by George Washington, a site that residents had long enjoyed access to, was up in the air.

Since that time, the property, which was originally listed at $32.9 million, has sat on the open real estate market and at the center of an ongoing drama involving a bitterly divided board, investigations into the board from two attorneys general and widespread community uproar. Yet with the AHS board’s most recent vote on Sunday, the future of the site seems as nebulous as ever.

The AHS board entered into negotiations with the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, or NOVA Parks, in May, after NOVA Parks submitted an offer that would have resulted in the regional park authority overseeing the property. During a meeting on Sunday, the board, which is deadlocked with five members opposing the NOVA Parks sale and five members in support, did not approve the offer.

Despite the board’s vote, AHS released a statement following the decision that it “overwhelmingly welcomes the opportunity to continue dialogue with NOVA Parks concerning River Farm.”

“The negotiations with NOVA Parks have been a positive experience. The AHS board has not been able to reach an agreement on selling River Farm to NOVA Parks, so we must decline the current offer,” said Board Chair Terry Hayes.

According to Paul Gilbert, executive director of NOVA Parks, the board’s vote is not an end to the park authority’s offer, but rather the next step in a public negotiation process, one that has been disrupted by the bitter division over the sale that has existed within AHS leadership for the duration of 2021.

“Having a board that is as split and as split for as long as they have been makes it very difficult to come up with that solution that you can get a majority of board members around,” Gilbert said.

NOVA Parks’ offer, a revision of an offer that AHS initially declined in March without making a counter offer, involves purchasing the property at “fair market value” with payments made over the course of several years with interest. NOVA Parks’ offer also included the potential for AHS to remain on site at River Farm.

During negotiations over the past few months, the offer was revised further and involved a joint ownership of the property with AHS, with NOVA Parks obtaining a majority 51% ownership. In July, NOVA Parks also pledged $800,000 that would go toward maintenance and improvement of River Farm should AHS approve the sale.

The root of the conflict between those on either side of the board goes back to the 1970s, when philanthropist Enid Haupt donated $1 million to AHS with the purpose of purchasing the historic property and keeping it open to the public. Since then, River Farm has served as the organization’s headquarters.

After the AHS board voted to put the property up for sale last September, citing the financial strain of maintaining the 27-acre property, five board members came out and questioned the circumstances of listing the property for sale. Several board members told the Alexandria Times that they were misled by board leadership, including Hayes, about the need for the sale and what was, at the time, a potential merger with the American Public Gardens Association.

The five board members who don’t want to sell River Farm on the open market argue that Haupt’s initial gift came with the “intent that River Farm should be owned and operated by AHS as its national headquarters while making the property available for the public to enjoy,” according to a statement released on Sept. 13.

The other five, who voted against both offers by NOVA Parks, have remained largely silent throughout the process.

In advance of the vote on Sunday, the five board members opposed to the current NOVA Parks offer sent a statement to Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck, NOVA Parks Board Chair Cate Wyatt and Gilbert expressing support for any solution that “guarantees both the long-term success and preservation of AHS … as much as it does the protection and stewardship of iconic River Farm.” They also stated that the negotiations with NOVA Parks “were developed early on in meetings with the pro-sale side of our equally divided Board. Unfortunately, the current offers are not in the best interest of AHS.”

Although the five board members voted against the current offer, they still supported partnering with NOVA Parks on the future of the property.

“Towards that end, while our contingent of five Board members cannot support an affirmative vote on the current NOVA Parks proposals on the table this evening, we are absolutely in favor of continuing discussions with NOVA Parks – and potentially additional partners – who support our common goals of preservation, stewardship and public access to River Farm,” the board members said in the statement.

Gilbert, a self-described optimist, admitted that the process has been challenging but said both sides of the board are still entertaining NOVA Parks’ role in the future of River Farm.

“Board members on both sides of the divide would like to see River Farm protected, would like to see River Farm open to the public, and they just differ in how they would like to see that happen,” Gilbert said. “Both sides view some kind of a partnership with NOVA Parks in a favorable way.”

For NOVA Parks and those involved in the Save River Farm campaign, the board’s apparent willingness to continue working with NOVA Parks is welcome news. However, for Alan Rowsome, executive director of the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust, the vote on Sunday is troubling.

NVCT is a nonprofit that works with NOVA Parks to raise public funds that have gone toward the offer on River Farm. According to Rowsome, the decision paralysis gripping the board has meant little to no progress on negotiations since May. Instead of negotiating with one entity, NOVA Parks is now negotiating with two sets of board members in an attempt to find a solution.

“I don’t think we can stop trying to get there, and we won’t, but somehow, some way AHS has to figure out how to solve its internal battle,” Rowsome said.

“Those that are hurt by this right now are the public, who are locked out of the property, and the property itself, which is just adding more backlog maintenance as it’s not cared for as much as it should be during this now year-long saga,” Rowsome added.

While NOVA Parks’ offer on the property has been in limbo over the past three to four months, another offer materialized. The offer, which came from private developer A. Wayne Johnson, proposed not only purchasing River Farm but also the two properties on either side of it with the intent of building a $300 million private resort, according to Gilbert. When the Times asked for comment at the time, AHS did not confirm the offer from the developer.

“The only offer the AHS board is currently entertaining is an offer from NOVA Parks, and we are pleased with the ongoing positive spirit of these negotiations,” AHS said in a statement on Sept. 9. “From the beginning, our board has committed not to sell River Farm to a developer for subdivision.”

According to the statement released ahead of the vote on Sunday, the five board members opposed to the NOVA Parks sale also voted against an exclusive letter of intent to sell River Farm to Johnson. For NOVA Parks, community members and the coalition of politicians throughout the region who have expressed support for preserving River Farm, a private sale such as this would represent the worst-case scenario.

But Gilbert remained adamant that the chances of a private developer taking over River Farm are slim.

“If the AHS board has not been able to agree to sell River Farm as a public park, it really will not be able to sell it as a private development,” Gilbert said.

The development potential of the site would pose a challenge for many commercial developers, and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has taken further steps to restrict how the site can be used.

On April 13, the Board of Supervisors voted 9-0 with one abstention to create a historic overlay district on the property, which created a set of specialized restrictions for what changes could be made to the property. Then, after two delays, the Board of Supervisors voted on Sept. 15 to adopt additional provisions for historic overlay district zoning that were proposed by state Sen. Scott Surovell (D) in the Virginia legislature.

“The historic zoning overlay basically says the [Architectural Review Board] can require, as part of a historic zoning district, that the property owner require access to the public and can restrict subdivision,” Surovell said.

Adding to the restrictions around the River Farm property are two conservation easements. One is located at the front of the property, adjacent to East Boulevard Drive, and is set by the National Park Service; the other is located at the back of the property, along the Potomac River, and is set by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. On top of that, East Boulevard Drive, the road that leads to the front of the property, is owned by the National Park Service, according to Surovell.

“Any kind of road access would require National Park Service blessing, and, of course, they look at things in terms of its impact on the park, which is a very different standard than [the Virginia Department of Transportation] has,” Surovell said. “… So, the only thing that could be developed is the stuff in the middle, which, because you could never get a proper street through, it’s not really capable of redevelopment,” Surovell said.

As negotiations continue between NOVA Parks and AHS, Rowsome expressed interest in a partnership with AHS, one that may not even involve a sale.

“I would say that we now have to work equally as hard for the possibility that AHS stays and a partnership can be forged that gives them a sustainable path toward staying that’s financially viable and has the property managed for public benefit,” Rowsome said. “That possibility now has to be weighed equally with an offer to just straight buy the property.”

Meanwhile, Gilbert said the board’s internal strife does not mean there is no way forward for NOVA Parks, AHS and River Farm.

“NOVA Parks is not stuck on one way of doing things. We’re very open to figuring out what mechanism will help achieve the goal that the community wants to see, which is preservation, public access and a good operation,” Gilbert said.