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25 <br /> f. Agricultural land must be managed in accordance with sound soil and water <br /> conservation practices in a manner which does not destroy or substantially or irretrievably <br /> diminish the productive capability of the property. <br /> To insure that these restrictions are being followed, Forsyth County officials have the right, at <br /> reasonable times,to enter the property and make compliance inspections.The restrictions may be enforced <br /> by injunction and all other appropriate proceedings allowable by law. <br /> All of the restrictions cited above are appropriate in view of the purpose of the PDR Program. <br /> However, rather than limit the number of dwellings according to the standards contained in"a"above, a <br /> more flexible approach would be to allow one building lot per 25 acres, with the building lot subject to a <br /> maximum size of two acres.This approach is used by Lancaster County,Pennsylvania, well-known for its <br /> Amish and Mennonite people, and a major producer of milk, poultry, hogs, and tobacco. If this standard <br /> were applied to a 300-acre farm,the owner would be allowed to subdivide up to 12 two-acre lots,retaining <br /> 276 acres for farming. <br /> Particular care must be taken in siting the dwellings on the farm tract. Dwellings clustered <br /> together on one section of the farm, away from public roads, would be preferable in terms of preserving <br /> scenic views as well as large land areas for farming. Another option would be to allow the owner to <br /> subdivide the farm into 25-acre tracts;e.g.,into small"truck"farms,with dwellings located to preserve the <br /> rural character of the area. <br /> These options illustrate how important the application process is, for it is the point at which the <br /> landowner's intentions must be considered and a decision made as to whether his/her plans depart from <br /> the Program goals. If development rights are acquired, and the restrictions are found to create extreme <br /> hardship or are clearly at odds with changing conditions in the area, provision may be made for a waiver <br /> of restrictions, but only with the approval of the Board of Commissioners. <br /> 11. What would happen if the landowner sold his/her development rights and then <br /> decided to change the type of farming or quit farming altogether? <br /> Nothing in a purchase of development rights program requires the landowner to farm his/her <br /> property. Selling development rights simply restricts the landowner or anyone else from developing the <br /> property for nonfarm purposes. If the landowner wished to change the type of farming, he/she would be <br /> perfectly free to do so.If he/she did not want to farm the property,he/she would be free to lease it or sell <br /> it to someone else to farm. The only restriction on the landowner or any subsequent owner is that the <br /> property cannot be developed for nonfarm purposes-the restriction against development continues with <br /> the land. <br /> 12. What if the landowner didn't sell his/her development rights?Would the County stop <br /> him/her from developing the land? <br /> If the landowner did not sell his/her development rights, he/she would retain all the rights to <br /> development subject to the same zoning, subdivision, building, and health code restrictions as other <br /> landowners. <br /> 13. Could the County build on the acquired property or sell the development rights to <br /> someone else to build on the acquired property? <br /> No.Once the County paid for the development rights,the rights would be held in public trust and <br /> could not be used by anyone without the owner's consent. <br />