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<br /> sTATEMENT IN SUPPORT oF nousE BILL 1190' • . .
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<br /> .• I am Peter Kramer, a resident of Orange County. I served
<br /> 1 ' for two years recently on the Triangle J Council of Govern-
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<br /> ments Agriculture Advisory Committee, and am presently on
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<br /> the Orange County Planning Board. I come: here today as a •
<br /> private citizen interested in seeing Morth Carolina take
<br /> any and all reaSonable measures to help some of- her greatest
<br /> . ' citizens, her farmers, and to protect some of her greatest . . •
<br /> natural. resourCes, Prime farmland: • , - - .
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<br /> there . .
<br /> • ' Although ere ar that
<br /> e various tools are employed.nation-
<br /> . ally o*preserve 'frmland, the-form that thid bill takes,
<br /> • that of the agricultural distriet,. has been looked at closely .
<br /> - , by Orange County.and nearby citizens for at least five years.
<br /> Both the Orange County task force and the 6-cdunty Triangle
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<br /> J Committee looked closely at the idea of the. agricultural
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<br /> diStrict and shaped it, refined, it, and mostly asked, "How
<br /> 1 . can we make this work? What dd farmers need to help them pre-
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<br /> serve their land for farMing, and What will be acceptable to
<br /> polity makers, particularly county commissioners?" The plans
<br /> . resulting from efforts by the two groups had input from farmerS,
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<br /> . ' economists, enviXOnmental scientitts, farm •groups, and citizens
<br /> like me, who were glad that local citizens --were taking the
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<br /> inve on this issue:
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<br /> Mrs. h
<br /> Barnes'arnes 'bill 'has some of e best, features of the
<br /> orange County and Triangle J plans. Mostly, this bill takes
<br /> the conversion of prime farmland to other uses very seriously.
<br /> The bill makes condemnation of farmland a more difficult task,
<br /> and it makes those who bring nuisance suits against farmers
<br /> think twice. A feature of the bill that I like a lot is the •
<br /> . eatablishment of agricultural advisory boards to advise county
<br /> - * . commissions on 'irarious matters
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<br /> ,- . interstate• highway; at least foUr reservoir's, and, an airport
<br /> -• expansion all have involved the condemnation of farmland for
<br /> public projects: Similarly, 8000 acres from four ,large farms
<br /> are being converted to ether uses close to Durham beginning
<br /> next year. , This,pattern is being repeated across the ,state.
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<br /> My reservation in not supporting this ball even more env- -
<br /> thusiaStically is-that it could probably go further than it
<br /> For example, the Triangle J plan provides for taxation
<br /> incentives beyond the present use-Value provisions, and it
<br /> - also Provides fdr protection against annexation: Any measure
<br /> designed to promote the .welfare.of farmers must ultimately
<br /> enhance their-economic position, and this bill could go to
<br /> ' . greater .lengths in this area than it does. • •. •
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