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18 <br />II. Agricultural Priority Areas (APA) <br />A. General <br />The designation of Agricultural Priority Areas in Forsyth County is <br />intended to identify geographic areas containing the most productive <br />agricultural soils. Agricultural Priority Area designation is the first <br />step in directing the expenditure of funds for development rights <br />acquisition. <br />B. Criteria for Designation <br />The following are guidelines for the designation of Agricultural Priority <br />Areas: <br />1. Areas should contain sufficient contiguous agricultural land to <br />facilitate its permanent agricultural use. <br />2. Areas should consist primarily of soils identified in Forsyth <br />County as prime or locally important. <br />3. Land in the area should be primarily in agricultural use. <br />4. The land should be located outside the area designated by the <br />Forsyth County Comprehensive Plan as the Urban Services Area. <br />C. Procedure for Designation and/or Termination <br />Agricultural Priority Areas will be established by the Board of Super- <br />visors. In determining areas to include, the Board of Supervisors may <br />confer with any governing body affected by the proposed APA, receive <br />recommendations from the City -County Planning Board, and/or conduct <br />a public meeting to receive public comments. The board will establish <br />APA's by resolution and adopt an official map showing boundaries of all <br />APA's. Termination of an APA shall be by resolution approved by the <br />Board of Supervisors. <br />D. Protection from Public Capital Projects <br />Forsyth County will promote, to the extent possible, protection of <br />continued agricultural use of land in APA's from incompatible capital <br />projects that are not planned at the time of APA establishment and which <br />would result in extensive, direct and/or indirect conversion of farmland <br />resources. If possible, no project funded directly or indirectly by the <br />Forsyth County Board of Commissioners will be conducted on land <br />included in an APA if it would lead to the direct conversion of farmland. <br />3 <br />