Orange County NC Website
ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: April 9, 2013 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. 4 -c <br />SUBJECT: Voluntary and Enhanced Agricultural District Designation — Multiple Farms — <br />Green, Ward, Pope, Walters <br />DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, PUBLIC HEARING: (Y /N) No <br />Parks and Recreation; Soil <br />& Water Conservation <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />1) Applications and Maps <br />INFORMATION CONTACTS: <br />David Stancil, 245 -2510 <br />Gail M. Hughes 245 -2753 <br />PURPOSE: To consider applications from multiple landowners /farms to certify qualifying <br />farmland within the Cedar Grove, Cane Creek - Buckhorn, High Rock /Efland, and Caldwell <br />Voluntary Agricultural Districts, and enroll the lands in the Orange County Voluntary Agricultural <br />District (VAD) and the Enhanced Voluntary Agriculture District (EVAD) programs. <br />BACKGROUND: As the Board may recall, Orange County has had a Voluntary Farmland <br />Preservation Program since 1992. To date, 22 farms have enrolled in the Voluntary Agricultural <br />District (VAD) program, totaling 4,353 acres within the seven districts comprising the non -urban <br />portions of the County. <br />The County's Voluntary Farmland Protection Ordinance (VFPO) outlines a procedure for the <br />Agricultural Preservation Board to review and approve applications for qualifying farmland, and <br />to make recommendations to the Board of Commissioners concerning the establishment and <br />modification of agricultural districts. Section VII of the VFPO contains the requirements for <br />inclusion in a voluntary agricultural district. To be certified as qualifying farmland, a farm must: <br />1. Consist of the minimum number of contiguous acres to participate in the present -use- <br />value taxation program (20 acres for forestry, 10 for agriculture and 5 for horticulture); <br />2. Be participating in the farm present- use -value taxation program established by <br />N.C.G.S. §105 -277.2 through §105- 277.7, or is otherwise determined by the county to <br />meet all the qualifications of this program set forth in G.S. 105 - 277.3; <br />