KNIGHTDALE — Kellam-Wyatt Farm is a quiet, rural area surrounded by three bustling subdivisions between Knightdale and Raleigh.

The 59-acre farm is home to farm buildings, mowed fields, greenhouses, forests and multiple ponds and lakes. It's also Wake County's newest park, though it isn't open to the public yet.

Bob Kellam and Susan Wyatt granted a conservation easement to the City of Oaks Foundation in 2013, according to Wake County Parks, Recreation and Open Space. The easement placed the farm under permanent protection, limiting building and what activities can happen on the site. 

All future activity must maintain open space, including woodland; protect the quality of water on the property; maintain the scenery; prevent use that would interfere or impair conservation; allow certain recreational use; and manage the land for education in “the most ecologically sound manner possible,” according to the easement agreement.

Kellam and Wyatt's main goal was to protect the property from development and to use the site as a sanctuary for wildlife while also providing a place for nature education and conservancy, Kellam said in a 2014 video.

“When I was growing up, this was all pretty much farmland. Now it is fairly densely populated. It’s always been a bit of a concern that we haven’t been able to deal very well with the idea of sprawl,” Kellam said. 

“The programs to conserve open space that both the county and the city (of Raleigh) have are in the right direction, and we would be hopeful that both of the local governments would be partners with us and how we eventually manage this land.”

Kellam died in 2016, and the City of Oaks Foundation, on behalf of Wyatt and his daughter Leewyn Kellam, donated the farm to the county as a park or nature preserve in 2018.

“My late husband, Bob Kellam, who grew up working on the farm, was a strong advocate for environmental protection and organically grown local food since the 1970s,” Susan Wyatt wrote in a post on the foundation's website. “He, his daughter, Leewyn, and I have enjoyed the beauty of the woods and ponds; the great herons, ospreys and other water birds; the singing of the toads and frogs; and local fresh vegetables and fruits from the fields for many years.”

She and Leewyn felt Wake County would be an excellent steward of the farm and protect it as valuable open space, Wyatt added.

“We have observed that Wake County shares our values of open space, environmental protection and sustainable agriculture,” she wrote.

To turn the Kellam-Wyatt Farm into its newest park, Wake County must create a master plan, which will help guide its future. The county created a survey for residents to share their desire for the space in late last year. Staff has started to compile the feedback and create a conceptual site plan.

The site plan will be opened to public review and brought before the county commissioners for feedback, hopefully in early 2021, according to county park staff. Then county staff will refine the site plan into a final master plan, which must be adopted by the county commissioners.

From there, the master plan will be broken down into phased site development before the Kellam-Wyatt Farm is finally opened to the public as a new park.

The park should have plenty of open space to allow people to enjoy nature while also providing opportunities for recreation and leisure, such as trails and fishing areas, and environmental and cultural education, including a proposed demonstration garden, according to Parks, Recreation and Open Space. 

For more information about Kellam-Wyatt Farm, including pictures and possible features of the park, visit http://arcg.is/1bn4Oq0.