BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. — A century-old family farm that now serves as an educational space for thousands of visitors each year faces an uncertain future as it sits directly in the path of a proposed power transmission project.
WATCH: Century-old Baltimore farm threatened by power line project that could disrupt educational mission
The Farmyard in Baltimore County has been in Renee Wilson's family for 100 years but now faces significant disruption from the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project's proposed transmission line.
"My family has been farming here for 100 years," Wilson said.
Wilson has transformed the traditional family farm into an educational destination that welcomes visitors five days a week year-round. The farm offers livestock interactions, horseback riding, and produce for its visitors.
"We've impacted their child or their families' lives; that's what's touching to us so to be able to welcome almost 8,000 people this year, each one of them has a story," Wilson said.
But the farm's future as a community gathering place is now in jeopardy. Wilson discovered her property was directly in the path of the proposed transmission line when officials released the official map, Route H, last summer.
"The line moved further and further into my property, so 70 percent of my business is going to be impacted by this program," Wilson said.
Wilson's primary concern is that the transmission lines will fundamentally disrupt her business model, which relies on visitors coming to enjoy the farm's natural setting.
"People are not going to want to be underneath the power lines; they don't want to be apart of any of the nuisance and the noise that's involved, so not only am I going to loose the aesthetics of my farm the legacy that our family has been carrying on, but we're preventing children and families to be a part of agriculture, which is what I designed this to be in 2016," Wilson said.
The process of opposing the project has been challenging, according to Wilson, who has struggled with what she describes as an unclear and difficult communication process.
"We're frustrated; we have had to try to navigate through the online process. There is a lot of lack of clarity, and it's hard to submit your intervenor request, and they make it very difficult to be able to communicate directly," Wilson said.
Despite these challenges, Wilson remains hopeful that public support might force a change in the project's plans. She's encouraging visitors who have created memories at the Farmyard to speak up.
"To all of those people who have had birthday parties with us, who have spent their child's first birthday with, brought their grandparents and are looking forward to visiting every summer, now is their chance to fight because if you don't, I don't think this is going to be here," Wilson said.
Last month, the Maryland Public Service Commission proposed a new timeline for the transmission project's completion, pushing the final decision to March 2027, which will delay the entire project by at least a year.
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