Architects Jane Willeboordse and Eric Lund have lived in Catonsville for more than 20 years.
They were first-time home buyers in 1995 when they purchased property on Newburg Avenue that included a one-third-acre buildable lot next to their house.
They considered all the possibilities for the land, including building an energy efficient home for Willeboordse's mother.
The vacant land, over the years, became a neighborhood meeting spot, Willeboordse said. Young children would often play sports there.
The family planted more than 25 trees on the property.
They look out at the lot and see a 200-year-old white oak, and couldn't imagine a builder coming in with no regard for it and the other trees.
They realized the lot's worth could be at its highest if nothing was done.
"We've allowed our ideas to percolate and realized the site is so much more valuable as the beautiful open space that it is," Willeboordse said.
Willeboordse and Lund decided to donate an easement on the open parcel to NeighborSpace of Baltimore County Inc., a nonprofit that focuses on land conservation.
NeighborSpace has agreed to protect the land, which is zoned residential, as open space in perpetuity.
"There's not a lot of open space in the west side of Catonsville," she said. "This is our way to give back a little bit."
NeighborSpace is hosting a celebration of the fall equinox at the space, 138 Newburg Ave., from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22. While the event is free, the organization will accept donations, which will go toward stewardship expenses, which include insurance, annual monitoring, signs and maintenance. The average annual cost per property for these fees is $1,300.
About two-thirds of homes in a Baltimore County zone known as the 1967 Urban Rural Demarcation Line don't have easy access to open space nearby, according to NeighborSpace.
"We have this place that was created without thought of open space," said Barbara Hopkins, executive director of the nonprofit. "We're trying to retrofit open spaces into that poorly planned area."
The Newburg Avenue lot is the 18th NeighborSpace has acquired by donation or county open space waiver fee funds. Since 2005, NeighborSpace has protected 83 acres in Baltimore County, valued at $1.5 million. Donors are eligible for a tax credit.
The lot is the third property in Catonsville that has been donated to the nonprofit. An 11-acre site at Maple Avenue was donated in December 2011 and a 6.49 acre site at Kilmarnoch Drive was donated in September 2014.
Hopkins said there are social, health, environmental and economic benefits to having open space.
In the latest round of the Comprehensive Zoning Map Process rezonings — changes were approved last month — County Councilman Tom Quirk downzoned more than 400 acres in his district, which covers southwest Baltimore County, to a neighborhood commons category in an attempt to preserve open space.
Properties designated neighborhood commons cannot be developed, no matter what the underlying zoning allows.
The designation was originally created to be used mainly on community association properties, but the council expanded it last year to include county-owned properties.
Quirk said he made the zoning changes to protect the open space and so the public could have more input on what happens to the land. A property owner who wants to sell or develop the land would have to get the designation removed during rezoning, a process which typically occurs every four years and includes public hearings.
He said groups such as NeighborSpace are "right on the mark" in promoting a balance of open space and development that can make communities successful.
"It's the pocket parks, open space, town centers, green space, it's the balance of that with the regular density that makes places livable and enjoyable," he said.
Baltimore Sun reporter Pamela Wood contributed to this report.
IF YOU GO
2016 Fall Equinox Celebration
When: 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Sept. 22
Where: 138 Newburg Ave., Catonsville
Web: NeighborSpaceBaltimoreCounty.org
Call: 443-377-3760
Cost: Free, donations accepted