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'rn-Fo('Ma~l'r~n =~-2m <br /> <br />~fi ~~ n:, <br />:t ~ <br /> <br />~` <br />r k ~ ~~ <br />~ f . <br />~ <br />,tip <br />. 3 ~ <br /> ~~, <br /> <br />8 ~ <br />. <br />- <br />s ~ <br /> `. <br />~R <br />X <br />Orange County <br />Environment ~ Resource Conservation <br />>i~{, ,\ Rc~crc Rc~~ui f'(~ 13c» ~IS1 <br />Phc~nc: (919) ?~~ 2~9t~, Fay: (91.9) 644 3>>1 <br />cmoon@co.oran e.nc.us (919) 210-2595 <br /> <br />Memorandum <br />To: Board of County Commissioners <br />From: David Stancil, Environment & Resource Conservation Department <br />Date: June 16, 2009 <br />Subject: Orange County Farmland Protection Plan <br />In 1986, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the Farmland Preservation <br />Enabling Act, which provided counties with the authority to establish farmland <br />preservation programs including voluntary agricultural districts (VADs) and agricultural <br />advisory boards. Orange County was among the State's first counties to implement <br />these programs, beginning in 1992. <br />In a recent legislative session, the General Assembly amended the 1986 legislation to <br />provide for programs with an expanded focus. The new "Agricultural Development and <br />Farmland Preservation Enabling Act" and the "Agricultural Development and Farmland <br />Preservation (ADFP) Trust Fund" supports agricultural development programs such as <br />business planning and incubator programs as well as agricultural conservation <br />easements and other traditional farmland preservation programs. (Please see attached <br />brochure for more information.) Importantly, counties must have adopted a countywide <br />"farmland protection plan" (or FPP) to be eligible for a considerably lower match <br />requirement for state Trust Fund monies. While much of the information specified for the <br />FPP's existed in County plans and ordinances, other new sections were needed to have <br />a plan that met the new State specifications. <br />For more than a year, the Agricultural Preservation Board has been working with the <br />other local agricultural advisory boards (the Soil and Water Conservation District Board <br />of Supervisors, Farm Services Agency Committee for Durham and Orange counties, <br />and the Cooperative Extension Advisory Council) to prepare this important plan. The <br />document, which has been drafted in a manner consistent with the recent 2030 <br />Comprehensive Plan, is envisioned to serve as the strategic plan for county agricultural <br />activities for the next several years. Advisory board members and staffs from the <br />different agricultural agencies were involved in the effort, and contributed important <br />ideas and topics in defining this vision. Additionally, the document was also shared with <br />the Economic Development Commission, since many ideas involve agricultural <br />